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TIL in the ‘60s, filmmaker Bob Clark, driving en route to a date, heard writer Jean Shepherd's childhood stories on a radio broadcast. After circling a block for an hour till the broadcast ended, Clark was inspired to create a movie based on Shepherd’s tales. The outcome? 1983’s "A Christmas Story."

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pv7G TIL That Adolf Hitler was a serial prankster and would often perform callous pranks on his staff, one which ended with close friend Ernst Hanfstaengl beleiving he was being set up on a suicide mission leading him to escape to Switzerland where he betrayed some of Hitler’s most intimate secrets
d8YXB TIL In 1985, Carrey made an audacious decision: He wrote himself a $10-million check for “acting services rendered,” dated it 10 years in the future, and kept it in his wallet. Call it a coincidence, but in November 1995, Carrey found out he would be paid 10 million for “Dumb and Dumber”.
6rxm TIL that Gmail was believed to be an April Fools joke upon its release on March 29 due to its 1 GB storage space: Hotmail offered only 2mb at the time
YpxL7 TIL A 2009 study found that the risk of sudden death during a marathon is 0.8 per 100,000 people, and that triathlons have a significantly higher risk of sudden death at 1.5 in 100,000.
9Y9e6 TIL Outlaws Bonnie and Clyde would often kidnap people, but drop them off with enough money to get home. After they found out one kidnap victim was an undertaker Bonnie laughed and said he would likely work on her body one day. He did exactly that.