› added 6 years ago

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TIL When famed troll and philosopher Diogenes the Cynic was being sold as a slave, he listed his speciality as "ruling men." He subsequently pointed to Xeniades, a wealthy Corinthian and said, “Sell me to this man; he needs a master.” He was sold on the spot and became a tutor to Xeniades's sons.

QJmKL TIL that a photon of light can travel the 150 million kilometres from the Sun to the Earth, and in that same time, a gamma ray in the Sun's core will travel only about 13 centimetres. It can take 100,000 years from the core of the Sun to get to the surface — where it bursts out at speed of light.
x6lpw TIL that James Dean's emotional performance in East Eden was improvised. He was supposed to only walk away in distress but James instinctively embraced his character's father. Raymond Massey who was playing the father's part, was too surprised that he could only respond "Cal! Cal!"
6E1b7 TIL that in Marvel comics, The Beatles are actually a group of rogue skrulls who came to Earth to invade it but decided that the money and power was better.
Z8rvR TIL: Tim Burton cast Black actors Billy Dee Williams and Marlon Wayans as 'Harvey Dent' and 'Robin' - Both actors were contracted to appear in Batman Forever but Burton's choices were later reversed by director Joel Schumacher who chose to replace the pair with Tommy Lee Jones & Chris O'Donnell.
jNyQn Today I learned there is a global population of 50 endemic Marsican brown bears in the Abbruzzo region, Italy. Despite conservation efforts, the critically endangered population continues to dwindle.