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TIL Howie Mandel voices the character Gizmo in the 1984 film, Gremlins, and its 1990 sequel, Gremlins 2: The New Batch

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XVy6 TIL Russian ice slides of the 17th century inspired the modern roller coaster. They were wooden structures often 70-80 ft high with ice frozen over a sloping ramp which stretched out 100s of feet. Riders ploughed into a pile of sand to slow them down.
wDlJ TIL R. Budd Dwyer, from the infamous suicide on tv video, committed suicide after claiming he had been framed and was to be convicted for taking bribes. After his suicide and further investigation, Wiliam T. Smith, who testimony was largely used for Dwyer’s conviction, admitted to lying under oath.
OoQEe TIL about Larry Walters, who dreamed of flying since he was a child. He was going to join the air force but his poor eyesight disqualified him. On July 2, 1982 he built a homemade airship out of a patio chair and 45 helium balloons and flew for nearly an hour, reaching an altitude of 16,000 feet.
gA19 TIL that if someone has debt and dies, their family does not have to pay it off. But some banks will try to get them to anyway in case they think they need to.
KREG TIL The South African health ministry once stapled a leaflet to condoms they distributed