Today

Y7QyB TIL that Pigmeat Markham, a Black comedian and vaudeville star who performed in blackface, recorded the 1968 single “Here Comes the Judge,” often cited as the earliest hip-hop record.
EglJP TIL the same cinematographer that worked on iconic films Metropolis (1927) and Dracula (1931) also worked on I Love Lucy (1951). Karl Freund was born in Austria-Hungary in 1890 and pioneered the Unchained Camera Technique in Germany before coming to the US in 1929. He died in 1969.
kJQWB TIL that until 1980, the New Hebrides was an Anglo-French condominium, with two parallel bureaucracies, currencies, police, courts, and prisons - a unique form of government cynically known as “the Pandemonium.” Residents sometimes choose which justice system handled their case based on prison food.
78xJP TIL Jim Belushi and Julie Newmar had a publicized feud and legal battle where she accused him of building an illegal 2nd home on his property, and he sued her $4M for defamation. The conflict ended amicably when he invited her onto According to Jim in an episode satirizing their feud.
ZpLgD TIL The reason movie theater screens are referred to as the Silver Screen is because in the early days of movies the projection screens were coated with silver or aluminum based paint to enhance reflectivity and brightness.
a8Qd9 TIL that shrapnel is named after Henry Shrapnel, the inventor of the exploding cannonball.
KYkJQ TIL that Al-Takiya Al-Ibrahimiya, or "The Abrahamic Hospice," is a charitable organization near the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron, founded in 1279 CE. It continues to provide free meals year-round, funded by donations, and has helped Hebron earn the reputation as "the city where no one sleeps hungry."
dDQvr TIL in 1937, Ingvar Kamprad secured a 500 krona loan ($63) to import 500 fountain pens from Paris. This would be the only debt or financing in the 82 year history of his company, IKEA.
oRjOK TIL that in 2019, the satirical series “South Park” released an episode entitled ‘Band in China’, mocking the Chinese government’s harsh censorship and Hollywood’s attempt to avoid it. As a result, South Park was banned in china.
161Mr TIL that when Las Vegas briefly had a CFL team in the 1990s, a singer sung "O Canada" to the tune of "O Christmas Tree" since he did not know its melody.
GArJN TIL the first former F1 World Champion to die of natural causes was Denny Hulme in 1992, 42 years after the inaugural F1 championship season. He suffered a massive heart attack while racing a car.
pYQ5Z TIL that Portugal produces over half the world’s cork, being home to the largest cork forest and responsible for around 60–70 % of cork exports.