TIL that George Lucas took a $500,000 pay cut to his salary as director of ''Star Wars'' in exchange for full ownership of the franchise's merchandising rights. By 2012, the first six films produced approximately US$20 billion in merchandising revenue.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Star_Wars#Merchandising
TIL that the makers of Donkey Kong Country wanted the Kongs to be voiced by actual gorillas and spent hours recording some at a zoo, only to realize that gorillas are actually very quiet. Finding themselves without sounds to work with, they had a programmer do gorilla impressions instead.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Donkey_Kong_Country#Characters
TIL of a double little toenail which is a sixth toenail on your pinky toe - usually from a sixth toe in the womb. It’s a recessive trait that usually skips a few generations
TIL that Kendrick Lamar On April 16, 2018, won the Pulitzer prize. He was the first and only rapper till today to do this.
https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/kendrick-lamar-wins-the-pulitzer-prize
TIL about the Coastline Paradox which explains that's its impossible to accurately measure the length of a country's coastline and the more precise the measurement the greater the length becomes - to the point of infinity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coastline_paradox
TIL about William Chandler pilot flying for South Africa Airways for more than 20 years on a fake license.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-47420515.amp
TIL the Zodiac was a farmers almanac, a fertility wheel, showing seasonal breeders and human gestation times with the most common time of the year and more.
https://youtu.be/7b5LFnR6QIY%20Has%20the%20Zodiac%20been%20solved? What do you think? The video explains that The first and most important clue as to why this is a fertility wheel is This depiction highlights the natural reproduction c…
TIL Flo and Jamie from the Progressive commercials are married in real life.
https://celebrity.fm/are-flo-and-jamie-married-in-real-life/
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1663tf7/til_flo_and_jamie_from_the_progressive/
TIL that On September 10, 2001, U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said in a press conference that $2.3 trillion from Pentagon had gone missing, but the 9/11 attacks took attention away from this news, so it was forgotten.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States_Department_of_Defense
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1662yei/til_that_on_september_10_2001_us_defense/
TIL that singer Van Morrison did not release the song "Moondance" as a single until September 1977, seven and a half years after the album of the same year was released.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Moondance_(Van_Morrison_song)
TIL any tree can be a bonsai. They are not just genetically small trees you have to actively keep them small with trimming and proper care.
TIL A pilot has resigned from South African Airways (SAA) after flying for more than 20 years with a fake licence.
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1661kuu/til_a_pilot_has_resigned_from_south_african/
TIL that the moon moves about 3.8 cm farther away from Earth every year, which means that one day there will be no more total solar eclipses.
https://www.popularmechanics.com/space/moon-mars/a27824/when-is-last-total-solar-eclipse/
TIL that a 70 year old man tried to robbed a bank so he could get into jail to avoid his wife. The judge promtly sentenced him to 6 months house arrest
https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/crime/article155936879.html
TIL that Chicago's Kasama is the world's first Filipino restaurant to be awarded a Michelin star.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kasama_(restaurant)
TIL Mosquito Hawks are neither mosquitoes nor hawks. They're also called "Skeeter-eaters" but don't eat mosquitoes.
https://en.wikipedia.org//wiki/Crane_fly
TIL Brighamia insignis, a species of Hawaiian lobelioid now requires hand pollination to reproduce because the only pollinator, a type of hawk moth, went extinct
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighamia_insignis
TIL In the 1930s, sequins were made of gelatin coated in lead paint, and could melt if they were touched or dissolved if wet.
TIL despite its depiction in diagrams, the entire asteroid belt has about as much mass as 4 percent of the moon.
https://www.astronomy.com/science/why-hasnt-the-asteroid-belt-formed-a-planet/
TIL there are international human-dog dance competitions, with complex routines set to music.
https://youtu.be/b2uNbw77XVQ?si=NzJJmUqva0rJjZOk
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/165xgig/til_there_are_international_humandog_dance/
