FACTS

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Some facts from the website “Today I Learned” . . .

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JFK didn’t invite Sammy Davis Jr. to his 1961 inauguration as Sammy had married a white woman, and JFK was worried that the presence of an interracial couple would upset Southerners. Dean Martin, who was angered by this news, refused to attend the inauguration in solidarity with Sammy.

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Philip Workman, an inmate on death row, requested that his last meal be a pizza for any homeless person located nearby. Prison officials refused, declaring they don’t donate to charity. The public decided to donate pizzas to homeless shelters themselves, in his name, after his execution.

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The first speeding ticket in history was issued to a person caught speeding at 8 mph (13 km/h), four times the speed limit of 2 mph (3 km/h). In 1896, Mr. Arnold was pursued for 5 miles by a policeman on a bicycle

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Alaska is so large and deserted, it has the equivalent population density of 16 people living in Manhattan.

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In 2009, three masked burglars broke into Dolph Lundgren's home, tied up and threatened his wife, but fled after finding a family photo and realizing whose home they'd broken into.

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Quentin Roosevelt, son of President Theodore Roosevelt, was a pilot who was killed in combat in WW1. For propaganda purposes, Germany made a postcard of the dead pilot and his plane, However, this was met with shock by Germans, who were impressed that a president's son died on active duty.

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When a newly discovered sponge-like fungi was named after SpongeBob SquarePants in 2011, a mycological research journal initially rejected the name for being “too frivolous”. When challenged, the scientists stood behind their discovery, saying “we’ll name it whatever we like”.

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Every Australian is entitled to a portrait of the reigning monarch - paid for by the government. After the Queen died, there was a rush to get the last portraits of her before the Charles stock came in.

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Kate Winslet broke Tom Cruise's underwater filming record while filming Avatar 2. Winslet held her breath during a scene for seven minutes and twelve seconds beating the mark of six minutes Cruise set while filming Mission Impossible: Rogue Nation.

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Researchers testing the Infinite Monkey theorem: Not only did the monkeys produce nothing but five total pages largely consisting of the letter "S", the lead male began striking the keyboard with a stone, and other monkeys followed by urinating and defecating on the machine

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Before the invention of ice cream cones, ice cream was served in reusable glass containers called "penny licks" which were notorious for spreading disease because they were reused & never washed between customers.

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Prisoners in Japan who are sentenced to death only find out on the morning of their execution. The prisoner's family and legal representatives, and also the general public, are informed only after the execution has taken place.

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Deep Lake, a lake in Antarctica that has such high salinity, 10 times saltier than the oceans, that it never freezes, even in the winter. Conditions in the lake are so hostile that almost nothing can survive there.

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In Shanghai every weekend there is a marriage market, parents and grandparents of unmarried adults gather in a park and trade information on their children/grandchildren (height, weight, income, occupation...) with the goal to find them a suitable partner

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The Babushka Lady is an unidentified woman present during the 1963 assassination of JFK, who appeared to be taking photos as other witnesses took cover. Her identity, along with her photos, remain unknown