11. TIL John Krasinski wore a wig in season 3 of The Office so he could film Leatherheads. Krasinski pitched the idea to the producer who rejected it because it would be too obvious. John, who was wearing the wig during the meeting, told him it wouldn’t be, took off the wig, and was granted approval.
12. TIL Billy Joel got into an argument with a younger man about what the worst era to be young in was. The younger man told Joel that at least he got to grow up in the 50s when “nothing happened.” Flabbergasted, Joel began listing the events of the 50s, which later became “We Didn’t Start the Fire”.
13. TIL a doctor reviewed the injuries sustained by Marv and Harry in Home Alone 1 & 2, and concluded that 23 of the injuries would have resulted in death.
14. TIL that the stick — a small tree branch — was inducted into the (U.S.) National Toy Hall of Fame in 2008. Organizers called it one of the world’s oldest toys and said sticks “promote free play — the freedom to invent and discover.”
15. TIL that the F.B.I. and C.I.A. recruit heavily from the Mormon population because they are usually cheaper to do a security clearance on, they often speak another language from their mission trips and they usually have a low risk lifestyle.
16. TIL that during the sinking of the RMS Titanic, many passengers refused to evacuate, insisting they were safer on the ship than in the tiny lifeboats. Chief baker Charles Joughin eventually took it upon himself to forcibly drag reluctant passengers onto the deck and hurl them into the lifeboats.
17. TIL about Kiyoshi Shimizu, a Japanese journalist that helped solved a series of child kidnaping cases and released an innocent man from further prosecution. He also helped solved the murder of Shiori Ino which led to the changes to legal treatment of stalking in Japan
18. TIL Alexander Fleming’s mold could not produce penicillin fast enough for mass production; itwasn’t until 15 years later that lab worker ‘Mouldy’ Mary Hunt tested a moldy cantaloupe in a grocery store and discovered the strain that is used to produce all penicillin today
