› added 8 months ago

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TIL there is a (tongue-in-cheek) secret society called The Sons of Lee Marvin. It consists of people who bear a resemblance to the actor, so that they could plausibly be his sons. Actual or rumored members include Jim Jarmush (founder), Tom Waits, John Lurie, Iggy Pop, Neil Young & Josh Brolin.

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8a59G TIL there was a 1920 novel about Abraham Lincoln's mother titled 'The Matrix.'
p80XA TIL There was an (in)famous red light district in Boston. It was called: the Combat Zone.
PY9aO TIL at the end of the 17th century in an attempt to modernize society, Russian Emperor Peter the Great taxed any men who didn't shave their beard. Those that paid the tax carried around a copper or bronze token as proof they had paid.
4XOBN TIL Imperial China was the first nation to implement a system for civil service examination, testing knowledge from History to Military subjects. The British East Company got interested and used it for their admissions. Now, its the base model for similar exams throughout western nations to this day
gZyW TIL that a London photo developer destroyed all but 11 of the only photos of the June 6th DDay on Omaha Beach. The surviving shots are called the The Magnificent Eleven and inspired the opening scene of Saving Private Ryan