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TIL the phrase "in the limelight" which refers to being the focus of attention comes from a 19th century device. Calcium oxide known as quicklime is heated in an intensely hot flame until it glows brightly. First as a surveying tool, it allowed for more accurate measurements.

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x6yyb TIL that Operation Barbarossa was named after Frederick Barbarossa, the first emperor of the HRE who wished to establish German predominance in Europe.
lolGa TIL that there is a company that secretly takes continuous, rapid, high-resolution aerial photos of crime-plagued cities to help police “rewind” time to view a crime as it happens and then to “fast-forward” the movement of suspects to their present locations.
4XjNa TIL that during WWII there was an event known as that 'Battle of Los Angeles'. Citizens and military thought the Japanese were attacking Los Angeles and fired AA guns into the sky. Turns out it was only a lost weather balloon.
PYWoE TIL in 1813 the U.S. captured & plundered Toronto - then known as York. This was the reason the British invaded & burned down the White House in 1814.
4L9a TIL that James Bond was modeled after a real spy named Wilfrid “Biffy” Dunderdale - MI6’s man in Paris, he was also friends with Ian Flemming and it appears that several of Dunderdale’s stories ended up in Flemming’s books.