› added 3 days ago

TIL: The first translation of The US Declaration of Independence was into German because nearly 1/3 of all Pennsylvania residents at the time were first or second generation German immigrants.

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5APP TIL in Star Wars Episode 4 during the Chewbacca prisoner transfer scene, Mark Hamill improvised the cell block number 1138 as a reference to George Lucas’s film THX 1138. Lucas was not impressed.
wLKX1 TIL that in 1944 Dutch Resistance members dressed as German SD (intelligence agents) went into Leeuwarden prison, and walked out with 39 prisoners, and all vanished into the city. No shots were fired, and the Germans never caught anyone.
OogKR TIL that before Paris was liberated from the Nazis, Hitler ordered military governor Dietrich von Choltitzthe to demolish the Eiffel Tower and other major landmarks. He refused this direct order, and surrendered to the Allies instead, saving the tower.
QJdgd TIL that Pall Mall cigarettes are named after a well-known street in London, England.
j6y9v TIL the fastest ball ever bowled in cricket was 161.3km/h or 100.2mph by Shoaib Akhtar against England during the Cricket World Cup, 2003