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TIL during WW2 after the Nazis had taken over France, Churchill made the decision to attack the French naval fleet rather than let it fall into enemy hands. The bombardment killed nearly 2,000 men. France then severed all diplomatic relations with the UK and even mounted several retaliation attacks.

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6EJdY TIL that most of the 9/11 hijackers had no idea that they were on a suicide mission. Evidence shows that the majority likely believed that they were taking the planes hostage as a means of leveraging the release of Al-Qaeda prisoners. Only the men trained to fly the planes knew the truth.
WkXrA TIL The pilot 'Ian Fleming's Solo' was sued by the producers of the James Bond films for their exclusive usage of Fleming's name and the name 'Solo' (a character in Goldfinger). Fleming denied selling the producers the name 'Solo' but the show still had to be renamed to 'The Man from U.N.C.L.E.'
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l7Y45 TIL the band Counting Crows got its name from "One for Sorrow", a British divination nursery rhyme about the superstitious counting of magpies, which are members of the crow family. Singer Adam Duritz heard the rhyme in the 1989 film Signs of Life, which starred his friend Mary-Louise Parker.