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TIL that the fez was nearly universal as men’s headwear in the Ottoman Empire in the early 1900s. However, the hats were largely made in the Austrian Empire. When Austria annexed Bosnia in 1908, the Ottomans boycotted Austrian goods in protest. The fez’s popularity started to fade.

ANL57 TIL that in 1976, 3 men kidnapped a bus full of schoolchildren with the goal of ransoming them back for 5 million dollars. They tried to place the ransom call, but the line was busy, and they ended up falling asleep. By the time they woke up, the children had freed themselves and made it to safety.
4kXb TIL that “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King” is the first and ONLY fantasy film EVER to win an Academy Award for “Best Picture”.
p8Mlb TIL musician Gram Parsons wanted his body cremated and scattered at Joshua Tree, but his family arranged for him to be buried in Louisiana for financial reasons. His friends, drunk and assisted by an unwitting police officer, stole his body from the airport and burned the casket themselves.
pPN4 TIL President Reagan was due to the deliver the State of the Union address the evening of the Challenger Disaster. Instead, he postponed the speech a week and delivered this tribute to the Challenger crew to the nation. It’s been listed as one of the most significant speeches of the 20th century.
lobO1 TIL The UB40 song Rat in Mi Kitchen was written when Astro asked lead singer Ali Campbell if he had any new ideas for songs and Campbell, who had a rodent problem in his new house, responded, "Oh God, I don't care about the album for a minute, I've got a rat in the kitchen!"