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TIL about Operation Kitona, when in 1998 Rwandan/Ugandan forces highjacked 4 civilian airliners, flew them to an airbase in western DRC where they amassed 3000 troops, then took over the Inga Dams and cut off power to Kinshasa. Thus began the Second Congo War, second deadliest conflict since WWII.

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DQL8p TIL in 1982 a BA 747 lost all four engines and had its windscreen sandblasted after flying through an Indonesian volcanic eruption. The pilot landed, at night and with limited visuals, and commented afterwards that it was "a bit like negotiating one's way up a badger's arse."
EgQyX TIL the USA produces Humanitarian Daily Rations designed to "provide the widest possible acceptance from the variety of potential consumers with diverse religious and dietary restrictions from around the world" and includes fruit paste suitable for infants.
jGEN TIL the 2008 film ‘Rambo’ provided a huge morale boost to the Karen Freedom Fighters in Burma, who even adopted dialogue from the movie (most notably “Live for nothing, or die for something”) as rallying points and battle cries.
GYJR5 TIL of Grabel's Law. It goes: "Two is not equal to three, not even for large values of two." Apparently, a professor named Grabel stated this during class, and his students christened it as Grabel's Law.
1aEkO TIL Juha Mieto of Finland lost the 15km cross county skiing event at the 1980 Olympics by 1/100 of a second. After this event the International Ski Federation changed its rules to round times to the nearest tenth of a second.