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TIL when Pope John Paul II delivered a speech to the European Parliament, Ian Paisley shouted "I denounce you as the antichrist!" The former crown prince of Austria-Hungary, 77-year-old Otto von Habsburg, punched him in the face and pushed him out of the chamber.

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e05dJ TIL the stories of Aladdin, Ali Baba, and Sinbad were not in the original 1001 Arabian Nights, but are believed to have been added by the French explorer Antoine Galland, who heard them from various sources in Europe and implemented the stories into new translations of the Nights.
PYMaJ TIL how the UK military recruiter mistook "cryptogamist" (algae expert) for "cryptogramist" and sent Geoffrey Tandy to join the code breakers; he wasn't so useful until captured German papers arrived water-logged; with his expertise they salvaged them, cracked the code, and hastened the victory.
RBm7 TIL Roller Coaster Tycoon Was Programmed By One Person, Using Assembly.
VMENQ TIL of Chinese folklore's "Pixiu", a creature that was banished from the heavens for being unruly--; It was spanked by the Jade Emperor so hard that its butthole was sealed, leaving it cursed to a diet of gold, silver, and jewels but unable to expel any of it.
M7gKA TIL after US President Wilson had a stroke in 1919, his wife Edith Wilson limited his access to just his doctor and few close associates, and acted as the president's proxy and effectively ran the White House, and by extension the country, by extolling access to the president.