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TIL that in “The Empire Strikes Back”, director George Lucas used Norwegian mountain rescue skiers as Echo Base troops on Hoth. To thank them for their participation, Lucasfilm made a large donation to the Norwegian Red Cross.

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loAnA TIL of the Mosquito machine and ringtone. The machine emits a high-pitched buzz that drives away loiterers and can be tuned to be heard only by teens. The ringtone, created by sampling the machine tone, uses the same buzz to make phones ring without being heard by teachers or another adults.
GAKQG TIL until the 1950s France served alcohol with children's school lunches
p8pBA TIL that Otto Lilienthal, a German aeronautical engineer, made 2,000 glider flights before the Wright Brothers made the first airplane. He died in a crash in 1896.
0wy8R TIL that "Maris," the famous unseen character on the sitcom Frasier, was originally only going to off camera for a few episodes, but the increasing absurdity in which she was described forced the show into a box; they couldn't find an actress to meet the character's odd physical description.
dDNQ7 TIL that sailors call the Suez Canal, the "Marlboro Canal", because of having to hand out crates of Marlboro to Egyptian pilots and authorities as an extortion fee.