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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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negBb TIL In 1987, a Boeing 737 hit a fish midair, about 400 feet past the runway. Upon inspection, they found a greasy spot with some scales, but no damage. The bald eagle which dropped the fish also escaped injury.
kbjm TIL a possible origin of the name Cerberus (the multi-headed dog of the Greek god Hades) is the Proto-Indo-European word k̑érberos, meaning “spotted”. Hades’ dog might have literally been named “Spot”.
VBJP4 Today I learned that on April Fool's Day in 1997, Alex Trebek hosted Wheel of Fortune and Pat Sajak hosted Jeopardy.
VBX5B TIL Socrates wrote nothing. All that is known about him has been inferred from accounts by members of his circle—primarily Plato and Xenophon—as well as by Plato's student Aristotle, who acquired his knowledge of Socrates through his teacher.
VMZ9Q TIL that when Indonesia became independent in 1949, it chose a new red and white flag (????????). Monaco complained bitterly about it, because it was exactly the same as their existing flag (????????). However, Monaco was then not a member of the UN, and was small enough to be ignored