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TIL: More than half of yakuza are now over 50 and 10% are over 70 as a result of an ageing population and police crackdowns

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4xNN TIL under secrecy, that the first jet powered aircraft flown in the US was piloted by Jack Woolams. Already confused by seeing a plane flying with no propeller, other pilots who spotted Woolams would then see him in the cockpit wearing a gorilla mask, a bowler hat, and smoking a cigar.
wLOaY TIL one of the origin theories of the modern military salute comes from France. Knights were thought to greet one another in respect by lifting their visor with their free hand to reveal their face. The hand gesture of lifting the visor being similar to the "salute" hand gesture we do today.
pVXQ TIL Trevor Noah is a polygot, speaking English, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Tsonga, Afrikaans and some German and Spanish.
OoOdL TIL that upon learning that Jackie Chan was in a relationship in real life, one Japanese fan ended her life, and another poisoned herself in the offices of Golden Harvest, a Hong Kong film company.
PYeyE TIL that, under Genghis Khan, the Mongol Empire was a Meritocracy (government by people promoted on a basis of Merit rather than Nepotism)