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TIL a Senegalese officer, Mbaye Diagne, drove hundreds to safety during the Rwandan Genocide when no other developed nation would. He died on a trip when a mortar hit his jeep.

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5PYr TIL Louis Armstrong was 1 of the few people who could move between East and West Berlin without papers. “The East Germans had their guns out, looked at us and said ‘Louis Armstrong.’ They got his autograph and waved us on. On the US side; 'This is Satchmo!’ Every night we went back and forth.”
9eDD TIL that while the word “thong” comes from the Old English “thwong”, a flexible leather cord, other languages use various euphemisms: in Brazil it is “fio dental” (dental floss); in Bulgarian “prashka” (slingshot); Chinese it is dingziku (丁字褲/丁字裤) which roughly means T-letter pants
LkPyr TIL Jason Statham was a diver who was selected by Britain's national diving team to compete in the 1990 Commonwealth Games. Shortly after, he was asked to model for French Connection, Tommy Hilfiger, and Levi's in various advertising campaigns.
yQlvM TIL HMS Porcupine was blown in half by a German torpedo, the two halves were towed back to the UK and recommissioned as two ships; HMS Pork and HMS Pine
9YweQ TIL the Swedish propaganda/war ship Vasa sank 100m into its maiden voyage and was recovered 333 years later. Today it is the oldest preserved ship and can be seen in a Stockholm museum.