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TIL On a visit to Manchester, Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin insisted that the roof stay down on his convertible car despite the pouring rain, stating "If all these people have turned out to welcome me and can stand in the rain, so can I."

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d8VZ8 TIL that the reason many evangelicals support Israel is because they believe that the Jewish people must control the country to fulfill the Armageddon prophecy and begin the end of times
XEQWQ TIL that Tukhachevskiy considered as the first military commander to use chemical weapons against its own people. It happened during "Tambov rebellion" when russian peasants resisted the forced confiscation of grain by Red Army.
QJgD9 TIL it was Kevin Costner who suggested his co-star Whitney Houston record "I Will Always Love You" for the soundtrack to The Bodyguard starring Costner and Houston. Her efforts were rewarded with 2 Grammy Awards and 4 million copies sold in the United States alone.
GAQOQ TIL in the Battle of Schöngrabern, during the Napoleonic Wars, the French captured a bridge over the Danube at Vienna by falsely claiming that an armistice had been signed, and then rushing the bridge while the guards were distracted.
GYVvN TIL that Keanu Reeves gave his share of ticket sales for the Matrix sequels (which was contractually his right and was around $38 million) to add to the special effects budget of the movies. He also gave each member of the stunt department for Matrix:Reloaded a Harley Davidson as a thank you.