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TIL The novel Maltese Falcon got its name from the tribute of one falcon per year that the Knight Hospitallers, a Catholic military order founded during the crusade, had to provide to the monarchs of Sicily in exchange for getting the island of Malta. It went on continuously from 1530 to 1798.

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k651 TIL that after Michael Jackson’s death, Google was so inundated with “michael jackson” search requests, they believed they were a victim of a DDoS attack, and blocked further searches for 30 minutes
gJJ7 TIL an empty tomb or monument erected in honor of a person whose remains are elsewhere is called a “Cenotaph.” For example, there are Cenotaphs all over the world for victims of the RMS Titanic, whose bodies were not recovered after the sinking.
xVg9b TIL that while filming There Will Be Blood, the director Paul Thomas Anderson tested the pyrotechnical effects of an oil fire, causing an enormous amount of smoke to intrude on the nearby set of No Country For Old Men, filming of No Country For Old men had to be delayed for a day because of this.
Z8e8Q TIL of Barra Airport in Scotland, the only airport in the world where scheduled flights use a tidal beach as the runway, thus the flight schedule varies with the tides.
DQpWr TIL that US dimes, quarters, half dollars and dollar coins were minted in 90% silver until 1964, but this was changed to nickel and copper starting in 1965 because the price of silver had risen to a point where the coins were worth more in silver than their face value.