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TIL that Puyi, the last Emperor of China, spent his last years as a commoner in Beijing under the communist regime. On his first day of work as a street sweeper, he was lost and told passersby, “I’m Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing dynasty. I’m staying with relatives and can’t find my way home.”

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JYvQB TIL that the Australian serial killer, Eric Cooke, was captured by police after he hid a murder weapon in a nearby bush. Police found the weapon and returned it to the same bush tied to fishing line. Police then constructed a hide and waited 17 days until Cooke retrieved the rifle.
DRnJ TIL A group of amateur scientists launched 200 paper airplanes from an elevation of 23 miles with a weather balloon. Launched in Germany, the airplanes flew as far as Canada, Australia, India, and even South Africa.
d7eQ TIL that Bambi and Bambi II hold the record for the record for the longest gap in between movie sequels, the first being released in 1942, the second being released 64 years later in 2006.
16n07 TIL that a school principal once made a student who'd gotten into trouble sit in the basement & read the U.S. Constitution as punishment. That student (who committed the Constitution to memory as a result) was Thurgood Marshall, who went on to become the first Black Supreme Court justice.
yQ1W8 TIL The Christmas tradition of putting candles in one's windows is Irish Catholic in origin. When the English banned Catholicism Irish Catholics placed candles in their windows to secretly invite priests to receive the sacraments.