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TIL Field Marshall Montgomery once made a bet with Walter Bedell Smith that is if he could capture the city of Sfax by April 1943 he would receive a B17 bomber. When Monty completed his half of the bet, Smith backed out: The matter escalated all the way to Eisenhower who ensured Monty got his B17.

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vPOjx TIL The NBA's Chicago Bulls famously used Alan Parson's 'Sirius' as an introduction song during the legendary Jordan years. Parsons had no clue his song was being used and made very little money off of it due to licensing agreements that heavily favor corporations over the actual artists.
0K45 TIL that the “Atari Shuffle” was a trick used to get free plays from early coin-op arcade games. The trick involved players shuffling their feet to build a static charge, which could then be used to zap the machine into giving them a free game. (Referenced at 1:02)
E1wmd TIL Carl "Alfalfa" Switzer was shot and killed because of a dispute over a hunting dog
dD7AB TIL A group of conspirators intending to assassinate Easter Roman Emperor Nikephoros Phokas entered his bedchamber at night disguised in women's clothing. Initially the got scared because he wasn't in his bed as expected: an ascetic army veteran, Nikephoros liked sleeping on the floor
epZ6n TIL that the day before 9/11, a Canadian named Evan Kuz, visited the World Trade Center with a young woman he met. He stayed at the WTC before the observation deck was closed and was the last to go up before 9/11. He donated his stub to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in 2009.