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TIL that in 1944, the British conceived a plan to assassinate Hitler while he was staying at his vacation residence. However, they ultimately decided against it as Hitler was such a poor strategist at that stage that they believed whoever replaced him would do a better job of fighting the Allies.

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W7kMN TIL that the portrait of George Washington on the one-dollar bill comes from an unfinished portrait containing only his face, called the Athenaeum Portrait.
aO8o TIL Pepsi ran a sweepstakes to win $1 billion in 2003, and paid $10 million for insurance against someone actually winning the grand prize.
xVbAb TIL There are hardly any publishing houses devoted to African languages while prizes given to promote African literature have the condition that the writers don’t write in African languages. South Africa is one of the few countries where publishers are committed to publishing African languages
69bVZ TIL that a purported 12th century prophecy claims to list all future Catholic popes until the end of the world; the current pope would be the last one on the list. Historians believe it is a 16th century forgery: the list appeared in 1595 and better describes pre-1590 popes than subsequent ones.
DQ1Aj TIL about Cliff Young, a 61-year-old farmer who won the 543 mile (875 k) endurance race from Sydney to Melbourne. Wearing work clothes, he ran without sleeping for five days. Surprised to learn there was a cash reward he shared it with the other competitors. Young credited his win to herding sheep.