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TIL a German soldier during WW2 called Werner Goldberg was branded “The Ideal German Soldier” because of his physical appearance. Ironically he was half Jewish.

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XEKR6 TIL Mel Brooks offered the role of Waco Kid (Gene Wilder's character) in Blazing Saddles to John Wayne.
GAw51 TIL the final scene of The Empire Strikes Back (Luke & Leia looking out into space from the medical bay) was filmed four months after principal photography had wrapped. George Lucas had become concerned about the downbeat ending & wanted to add an uplifting moment of hope to reassure the audience.
kOkjg TIL farmers are hacking into their John Deere tractors with firmware that's cracked in Eastern Europe and traded on invite-only, paid online forums
R7pW9 TIL Aristotle observed that fossils of seashells in rocks resembled those found on beaches. He inferred that the fossils in rocks were formed by organisms, and he reasoned that the positions of land and sea had been changing slowly since ancient times. Leonardo da Vinci agreed with this reasoning.
4XNra TIL that Nintendo's character Mario is named after Mario Segale, who was the company's landlord in 1981. All Segale has publicly said about this is "I'm still waiting for my royalty checks".