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TIL Christopher Tolkien, son of Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, has said of the films, “They eviscerated the book by making it an action movie for young people aged 15 to 25”..[..]..“The commercialization has reduced the aesthetic and philosophical impact of the creation to nothing.”

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xV4lB TIL of the Chinese Dzungar Genocide of 1755-1757. Following a rebellion, the Emperor decided to eradicate the Dzungar. Ca 80% of the population was exterminated in what an historian has called "the eighteenth century genocide par excellence." This event brought the Uygur into today's Xinjiang.
OgW6 TIL There was more to the infamous picture of Sophia Loren dead eying Jayne Mansfield’s breasts. And there was a nip-slip involved (the reason for the NSFW tag)
gMbNX TIL Sir David Lean's 1948 film adaption of Oliver Twist was banned in Israel for Sir Alec Guinness's performance as Fagin, which it considered too anti-Semitic. Egypt banned it for portraying Fagin too sympathetically
4NXo TIL That there were still Mammoths alive on Earth as late as 2000 BC. The same time as the Pyramids were being built.
N84E TIL The Nazis planned a giant tank, 15 times the size of the largest tank ever. The P 1500 ‘Monster’ was like a land-going battleship: too big for road or rail (its 1500 tonne weight would destroy them), with a crew of 100+. Despite initially having Hitlers OK, the P 1500 was eventually scrapped.