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TIL Takashi Yanase (Anpanman creator) was a soldier during the Japanese occupation of China in World War II and lost his brother in the Pacific Theater. After the war, he became a children's book author and anti-war activist with "Chirin no Suzu" being an allegory for WWII.

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dBa9 TIL in parts of Britain if someone is wronging you, you can get on your knees and cry “Hear me! Hear me! Come to my aid, my Prince, for someone does me wrong” and then recite the Lord’s Prayer in French, and the other person is legally required to stop what he’s doing or pay a penalty
loeLa TIL that after a woman murdered her husband and attempted suicide, their pet parrot who was the sole witness began repeating what's thought to have been their last conversation, including the words: "Don't shoot!"
Pv0J TIL sunflowers can “remove up to 95% of uranium of contaminated water in 24 hours”. And “experiments in Chernobyl have demonstrated that they can concentrate on 55 kg of plant dry weight all the cesium and strontium radioactivity from an area of 75 m2”.
mx7Jo TIL some Hungarians refuse to clink beer glasses, as Austrians supposedly did this in 1849 after executing Hungarian rebels. The unofficial ban on clinking beer glasses was 150 years, but many still continue—others maintain the tradition was only popularized by winemakers trying to boost wine sales.
Br01W TIL that in 1999, multinational cigarette company Philip Morris attempted to convince the Czech Republic that smoking was highly beneficial to the country's economy, as more people would die earlier, hence allowing the government to save millions on health-care, pension and public-housing.