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TIL that from 1943-45, British military pilots were issued "escape boots". If they had to bail out over enemy territory, a concealed knife in one boot cоuld bе used to cut away the upper section, and convert them into "ordinary" shoes, which would help the airman pass himself off as a civilian

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Rrd4 TIL in 1897, a newlywed woman was found dead in her home. Although her death was attributed to natural causes, her mother’s insistence that she had been visited by the woman’s ghost compelled authorities to reopen the case, at which time an autopsy revealed the woman had suffered a broken neck.
oRJKr TIL Whiplash was originally an 18-minute short film that received acclaim at the Sundance Film Festival, drawing investors to fund the full length film which cost $3.3 million to make and grossed $49 million at the boxoffice.
XXxX TIL Vietnam War POW Doug Hegdahl pretended to be illiterate to fool his captors, who believed him to be so stupid that they gave him almost free rein of the camp. He was able to secretly memorize the details of about 256 POWs to the tune of “Old MacDonald,” which he still remembers.
Eg6nP TIL Hiram Bingham wasn’t the first to rediscover Machu Picchu. Peruvian farmer and explorer Agustín Lizárraga had arrived 9 yrs earlier, leaving an inscription "A. Lizárraga 1902." Sadly, he died one year after Bingham’s arrival, and his inscription was erased by Bingham for "preservation reasons."
aadL TIL At one point, 50% of CDs manufactured worldwide were AOL trial discs.