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TIL that in 1958, FIFA introduced a rule requiring teams to play in order to qualify for the World Cup, prompted by Israel's qualification due to forfeits by all their opponents

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ZpeYQ TIL that the famous song "Happy Birthday to You" was originally written as "Good Morning to All" in the late 1800s by Patty Hill and her sister Mildred. The melody was later adapted, and it became the go-to song for birthday celebration worldwide, despite being the most sung song in English Language
Dm9Y TIL In WW2, US codebreakers could not decipher the Japanese code “AF” but suspected it was Midway, so the base there sent an uncoded message about a water supply problem. The US then caught a Japanese message that AF had water problems, allowing the US pacific fleet to immediately prepare for battle
oR9PW TIL that the Great Sphinx of Giza’s nose has been broken since at least the 1400s. A 15th century writer blamed the incident on the actions of a zealot in 1378. Archaeological evidence indicates the nose was broken off by rods or chisels.
16bpW TIL of the courtesy flag - a small national maritime flag of the host country, flown by ships when entering a nation's territorial waters for the first time.
ANoma TIL Scrabbles highest recorded single play score is 365 or 392 based on dictionary used. Its theorised the maximum single word play maybe worth up to 4046 points and the longest game recorded by Guinness was 153 hours, this won't be beaten as the publishers deemed duration records dangerous