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TIL the deserts of Tunisia housed the original Star Wars movie sets for the film’s planet Tatooine. More than 30 years after the premier of the first movie in the series, the sets are still very well preserved and visitors to Tunisia can even stay in Luke Skywalker’s home.

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R5Jp9 TIL that the 1454 Gutenberg indulgence printed at least 190,000 forms promising forgiveness for sins including murder, theft, and secret crimes, with grisly warnings of souls burning in purgatory; buyers could present the forms to a confessor to be absolved and spared eternal torment.
eBab TIL the fear of palindromes is aibohphobia
nW6Yb TIL Actor Lionel Royce, dismissed in Nazi Germany for being Jewish, retreated to the Alps, grew a beard, and dyed his hair with hydrogen peroxide. he returned to stage as a "self-thought peasant actor" and was praised by the Nazi as proof of Aryan superiority
mxB7y TIL in 1865, Charles Dickens was traveling home from France when his train derailed while crossing a bridge, and his car was left dangling from the tracks. He helped save stranded passengers and then climbed back into the dangling car to find a manuscript he was supposed to send to his publishers.
lXDB TIL on August 5, 1944, one of the biggest jail-breaks in history involved hundreds of Japanese POWs attempting to escape an Australian prisoner camp. The Japanese considered the Australians weak because they treated the prisoners well. 234 of the Japanese were killed and another 108 wounded.