› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Hayao Miyazaki drew a manga based on the memoirs of Otto Carius, a German tank commander, called Tigers Covered with Mud.

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VBwGZ TIL that traditional lacquer is made w urushiol sap, aka the rash-causing toxin in poison ivy & poison oak. In fact, "urushi" (as in "urushi-ol") is the Japanese for the Chinese lacquer tree (also toxic) & an English word for lacquerware. They all fall in the genus Toxicodendron, or "poison tree".
KORrG TIL there was a period in French history where the country actually was represented by a plain white flag.
RO5w TIL Canada has sold hundreds of millions of tons of asbestos to developing and 3rd world countries with no regulations against the cancer causing substance with no warning, while knowing fully well the dangers of the product.
geND TIL The “real Mafia” did not allow the producers of “The Godfather” to use the word Mafia in the movie. They even sent “family” members to the set to monitor filming. That’s how producers discovered Lenny Montana aka “Luca Brasi”
yQn7w TIL That Sir Arthur Conan Doyle was actually quite pro-American and wrote a letter in 1896 advocating for a formal US-UK alliance.