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TIL of Friedrich Kellner’s diary titled “My Opposition”, consisting of 10 volumes, 861 pages, and 676 individually dated entries from September 1939 to May 1945. His diary offers a glimpse at what an average German citizen might’ve known of during the height of Nazi Germany’s power.

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kOYQ4 TIL that when cardinals failed to elect a pope for 2 years, a hermit warned them of divine vengeance. Cardinals elected him as Pope Celestine V. He refused and tried to flee, and after being persuaded, he wrote two decrees: for fixing the papal elections and for allowing him to resign. Then resigned
vPY1R TIL A 2004 British reality show selected nine contestants for their suggestibility, tricked them into thinking they were flown to Russia, then had them compete to become space tourists. The "winners" were placed on a simulator and tricked into thinking they were in space for five days.
xVbbB TIL in 1954, Soviet rocket engineer Sergei Korolev could not get funding to pursue a space program, so he planted a fake new-story claiming Russia was going to launch a satellite. The US responded that they were also going to launch one, so the Soviets then agreed to fund the program.
ed0n TIL that pan-African nations have come together pledging to build a 15 kilometer wide band of trees that will stretch all the way across Africa, 7500 kilometer, in order to stop the progressive advancement of the Sahara.
grKLL TIL Paleolithic peoples suffered less famine and malnutrition than the early farming communities that came after them, because Paleolithic hunter-gatherers accessed a wider variety of natural foods, which allowed them a more nutritious diet and a decreased risk of famine.