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TIL on the morning of D-Day, J.D. Salinger landed on Omaha Beach with six chapters of his unfinished novel Catcher in the Rye in his backpack.

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BDEW TIL the last Emperor of Brazil Pedro II became ruler aged 5. He had a grim, lonely childhood studying for duty. He won 3 wars, turned Brazil into a global power & abolished slavery. After 58 years he grew weary, accepting a military coup. He lived his last days alone in Europe on very little money.
04VL TIL in 1955, a plaster buddha statue more than 600 years old was dropped during an attempt to move it to a new location. After some of the plaster coating was chipped off, it was revealed that the plaster was covering a statue made of solid gold.
M7rN8 TIL The Spanish Empire developed a long term plan to conquer China in the 16th century, a crucial part of the plan was to encourage mixed marriages between natives and settlers to turn China Hispanic and so easier to rule over.
VJ8m TIL Neapolitan Ice cream was originally made to resemble the Italian Flag (green (pistachio or almond), white (vanilla), and red (cherry))
AXGw TIL that Thai prisoners are released early if they take part in special kick boxing matches against foreigners