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TIL during the 900 day siege of Leningrad by the Nazi's during WW2 (which caused unimaginable suffering and even cannibalism) the Russians built a railway into the city over a temporarily frozen lake. They transported food, medicine, fuel etc and evacuated children and the sick. The "Road of Life"

P1A4e TIL Many Vikings were fearsome warriors, but most were farmers, fishermen, craftsmen and traders. Viking trading centers and trade routes would bring tremendous wealth. The Viking economy and trade network also effectively helped rebuild the European economy after the fall of the Roman Empire.
yVZYw TIL that ESA astronaut Samantha Cristoforetti was the first person to ever wear a Star Trek uniform while in outer space. In 2015, she tweeted a pic of herself on the ISS wearing Captain Janeway’s uniform from Star Trek Voyager.
Qawd TIL that George Lucas was originally going to direct Apocalypse Now. However, he shelved the project due to the studio’s safety concerns as Lucas wanted to shoot the film in Vietnam while the war was still going on.
d8wBE TIL that 'Yobai' ("night crawling") is an ancient Japanese custom where unmarried men could sneak into strangers' houses to have sex with women. The man would leave in the morning, and while the girl's family would know about this, they pretended not to.
9YMGB TIL George Clooney once contemplated suicide while recovering from a head injury sustained from filming a thriller movie, as the pain as so great. He basically bruised his brain and couldn’t take painkillers due to a family history of addiction. He had to use therapy to get through it.