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TIL Kissinger was sent on a secret trip to China in 1971, wearing fedora and sunglasses as disguise. Landing in Pakistan first, he feigned a stomach ache, saying he needed a few days to rest, which bought him enough time to fly into Beijing undetected

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a84GN TIL that Francis Scott Key was the lead prosecutor in the first sedition trial in the U.S. Key charged Reuben Crandall for publishing abolitionist pamphlets deemed rebellious and persuaded the judge not to grant bail. Crandall was acquitted but died shortly after contracting tuberculosis in prison.
dDWLB TIL that a Blink Comparator is a mechanical device for visually comparing two similar images. In 1930, it was instrumental in the discovery of Pluto.
4XYRN TIL after only 4 years of primary school, German children are placed on one of four tracks: Hauptschule for less academic students, Realschule for intermediary students, Gymnasium for academic students, or Gesamtschule (comprehensive school). Only Gymnasium entitles one to attend university
XvZX TIL when the Vanessa Williams Miss America scandal was breaking, Hugh Hefner was offered the nude photos. He turned them down saying “There was never any question of our interest. But they clearly weren’t authorized and because they would cause considerable embarrassment, we decided not to publish.”
0vJL TIL When Paris fell to the Nazis on June 14, 1940, French resistance fighters cut the elevator cables to the Eiffel Tower. This meant that if Hitler wanted to hoist a swastika flag, a soldier would have to climb the roughly 1710 stairs to the summit platform.