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TIL the word "Walkman" became so popular in the German language as a generic term for a personal stereo that in 2002 the Austrian Supreme Court ruled that any brand, not just Sony, could use that word to describe such a device.

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OoyNY TIL that South Korea formed a covert military unit in 1968 with the intention of assassinating North Korea's leader. Unemployed youths or petty criminals were recruited and trained on an uninhabited island for 3 years. The existence of the unit was covered up until the 1990s.
8exRV TIL when filming Mr. Smith Goes to Washington the Park Service did not want Frank Capra to film at the Lincoln Memorial, so he sent a large crew elsewhere as a distraction while a smaller crew filmed Stewart and Jean Arthur inside the Memorial
5Y1rB TIL that in the 2012 Kuwait athletics event, The technicians accidentally played the Borat version of the Kazakh national anthem during the medal ceremony of the Kazakhstan winner.
er6b TIL that the Chili Peppers bassist, Flea, has become a beekeeper in an effort to stave off the declining honeybee population
9Y6xD TIL that the Eiffel Tower was originally supposed to be in Barcelona but the city thought it would look like an eyesore so Gustave Eiffel was forced to repitch the project elsewhere.