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TIL In 1983, a German magazine bought what they thought where Hitler’s diaries for $6 million. They were authenticated by 3 handwriting experts, but the magazine refused to let any German experts examine them. The diaries were soon revealed as "grotesquely superficial fakes”.

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XE4pE TIL "Parks and Recreation" was initially supposed to be a spin-off of "The Office" as requested by NBC. One idea was a broken copy machine from Scranton would break down in an episode of The Office and then end up in Pawnee, making the office equipment the spun-off character.
KOYJQ An extraordinary collection of images from Burns Archive shows the extent to which gas masks were promoted as an essential part of everyday life in the early 20th century. It had been 20 years since the end of World War I, when chlorine gas—and, later, mustard gas—had first been used. The estimates of total casualties from this form of chemical warfare are staggering: 88,000 dead and 1,200,000 injured. With war once again on the horizon, Britain and continental Europe began taking early precautions. In 1938, the British government issued 35 million “General Civilian Respirators”. Everyone from ballerinas to surgeons were encouraged to wear the masks.
VB7jD TIL the principality of Monaco used to be much bigger but in 1848 its two largest cities (Menton and Roquebrune) seceded from Monaco as they wished to join Italy during the first war of Italian independence during the Risorgimento
wAKW TIL that US military operations during the 2003 Iraq invasion were originally conducted under the codename Operation Iraqi Liberation. They later changed it to Operation Iraqi Freedom because of the acronym.
gr9Z7 TIL that actor Hume Cronyn's father has an asteroid named after him (12050-Humecronyn)