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TIL that Latvian folklorist Anna Bērzkalne wrote her 1942 doctoral thesis in English instead of German as a form of non-violent resistance to the Nazi occupation of Latvia during World War II.

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M7oP7 TIL prevailing local lore credits the Shaka to Hamana Kalili who lost the three middle fingers of his right hand while working at a sugar mill. Kalili was then shifted to guarding the sugar train, and his all-clear wave is said to have evolved into the shaka as children imitated the gesture.
0dRrA TIL about France's Camargue bullfighting, where the object is to not kill the bull, but to remove objects attached to their horns for a cash prize. (More details in comments)
e0BO5 TIL Steven Bradbury, a speedskater and Australia’s first gold medalist in the Salt Lake Winter Olympics, won his medal by purposely going slower than the other 4 skaters and hoping that one or more of them would crash to secure at least a bronze. All four crashed near the finish line.
X0eBr TIL that General Mills acquired Red Lobster in 1970 when they only had 5 locations.
69M8J TIL about the Markovic Affair a political scandal in France in 1968 that followed a violent death of Stefan Marković, a friend and bodyguard of actor Alain Delon. The press speculated Delon was involved. Marković's murder is still unsolved.