› added 1 year ago

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TIL about Gilbert Motier, a French military officer who commanded Continental Army troops in the American Revolutionary War and later played a key role in the French Revolution. His ancestor, also named Gilbert Motier, also fought England alongside Joan of Arc in 1429.

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.
RN17 TIL Mitsubishi, which buys and sells 60% of the blue fin tuna market, is expanding it’s freezing capacity so it can sell the tuna for “astronomical sums” upon impending extinction.
R7aO9 TIL that Pakistan was accused of forging documents in a corruption case dated from 2006 because they used the font Calibri, a font that wasn't available until 2007. It was referred to as "Fontgate"
PYOWZ TIL that a practical joker once set 70 old tires on fire inside Mount Edgecumbe, a dormant volcano in Alaska. Local residents thought the volcano was erupting until they saw "APRIL FOOL" spray-painted in 50-foot letters around the rim of the crater. He had been planning the prank for four years.
6ERZJ TIL the earliest of several attempts to ban coffee took place in Mecca 1511 CE. Its effects on the mind were decided to be as intoxicating as alcoholic drinks, and therefore was banned on religious grounds. It was overturned later as coffee has been shown to sharpen instead of dull the senses.