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TIL Japanese writer Kōbō Abe wrote surreal, often nightmarish explorations of individuals in contemporary society. His experiences in Manchuria deeply influenced his writing, imprinting terrors and fever dreams that became surrealist hallmarks of his works

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m1EXo TIL Napoleon only started learning French at age 10. Having been born in Corsica (which was ceded to France by Italy the year he was born), his first languages were Corsican and Italian. He spoke with a distinctive Corsican accent and never learned how to spell correctly in French.
bvMN TIL in 1985, two men forced their way into Fran Drescher’s home. While one ransacked the house, the other raped Drescher and her friend at gunpoint. Her husband was also physically attacked, tied up, and forced to witness the entire ordeal.
e0k0J TIL the airport in which "The Terminal" was shot was a massive failure. Traffic predictions were grossly overestimated, the highways to link it to Montréal were never built and its terminal was insulated with asbestos. It hasn't received passengers since 2004 and the terminal was destroyed in 2016.
W8KA TIL that a flight attendant quit his job by telling an unruly passenger “Fuck you”, grabbing beer from the beverage cart, deploying the emergency escape chute and sliding away off into the sunset
loWoA TIL: Charlie Chaplin was never an American citizen and was essentially exiled. During the McCarthy era, the FBI put him under surveillance, and a Mississippi congressman called for his deportation. The U.S. government then revoked his re-entry permit in 1952 as he traveled to England on vacation.