› added 6 months ago

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TIL that heirs to the throne of the Ottoman Empire were kept under house-arrest in the "Cage" from puberty until death (or becoming sultan), and it was common for a new sultan to have his brothers killed, including infants, sometimes dozens at once, to reduce the number of claimants to the throne.

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KOaw TIL that during a siege in 1857, a mysterious Scottish soldier watched one his comrades get shot, and announced that he had joined the regiment simply to see that man die. He then ran into a breach singing Bible verses and trying unsuccessfully to get himself killed.
mb5y TIL Robert Englund (Freddy Krueger) was considered to play Han Solo in ‘Star Wars’ and told his close friend who was sleeping on his couch, Mark Hamill, to go audition for the role of Luke Skywalker.
grwBL TIL KMart still has six remaining brick-and-mortar locations. Three in the US Virgin Islands, and one each in Guam, Florida, and The Hamptons.
EKGW TIL Jon Stewart was a skilled soccer player in college and represented the US at the Pan American Maccabi Games in Brazil in 1983.
v1xw7 TIL Henry Cavill (The Witcher, Superman) failed his James Bond screentest back in 2005. The role would be won by Daniel Craig.