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TIL German-Italian microcar BMW Isetta was modified to hide a person inside the engine bay in order to escape unsuspecting East German border police. Nine people were able to defect successfully before being discovered.

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xVX8b TIL there is a name for such common errors as writing "tow the line" instead of "toe the line." The word eggcorn was coined when a linguist noted a woman who used that word instead of "acorn" and realized there was no word for the general phenomenon.
d8aa9 TIL that Lebanon made a massive bowl of hummus to get into the Guiness Book of World Records just so people around the world can recognise that hummus is from Lebanon
8e0aP TIL that American country music singer Lee Greenwood attempted to trademark the term "God Bless America." The trademark was rejected since the ordinary consumer would perceive the words at their ordinary meaning rather than as a trademark, which is meant to indicate the source of a product.
X0v4j TIL Henry George's funeral in New York was so large that many commentators argued about whether it was the largest funeral in New York history or if it was the largest since Lincoln's.
oom7 TIL Frank Sinatra and the Rat Pack are widely credited with helping end segregation in Las Vegas, by refusing to perform in venues that wouldn’t allow blacks