› added 11 years ago

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TIL There is Exactly One Known Remaining Jew in Afghanistan, He Sells Kababs

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JYxQ8 TIL in Star Wars: A New Hope (1977), when first Darth Vader force chokes the imperial officer, he interrupts him saying the words "hidden fortress". This is a nod to The Hidden Fortress (1958), an Akira Kurosawa film set in Feudal Japan which Star Wars is based on. (timestamped link in comments)
ANdxa TIL Puyi, the last Emperor of China, made a rare visit in June 1942 to confer with the graduating class at the Manchukuo Military Academy, awarding the top student "Takagi Masao" with a gold watch. Masao's real name was Park Chung Hee, who would later go on to be military dictator of South Korea.
E1P9p TIL Mark Twain was a proponent of equal rights. He formed clubs for young women to attend the theatre, to play games, and write correspondence with him. At his death, he said that his time with these girls was his "life's chief delight".
GYGD7 TIL a circle is used to represent a city on a map since early maps would draw small bird's-eye views of cities, and walled cities during that time were usually circular. Eventually the drawing was dropped and only the circular outline remained.
51EP TIL there’s a cheese from Sardinia with maggots in it that’s outlawed by European Union food hygiene-health regulations, however, it’s still made and sold on the black market.