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TIL Xu QinXian, the commander of China’s most elite army in 1989, refused to open fire on civilians at Tiananmen, stating: “the People’s Army has never in its history been used to suppress the people, I absolutely refuse to besmirch this historical record!” He was court martialled but not executed.

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JbG1 TIL critics complained Indian artist Daler Mehndi of being popular only because he featured beautiful dancing women in his music videos. Mehndi’s response was to create a music video that featured only himself. So that’s how the popular music video “Tunak Tunak Tun” was born.
RGw TIL that “Call Me Maybe” was originally released in Canada through 604 Records, the production company started by Chad Kroeger of Nickelback.
Me4Gb TIL Sojourner Truth's "Ain't I A Woman" speech never contained that phrase. Truth was raised speaking Dutch in New York. Instead, a white woman retranscribed it 15 years later, embellishing her language to sound more like Southern slaves.
dl5E TIL one of Frank Abagnale’s (Catch Me If You Can) first cons was to buy a security guard costume, and place a sign over a bank drop box saying “Out of Service, Place deposits with security guard on duty”. He later stated he was shocked it worked, commenting “How can a drop box be out of service?”.
PY18e TIL Josef Mengele's bones are used to teach forensic medicine in Brazil's University of São Paulo (USP), in the brazillian state where he lived from 1960 to 1976.