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TODAY IN HISTORY: Dictator hated movie so much, he took 200 people hostage

Nick Pearson
Nick Pearson

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General Idi Amin Dada: A Self-Portrait premiered at Cannes Film Festival on May 22, 1974.

The documentary by French director Barbet Schroeder showed Ugandan dictator Idi Amin's professional and personal life.

Attribution: Le Figaro Films
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Amin would give long diatribes to the camera about his bizarre theories about politics and economics.

He would also demonstrate his military prowess in conducting army drills and mock assaults.

Attribution: Le Figaro Films
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But Schroeder released two versions of the documentary, one to be shown in Uganda, and the other to be shown in the rest of the world.

Outside of Uganda, Amin was seen as unpredictable, delusional and monstrous.

In one scene, Amin told off a cabinet member.

The documentary noted the politician would be found dead in a river two weeks later.

Attribution: Le Figaro Films
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But the suspicious Amin asked Libyan agents to watch the alternate cut of the movie in Britain and report back to him.

When he found out how the movie depicted him, Amin was enraged.

Attribution: Le Figaro Films
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He took almost 200 French nationals hostage in Uganda and gave them Schroeder's home phone number in France.

They were instructed to tell him they would not be released until he re-edited the documentary to Amin's liking.

Attribution: Le Figaro Films
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Schroeder gave in and made the requested changes.

It would not be until Amin was overthrown five years later that the full movie was re-released.

Attribution: Le Figaro Films
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Microsoft launched one of its most played programs for the first time on May 22, 1990.

And even though 30 years on Solitaire was still being played 100 million times a day, the person who made it wasn't paid at all.

Wes Cherry was an unpaid intern at Microsoft in the summer of 1988.

Attribution: Microsoft
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Cherry had played Solitaire on a Macintosh but the game wasn't available on Windows.

So with not enough at his internship to keep him busy, he created the program himself.

Attribution: Microsoft
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Microsoft then decided to include the game in its new Windows, believing it would acclimate new computer users to a click-and-drag function.

Though at the time Microsoft founder Bill Gates believed the game was too hard for regular users.

Attribution: Peter Rae
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Because he was an unpaid intern, Cherry did not make any money from the game.

"I was perfectly fine with it and I am to this day," he said in 2015.

He now runs a cider-making company.

Attribution: Dragon's Head Cider
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