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TIL about the War of Jenkins' ear - a war between Spain and England that started when a British captain, Robert Jenkins, presented his severed ear to the British Parliament, claiming a Spanish officer had cut it off.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/War_of_Jenkins%27_Ear
https://redd.it/1f032d9
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TIL after a Polish Admiral of German descent Józef Unrug was taken prisoner during WW2, his former Imperial German Navy friends came to visit him. Unrug refused to speak German with them, saying that he had forgotten that language in September 1939 the day Germany invaded Poland
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J%C3%B3zef_Unrug
https://redd.it/1ezyvu7
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TIL that the winner of the 1927 Alaska Territorial Flag design competition was a seventh grade orphan named Benny Benson. He was awarded a watch with the flag emblem on it and 1,000 dollars for education that he put toward studying diesel mechanics.
https://alaskahistoricalsociety.org/discover-alaska/kids-page/benny-benson-an-alaska-kid-who-made-history/
https://redd.it/1f0aptk
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TIL There's a School in Washington State in which their school bus has to cut through Canada twice a day every day to take kids to and from school
https://brokensecrets.com/2014/07/29/kids-in-point-roberts-usa-go-through-canada-twice-a-day-for-school-in-the-usa/
https://redd.it/1f0gfj6
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TIL That the Million Dollar 1988 McDonalds record winner was 13, had his mom claim it, she squandered a good chunk of it, had her BF steal what was left, lost his mom 10 years later, doesn’t talk to his sister and now trims trees
https://www.vice.com/en/article/what-happened-to-the-winner-of-mcdonalds-1988-dollar1-million-flexi-disc-contest/
https://redd.it/1f08fqv
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TIL that Samuel L. Jackson was not supposed to wear jheri curls in “Pulp Fictions”. He was going to wear an afro, but that wig was brought to the set by mistake.
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/how-samuel-l-jackson-jules-got-his-iconic-hair-in-pulp-fiction/
https://redd.it/1ezpg5s
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TIL that Lt. Quentin Roosevelt was shot down and killed during the First World War and buried by the German military, making him the only son of a President to die in combat.
https://www.nps.gov/people/quentin-roosevelt.htm
https://redd.it/1ezfcdj
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TIL that "Iron Eyes Cody”, the face of Native Americans with a star on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame, was 100% Sicilian.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Eyes_Cody
https://redd.it/1ezne7p
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TIL a 20 year old man ended his life after thinking he lost $750,000 on an options bet on the stock trading app Robinhood.
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/alex-kearns-robinhood-trader-suicide-wrongful-death-suit/
https://redd.it/1ezq50q
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TIL that unescorted women prevented men from casually assaulting them in the early 1900s with a simple clothing accessory - the hat pin, and it was so effective as a weapon that laws were passed limiting it's length in many states.
https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/hatpins-mashers-self-defense-history-women-hats-fashion
https://redd.it/1eznx4i
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TIL that Canadian serial killer nurse Elizabeth Wettlaufer told her pastor that she had murdered four people and the pastor kept his promise not to turn her in. She would go on to murder two others.
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/wettlaufer-pastor-killings-1.4144693
https://redd.it/1eyxcol
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TIL Kenny Bräck crashed at Texas Motor Speedway in 2003 where he recorded the highest horizontal g-force ever survived by a human being at 214 g
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kenny_Br%C3%A4ck
https://redd.it/1eymcs1
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TIL Wolverine wasn't revealed to have bone under his metal claws until the 90s
https://www.marvel.com/articles/comics/wolverine-adamantium-skeleton-history-explained
https://redd.it/1eyudm0
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TIL 2000 year old seeds not only were planted and germinated, but also reproduced.
https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/tree-grown-2000-year-old-seed-has-reproduced-180954746/
https://redd.it/1eyr0ig
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TIL Jason Derulo’s stage name is a pronunciation respelling of his surname, Desrouleaux
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jason_Derulo
https://redd.it/1eytcaj
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TIL The vast majority of Australia's naval fleet is moored at two different military facilities, located more than 3,900 kilometers apart. By sheer coincidence, both facilities are named "Garden Island".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_Island_%28New_South_Wales%29?wprov=sfla1
https://redd.it/1f0f5to
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TIL former US president Ulysses S Grant and Mark Twain were close friends. Twain, being aware of Grant's poor financial situation post-presidency, offered him a 70% royalty for his Memoirs
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Personal_Memoirs_of_U._S._Grant#Mark_Twain_intervenes
https://redd.it/1f0ghey
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TIL that Marine Corps Captain John W. Ripley was awarded the Navy Cross in Vietnam for climbing under a bridge several times while under fire to plant a combined 500 pounds of explosives in order to destroy it and separate his men from enemy. He survived the action and retired a Colonel in 1992.
https://www.mca-marines.org/wp-content/uploads/Ripley-at-the-Bridge.pdf
https://redd.it/1f088gv
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TIL The largest airline food poisoning incident occurred on Japan Airlines en route to Denmark after 197 fell ill from infected omelettes. Due to limited Japanese/Danish translators, Japanese speaking restaurant staff were recruited from Copenhagen to serve as medical translators
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Japan_Air_Lines_food_poisoning_incident
https://redd.it/1f0bitn
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TIL North Korea actually dropped communism from their constitution in 2009
https://www.reuters.com/article/economy/north-korea-drops-communism-boosts-quotdear-leaderquot-idUSSEO253213/
https://redd.it/1ez46tq
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TIL Leo the Mathematician devised a network of communication beacons that was built and operated around 1100 years ago. Based on modern experiments, the network's several branches could transmit and receive messages at a speed of 450 miles per hour
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byzantine_beacon_system
https://redd.it/1ezccih
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TIL despite being portrayed as young and healthy, John F. Kennedy was hospitalized dozens of times and on three occasions given his last rites.
https://doctorzebra.com/prez/g35.htm
https://redd.it/1ezp1cv
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TIL I learned that Mexico, which abolished slavery in 1837, refused the United States’ request to return escaped slaves back up north. Between 3,000 to 5,000 runaway slaves would flee to Mexico.
https://www.npr.org/2021/02/28/971325620/a-chapter-in-u-s-history-often-ignored-the-flight-of-runaway-slaves-to-mexico
https://redd.it/1ezfle4
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TIL Alanis Morrisette was dropped by her record label after disappointing sales of her first two albums. Her third album, Jagged Little Pill, is the 13th highest selling album of all time worldwide.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jagged_Little_Pill
https://redd.it/1ezco3w
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TIL french pirate Olivier Levasseur allegedly tossed a necklace containing a puzzle that leads to his treasure into a crowd of people moments before his execution. He told the crowd to go find it if they can.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Olivier_Levasseur
https://redd.it/1eyd0x1
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TIL when Senator Harrison of Mississippi's campaign manager asked Senator Bilbo of Mississippi to support Harrison for Senate Majority Leader, Bilbo said that Harrison had to ask him personally. Harrison replied that he wouldn't talk to Bilbo even if it meant the Presidency. Harrison lost by 1 vote.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theodore_G._Bilbo#U.S._Senate
https://redd.it/1eykkyd
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TIL At age 19, future President Lyndon Johnson secured a job teaching elementary school to impoverished Mexican-American students in 1928. Within three months, Lyndon developed various programs including contests in spelling and public speaking, coaching sports
https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/lbj-teacher.htm#:~:text=Caption%3A%20Lyndon%20Johnson%20taught%20at,was%20taken%20with%20his%20students.&text=In%201928%2C%20as%20a%20college,money%20to%20continue%20his%20education.
https://redd.it/1eyvrb3
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TIL Gary Sinise, A.K.A. "Lieutenant Dan" from Forrest Gump has visited 174 military bases and 21 military hospitals around the world since 2003
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gary_Sinise
https://redd.it/1eytre1
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TIL An aboriginal man with a tomahawk was the first Australian to capture a Japanese POW during WWII. He snuck up to a downed pilot and took him to the military base on a neighboring island.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Matthias_Ulungura
https://redd.it/1eym2cp
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TIL in Japan when you finish reading the Mainichi newspaper you can plant it. It's pages consist of recycled paper, water and seeds of flowers and herb
https://www.oneearth.org/the-newspaper-that-gives-back-to-the-earth-literally/
https://redd.it/1expl2k
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