› added 1 month ago

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TIL that a ship's cat known as "Unsinkable Sam", survived the sinking of three ships in 1941 - the German battleship Bismarck, the British destroyer HMS Cossack and the aircraft carrier HMS Ark Royal.

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nWpY7 TIL The policeman John Parker, who was assigned to guard the entrance to Lincoln’s box at Fords Theater, was not immediately fired after he was assassinated. He was even assigned to guard Mary Todd Lincoln afterwards, though she quickly dismissed him. He was only fired in 1868 for sleeping on duty.
xVBv5 TIL that Charging Bull, the famous statue on Wall Street, was installed secretly and illegally outside the New York Stock Exchange in 1989 following the 1987 stock market crash. The sculpture was seized and impounded by NYPD, but re-installed two blocks south of the Exchange after a public outcry.
E0x TIL While awaiting execution, Nikolai Bukharin wrote to Stalin, “Koba, why do you need me to die?”. ‘Koba’ was Stalin’s revolutionary pseudonym, and Bukharin’s use of it was a sign of how close the two had once been. The note was found still in Stalin’s desk after his death in 1953.
e0X8k TIL not everyone hears "ear rumbling" when yawning
jNZgv TIL - Handshakes where originally used to make sure that the other person wasn't carrying a weapon. The hand clasp proved their hands were empty and the shake proved there was nothing in their sleeves.