› added 5 years ago

83

TIL that, in 1913, a Nebraska man took a butcher knife and threatened to kill his wife and newborn son. The mother left him, remarried, and had the boy's name changed to that of his step-father. The boy, now known as Gerald Ford, later went on to become the 38th President of the United States.

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wLgV6 TIL that according to a 2014 Pew Poll, 23% of Americans who identify as libertarians have no idea what the word means
kJY7m TIL after being sent to Baltimore in his youth, Frederick Douglass learned the alphabet from the mistress of the house he moved into. When the mistress' husband put an end to the lessons, Douglass began trading bread to hungry neighborhood children who, in turn, helped him learn how to read & write
Z8WYY TIL that astronauts swallow their toothpaste after brushing, as spitting is not possible because of its weightlessness.
QNPKp TIL that the US Navy's ALVIN deep ocean research submersible that was used to discover the Titanic was constructed by General Mills, most famous for its breakfast cereal brands.
awajN TIL a man went to prison for killing hundreds of thousands of fish, blaming them for the death of his father. First I started picking them off with my 30.06, when I ran out of shells I went after ‘em with my knife. when I dropped it into the river, I went to work with my bare hands.”