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TIL that the Supreme Court ruling that guarantees you legal representation in criminal trials is the result of an appeal that was hand-written in pencil by a man with an 8th grade education only 45 days into his 5 year prison sentence.

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XPw8 TIL that Brazil participated in WW2, the only independent South American country to do so. The 25,000-troop Brazilian Expeditionary Force worked alongside the Allies, and managed to take 20,573 Axis prisoners, consisting of two generals, 892 officers and 19,679 other ranks.
XE9bD TIL The oldest houseplant in the world is an Eastern Cape Cycad in London's Kew Gardens that has been growing since 1775
ANw7w TIL that France's A and B soccer squads got rocked by Denmark at the 1908 Olympics
P1a7J TIL the first ally soldier to step onto the beaches of Normandy during the D-Day invasion was Leonard Treherne "Max" Schroeder Jr. He made it out alive and was awarded the Silver Star, Bronze Star, and Purple Heart. He died in 2009 at the age of 90.
XEJlr TIL during the middle Ages saffron was so expensive some traders would try to increase their profits by bulking up the herb with yellow marigold petals. When authorities in Nuremberg, where the herb was mainly traded, found out about these tainted parcels of saffron, the traders were burned alive.