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TIL when Major Winters complained to Tom Hanks about the historical accuracy of 'Band of Brothers', Tom Hanks turned around, stated he was a genius, and said he was lucky to have it as accurate as it was. Tom estimates the show to be about 17% accurate to historical events.

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OG9Va TIL that despite being 69 years old at the time and a civilian John L. Burns fought for the Union at the battle of Battle of Gettysburg.
aAey TIL that for unknown reasons, during a bidding war with a consortium of tech firms for Nortel’s 6,000 patents, Google bid $1,902,160,540, then $2,614,972,128, and eventually $3.14159 billion (references to Brun’s constant, Meissel–Mertens constant, and pi)
oRW9A TIL that around 20% of young people lack a gag reflex.
XE6x6 TIL that up until the year 1916, London's famed department store Harrods offered packages of morphine and cocaine complete with syringe and spare needles, which was recommended as “A Useful Present for Friends at the Front.”
7rPBp TIL that scientists once gave drugs to bees, and found that they respond similarly to humans: bees on cocaine tend to overestimate the amount of sugar they find and exaggerate when reporting back to the hive.