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TIL about the heroism of Teddy Sheean, of the Australian navy. During WW2, his ship was torpedoed, and Japanese planes shot at survivors in the sea. Sheean strapped himself to an antiaircraft gun on the sinking ship and fired at the planes, downing at least one. He was still firing as he drowned.

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X0ERP TIL King William II organized a hunting trip and was presented with six arrows; taking four for himself, he handed the other two to Tirel, saying, "Bon archer, bonnes fleches". It was the last time that William was seen alive.
ANdMg TIL that, while the passenger pigeon had a range across multiple U.S. states, the largest nesting sites were recorded in Wisconsin and Michigan in the 1870s, but the bird went extinct in the wild by 1902. The extinction of the passenger pigeon is also tied to the modern Lyme disease epidemic.
gMV9W TIL In the past, Aboriginal people tapped the Eucalyptus gunnii to allow the sap, resembling maple syrup, to collect in hollows in the bark or at the base of the tree. Ever-present yeast would ferment the liquid to an alcoholic, cider-like beverage.
nWn8B TIL To get a convincing performance out of the boy that played the kidnapped child in Close Encounters of the Third Kind, Spielberg&Co. wore gorilla and clown costumes off-camera to surprise him, and slowly opened presents to get his wide-eyed amazed reaction to seeing aliens in his kitchen.
16XYd TIL of Alejandra Loaiza, ex-wife of both Jermaine and Randy Jackson of the Jackson family. She had children with both, making the kids both half-siblings and cousins.