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TIL during the first gulf war in 1990, NBC delayed the start time to the Tonight Show by 5 minutes, to give their affiliates more time to cover the conflict. Once local stations had those 5 precious minutes, they never gave them back. This is why all late night shows in the US start at 11:35 pm.

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MewRa TIL destitute mothers would leave a playing card when abandoning their child. If the card was torn in half, it meant that the mother would someday return with her half of the card to claim the child. If card was whole, it meant that the child was fully abandoned and the mother would not return.
6DBX TIL In the summer of 1943 an early copy of the plans for D-Day blew out of a window in Norfolk House, London. A man who was passing by handed them in, saying his sight was too bad to read them.
QoGE TIL: Nate Horton is the first (and likely to remain only) NHL player to be credited with a goal in an NHL game which he technically did not play.
ANrPx TIL Gino Bartali was a multiple pre WW2 Grand Tour winner and almost gave up cycling after his brother died whilst racing. During the war he used his fame and prestige to aid Jewish families elude capture. The BBC attributes him as saying "Some medals are made to hang on the soul, not the jacket."
x67bk TIL That a "census-designated place" called "Rough and Ready" (named after Zachary Taylor) in Nevada County, California declared secession from the United States in 1850 (During the California Gold Rush) to avoid mining taxes. It voted to rejoin the union 3 months later on July 4th.