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TIL of Clarence Earl Gideon, who from his prison cell in 1962 wrote and mailed a writ of certiorari to the US Supreme Court. The decision from the resulting case required U.S. states to provide attorneys to criminal defendants who are unable to afford their own, per the 6th and 14th amendments.

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gMVK8 TIL about pioneer James Young, a black man who was born into slavery, and would later move into Tombstone, Arizona, where he become a miner, ranch worker, hostler, indian scout, bodyguard, buffalo soldier, and a boxer who was the only black man to fight heavyweight world champion, John L Sullivan.
ZpE7Q TIL that in 1969, Richard Nixon had the White House Secret Service Uniformed Division's uniforms redesigned for formal occasions. The white with gold trim uniforms were widely criticized, and subsequently pulled from service. Many eventually wound up as Meriden-Cleghorn High School Band uniforms
v19nD TIL that during the 1908 Olympics, marathon runners, including the winners, drank champagne, brandy, or strychnine cocktails, in the belief that it would provide energy. In 1924, the Paris games provided wine at rehydration stations.
wLpkE TIL that British Member of Parliament, Arnold Wilson, joined the Royal Air Force Volunteer Reserve in October 1939. He stated that "I have no desire to shelter myself and live in safety behind the ramparts of the bodies of millions of our young men."
8eKJ4 TIL there's a radiation-eating fungus growing in the abandoned vats of Chernobyl