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TIL that even though he owned slaves in the past, Benjamin Franklin became more opposed to slavery later in his life. Eventually becoming the president of an abolitionist society, he even included a provision in his will that required his child to free her slave in order to gain his inheritance.

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951B TIL that most Nazi soldiers brought to the US as POWs left with positive feelings about the country at the end of WWII, and after their Geneva Convention required German repatriation, about 5000 of the soldiers emigrated back to the States, with thousands of others returning later to visit.
b69Ka TIL During Julius Caesar's siege of a Gallic fort, the Romans dug tunnels under the spring that served as the fort's water supply. The defenders, believing that the spring drying up was a sign from the gods, surrendered. Caesar spared their lives, but had their hands cut off.
D1A0r TIL that all mammals, from mice to whales, have roughly the same number of heartbeats in a lifetime: 1 billion.
mxg6p TIL about Hoover, the talking seal. He first learned to vocalize from the human family who saved him and his accent reflects their New England speech. Additional sources in the comments.
7l7x TIL although the stabbing death of indie rock icon Elliott Smith is widely believed to be a suicide his autopsy report lists his mode of death as “undetermined.” Hesitation wounds were absent, possible defensive wounds were found on his hands, and his name was misspelled on his suicide note.