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TIL the Union army once commandeered a boat to move 111 (unwilling) prostitutes to Louisville to stop VD spreading in their Nashville garrison. The Louisville authorities turned it away, as did everyone else, so after 28 days afloat it was forced to return to Nashville to disembark the furious girls

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QRjM TIL that after the Muhammed cartoons controversy, an Iranian newspaper launched the ‘Holocaust Cartoon Competition’ to denounce “Western hypocrisy on freedom of speech”. The Danish journalist behind Muhammed cartoons said they’ll publish the Holocaust cartoons but he was ultimately fired.
E1oQd TIL that America's first space shuttle, The Enterprise, was supposed to be called The Constitution but had its name changed after a massive write-in campaign from Star Trek fans. At the dedication, Gene Roddenberry and cast members from the show were in attendance.
G7p1 TIL in 1962, the actress Clara Blandick, who played “Auntie Em” in The Wizard of Oz, neatly arranged her room to display memorabilia, press clippings, and a resume of her career. She then dressed immaculately, took an overdose of sleeping pills, and tied a plastic bag over her head.
neaxo TIL about Smoky the Yorkie, a pet dog to soldiers in the south pacific, weighing 4lbs, who kept operational 40 United States fighters by running a wire tied to her collar through a 6in pipe, completing a 3 day construction job in minutes. Also had 10 recognized combat flights, 8 combat stars.
j6NyN TIL that Alice Munro, co-founder of a bookstore with her then-husband Jim, started writing after reading some of the store's stock and thinking "I can write better books than this." In 2013, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature.