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TIL in a last ditch effort for the Confederacy at the end of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis secretly sent his chief diplomat to England and France, saying the Confederacy would abolish slavery in order to achieve international recognition

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mx6yy TIL that in ancient Greece, the first century BC, an iron statue of a queen was suspended in mid-air in her tomb using magnetism
pKZO TIL when Jay Z was chosen to headline Glastonbury in 2008, Oasis’ guatarist, Noel Gallagher went on a rant about how it’s wrong to have Hip Hop at the festival so Jay Z opened his set with a cover of “Wonderwall”
8a9aV TIL that actress Olivia de Havilland, who got her first Oscar nomination in 1939 for her role in Gone With the Wind (at age 23), is still alive. She's 103.
jYwn TIL The writers of ‘Friends’ didn’t originally intend for Joey to be dim, but when LeBlanc auditioned for the role, he put a “different spin” on the character, convincing the writers that his being dumb would be a great source of comedy.
J1Qj TIL Ina Ray Hutton, leader of the All-Girl Jazz Band the Melodears, was actually African American and used makeup and hair dye to appear white and lead a more successful career.