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TIL General Order No. 11 (1862) was an order issued by Ulysses S. Grant ordering the expulsion of Jews in his district, comprising areas of TN, MS, and KY as part of a campaign against a black market in Southern cotton, which he thought was being run “mostly by Jews and other unprincipled traders.”

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1a81W TIL The U.S. President can legally adjourn Congress any time he chooses. To date, no U.S. President has done so.
GxWE TIL that John Belushi’s death was initially ruled a drug-related accident, but 2 months later a groupie named Catherine Smith admitted to the National Enquirer that she had injected Belushi with the lethal “speedball” injection. Smith served 15 months in prison for manslaughter.
BrXye TIL In the 17th and 18th centuries, a sin-eater would eat your sins for a tiny fee. For believers, each time the sin-eater did his job, he literally becomes a bit more evil.
MNgB TIL from 1591 to 1869, the Catholic Church considered abortion to be permissible before the fetus “formed” (defined as the 116th day of pregnancy).
QDwp TIL in 2000, if Al Gore had been granted the recount he asked for, he still would have lost by several hundred votes. But if Florida had recounted every ballot in dispute, he may have won by as few as 60 votes.