› added 11 years ago

91

TIL the first legal slave owner in what would become the United States was a black man

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YpNDr TIL Dandelion plants originated in Europe/Asia, and were only brought to North America by 17th-Century colonists. The plants nutritional value, along with its rugged nature, made it an efficient resource for the settlers.
JYw04 TIL that despite his lady's man reputation, Elvis Presley avoided intercourse with most if not all of his early girlfriends, even Priscilla before they were married. One biographer suggested that The King developed an extreme fear of STDs during his military service.
oBQd8 TIL that in 1982, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat, and she ended up having an operation to remove it. Being a keen fisher, she calmly joked when it was done: "The salmon have got their own back".
JP94 TIL Jeanne de Clisson, a Frenchwoman whose husband was beheaded for treason, swore revenge and sold her family lands to buy 3 warships. For the next 13 years she went on a pirating binge, targeting King Philip VI’s ships, & personally beheading French noblemen she captured with an axe.
wL971 TIL of Princess Pingyang. At age 28, she built & led a rebel army that won the 1st victories of her father's rebellion and helped found their dynasty: the Tang. When she died in 628 AD her brother, Emperor Gaozu, went against gender norms of his day and insisted a state military funeral for her.