› added 4 years ago

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TIL there was a Battle of Thermopylae in WWII, which featured outnumbered New Zealand troops holding off a larger Nazi formation at the cost of horrendous casualties

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E15Ko TIL that a Plaque in Plainfield, Indiana marks the spot where a Carriage Driver intentionally drove through a huge mudhole to fling ex-President Martin Van Buren out of the carriage and into the mud. Van Buren had opposed a bill that would have funded improvements to the National Road.
1aRZV TIL the Netherlands government will subsidize sex from prostitutes for disabled citizens.
0dvAA TIL "Union Pacific" retroactively won the first Palme d'Or. It was awarded by a jury in 2002, from a selection of films originally in competition at the cancelled 1939 Cannes Festival.
JAvv TIL of le Chevalier d'Eon, a French diplomat that lived alternatively as male or female. There was a betting pool over his real gender (male) that closed only after his autopsy.
8arwb TIL: pets can donate blood for use in surgeries on other animals - and dogs typically donate 450ml, which is the same as humans do (in the UK).