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TIL that the final Confederate surrender of the US Civil War took place on the River Mersey, in Liverpool, England, when a Confederate warship (CSS Shenandoah) learned of the North’s victory while abroad.

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via reddit.com

VMYmB TIL: In Medieval Germany, peasants believed in a magical land called “Cockaigne”, or “schlaraffenland”, where you could grab pork sausage off of trees or have cooked fish swim out of a beer river and onto your plate. This tale stuck and motivated the working class; in fact, it’s still told today!
Z88B TIL Public school teachers are almost twice as likely to send their kids to private schools, and the number of teachers choosing private schools is upwards of 40% in some urban areas (Philadelphia, Cincinnati)
X4ar TIL that the first canadian Prime Minister, Sir John A. Macdonald, appeared so drunk during a debate that he threw up, he then said “I get sick sometimes not because of drink or any other cause, except that I am forced to listen to the ranting of my honourable opponent.”
gBl4 TIL 17-year-old Harvard student, Ted Kaczynski, was one of 22 subjects in the CIA-sponsored Project MKUltra. It focused on measuring people’s reactions under extreme stress. Assaults to their egos, cherished ideas and beliefs were the vehicle used to cause high levels of stress and distress.
WVwX TIL Thomas Edison was one of the first movie pirates. He stole prints of Georges Méliès’ A Trip to the Moon and distributed them in the United States. Shortly afterward, Méliès went bankrupt