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TIL that, once the Civil War began, Confederate general Robert E. Lee's plantation outside Washington DC was repurposed by the Lincoln administration to house a camp for escaped slaves. It contained a school, hospital, and cemetery, and it is now the site of Arlington National Cemetery.

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gMPa7 TIL hundreds of love letters between two gay World War II soldiers were found and are being made into a book. In one, one of them wrote, “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all our letters could be published in the future in a more enlightened time. Then all the world could see how in love we are.”
OonQ6 TIL a pigeon named, Cher Ami was awarded the Croix de Guerre Medal for her heroic service in delivering 12 important messages during WWI. Most importantly, the message from a trapped 194 man battalion. Arriving with a shot through the breast, blinded in one eye, and her leg hanging by a tendon.
e0J8L TIL that in response to the 2013 Horse Meat Scandal, Iceland tests find meat pies contain no meat at all
9YMyX TIL that the US had a lesbian First Lady in 1885-1886. She was Rose Cleveland--Grover Cleveland's youngest sister and Acting US First Lady before Grover married in 1886. She was also a lesbian & had a relationship with a wealthy widow, Evangeline Marrs Simpson, with explicitly erotic correspondence.
grOKb TIL on August 21st, 1989 Film producer H.B. Halicki, was killed in an accident on the set of gone in 60 seconds 2, in Buffalo, N.Y. Halicki, 48, of Gardena, died when a cable that was attached to a water tower snapped and severed a telephone pole, which fell on him.