› added 4 years ago

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TIL about the Chesapeake Bay Flotilla, a motley collection of barges and gunboats assembled to defend Chesapeake Bay from the British Royal Navy. The ships were scuttled to prevent capture, and the sailors brought the cannons ashore to defend Washington D.C. in the Battle of Bladensburg.

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78pEp TIL nine women, called "The 9 Nanas," kept a decades-long secret that even their husbands knew nothing about. For 30 years, they gathered at 4 a.m. to bake cakes, send care packages to people, anonymously pay bills and buy clothes for those in need.
ZoRv TIL the Freemasons of the UK and Ireland donate Teddy bears to pediatric A&E departments to be given to distressed children. To date they have donated one million bears in the UK and over 85,000 in Ireland.
Ra9l TIL Bruce Lee’s actual corpse appeared in his final movie, Game of Death. The footage used in the film, which includes close-up shots of the open casket in addition to a shot of his embalmed face, was taken from his funeral in real life.
g468 TIL Netflix’s origin story “Reed Hasting came up with the idea for Netflix when he was hit with a $40 late fee on the movie Apollo 13” is BS and just a marketing tool.
LQpad TIL when Mike Meaney began his record attempt at being buried alive he neglected to tell his wife about his plan. She found out from listening to the radio. He staged workouts in a pub while in an oversized coffin, ate a diet of steak and cigarettes, and then spent 61 days buried alive