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TIL US Postal Inspector and Anti-Vice activist Anthony Comstock used his position to attack "obscene" books and birth control. He boasted he was responsible for 4,000 arrests, while biographers have attributed 15 suicides to Comstock's persecutions.

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GGr1 TIL that US courts have ruled that police departments can refuse to hire someone considered to be ‘too smart.’
wojR6 TIL that in the 1950s the US Air Force was developing a highly maneuverable, hypersonic flying saucer. Code named "Pye Wacket" it was to be a defensive weapon for the B-70 Valkyrie mach 3 bomber.
QJPbp TIL Leonardo de Vinci isn't the only one who painted the "Mona Lisa", his student Francesco painted a version her too. Francisco's painting has been kept in far better condition and is currently on display at the Prado museum in Madrid.
5YxBk TIL the Abraham Lincoln Battalion was a group of American fighters in the Spanish Civil War, including a vaudeville acrobat, a rabbi, and the first African-American ever to lead white troops into battle.
mMxx TIL that rice does not need to be grown in water, but since it can survive it, it is done so that weeds and other pests can be controlled, leading to higher yields.