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TIL the shortest-lived "empire" in history was a restoration of the Qing Dynasty of China lasting for 11 days in July 1917. Monarchists seized Beijing and reinstated Emperor Puyi, deposed five years prior and now eleven years old, on July 1 and were pushed back out by Republican forces on July 12.

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9wQV7 TIL the Great Horse Manure Crisis of 1894 refers to a supposed newspaper article that said because of horses, in "50 years, every street in London will be buried under nine feet of manure." It's an analogy for how new technologies (in this case cars) can take care of problems that seemed unsolvable.
ADe0x TIL that after Booth assassinated Lincoln by shooting him the back of the head, the largest manhunt in US history, involving thousands of troops and countless civilians, tracked him down to a barn. As he attempted escape, Sergeant Boston Corbett killed Booth by shooting him in the back of the head.
nWBB9 TIL prostitution is legal in Australia
BgKJk TIL that from 1929 to 1955, the chairman of the NAACP was a Caucasian man named Walter White.
7rrAO TIL of Colonel Charles Young, the first African American to reach the rank of Colonel in the US Army. After being denied promotion to brigadier general under the guise of fitness, he rode on horseback from Wilberforce, Ohio, to Washington, D.C. to disprove rumors of his poor health.