› added 8 years ago

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TIL in a 1945 German POW camp near Ziegenhain, Germany, the Germans demanded that all of the Jews step forward. The ranking US Officer, Roddie Edmonds, ordered all US personnel to step forward, refusing to give up the Jewish soldiers under his command. He was finally honored 70 years later.

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Ooe87 TIL: Wales can trace its throne in continual rulership back to the Romano-British, making it technically the last Roman rump state left in Europe.
WBeN TIL the pages of what became Catcher in the Rye were carried by author J.D. Salinger as he stormed the beach at Normandy on D-Day, through the streets of Paris, and into liberated concentration camps. The story was shaped by his experiences.
yx8e TIL Kosher salt isn’t any more kosher than regular table salt. It gets its name from its use in making meats kosher by removing surface blood.
VM49k TIL Typhoid Mary spent 26 years in forced isolation after infecting over 50 people with typhoid fever.
MeO9W TIL West Virginia State Board of Education v. Barnette (1943) deemed it unconstitutional to force ordinary citizens to participate in patriotic rituals. The initial case was for refusal due to religious reasons, but the ruling was generalized to allow all forms of refusal.