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TIL: that when the Mongol army was withering from the 14th century bubonic plague epidemic, they decided to catapult their infected corpses over city walls before invading. This is considered one of the first acts of biological warfare

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8jna TIL of an old English anecdote claiming that ‘Sirloin steak’ is derived from an occasion when King James I of England, while being entertained at Hoghton Tower in 1617, was so impressed by the quality of his steak that he knighted the loin of beef, which was referred to thereafter as “Sir loin”
XEJrr Today I learned that the last Rosie the Riveter was involuntarily laid off from her job at the age of 95 in 2014.
N7rL1 TIL when slave/abolitionist Frederick Douglass was 16, he fought back against his brutal master. Edward Covey, a man who had a reputation as a "slave-breaker," whipped Douglas regularly and almost broke him until one day, Douglass fought and came out victorious. Covey never tried to beat him again.
a88y9 TIL The presidential yacht of Yugoslavia, Galeb, was a former Italian and Nazi warship. The Nazis minelayer was sunk by the Allies in 1944 and Yugoslavia raised it, converting it to a yacht in 1952. Ship visitors include Queen Elizabeth II, Khrushchev, Nehru, Nasser, and Kurt Douglas.
PPew TIL, Batman creator Bob Kane said in a Cinescape interview that of all the actors to have played Batman up to that point (before the series was rebooted in 2005), he felt Val Kilmer had given the best interpretation.