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TIL of the most rural post office in the US; the Supai Post Office is at the bottom of the Grand Canyon and is serviced by a mule train that takes 2.5 hours to reach it. It services the Havasupai reservation and demonstrates the obligation of the US Postal System to service every community.

QJXXX TIL: Armin T. Wegner who resisted both the Armenian Genocide & the Holocaust. In 1915, he took hundreds of photos of the persecuted Armenians and was subsequently arrested. In 1933, he wrote a letter to Hitler denouncing the persecution of Jews, and was then sent to a concentration camp.
lXLr TIL when Soviet Minister Molotov stated that the cluster bombs being dropped on Finland were actually food, the Finns began sarcastically calling the bombs “Molotov bread baskets,” which they responded to with their own “Molotov cocktails,” as “a drink to go with the food.”
eKxn TIL Stairwells in medieval castles curved very narrowly and clockwise. Attackers coming up the stairs had sword hands (right hand) against the interior curve of the wall and made it very difficult to swing their swords. Defenders had their sword hands on the outside wall giving much room to swing.
Z8ea4 TIL there is a Hebrew equivalent to the Yiddish phrase "oy vey" (a phrase expressing dismay or exasperation) - it's "oy vavoy"
ZLKB TIL Elephants have 1 large molar tooth per arch and are replaced 6 times in their lives. As the teeth are worn down the 6th set of molars must last the rest of their lives or else they cannot eat anymore and die of starvation.