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TIL of Thomas Higgins, the first person to be posthumously elected as a UK Member of Parliament. He died from a heart attack on election night, after polling had closed, but before the result had been declared.

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e0KVL TIL A man called Miyamoto Musashi is considered the greatest swordsman who ever lived and even defeated legendary swordsman Sasaki Kojiro. He arrived on the Island where they were due to fight, late, and with a wooden sword he'd carved out of an oar of the boat he used to get to the island.
nkRG TIL Beauty and the Beast (1991) became the first animated film to be nominated for the Best Picture Oscar and remained the only animated film until 2010 when the field was widened to 10 nominations (Up was the 2nd).
Z8Y9G TIL during the 1992 L.A. riots, police officers asked the accompanying U.S. Marines to cover them while searching a house for a suspect that held his wife and children hostage. Mistaking the statement "cover them" for suppressive fire, the Marines promptly fired 200 rounds into the house.
a84Mo TIL; Flushing a toilet with the lid down could reduce airborne particles by as much as 50%.
gMr8A TIL Ali Farka Touré (3-time Grammy award winner) was the tenth son of his mother but the only one to survive past infancy.