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TIL: Éamon De Valera, leader of the Irish Free State negotiated the return of three "Treaty" Ports, conceded to Britain in 1921, under the oral agreement that if war were to come, Britain would have access to them. When war came, De Valera denied Britain access to the Ports under Irish neutrality

ne9WG TIL - In 399 BC, Socrates went on trial and was subsequently found guilty of both corrupting the minds of the youth of Athens and of impiety ("not believing in the gods of the state"),and as a punishment sentenced to death, caused by the drinking of a mixture containing poison hemlock.
gMLyb TIL: Mr. Peanut was created by grade schooler Antonio Gentile for a 1916 contest to design the company's brand icon.
jNYOj TIL Captain Cook's return to Hawaii coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the god Lono. Coincidentally the form of Cook's ship resembled certain artifacts that formed part of the season of worship. He was flayed a month later after trying to kidnap the king.
XbwR TIL that talking drums were used in Africa for centuries to transmit messages over long distances by mimicking speech. When these were brought to America during the slave trade, they were banned because slaves used them to transmit messages their masters couldn’t decipher.
4dWN TIL that in 1947, a country ruled by King George VI attacked a country ruled by King George VI. The only time in the last two hundred years a King was at war with himself