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TIL that the Battle of Jemappes happened today: French army beats Holy Roman Empire

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via reddit.com

jWxM TIL that Paul von Lettow-Vorbeck, the respected commander of German forces in East Africa during WW1 was offered a job by Hitler in 1935. He told Hitler to “go fuck himself” though other reports say he didn’t “put it that politely.”
l7QOA TIL that the thylacine or Tasmanian tiger, was hunted to extinction after being blamed for killing livestock - though its jaw was so weak it likely couldn’t kill more than a possum. It had tiger-like stripes and could open its jaws 80°. The last known thylacine died in Hobart Zoo in 1936.
R5Ba1 TIL the HJ Heinz Company was heavily into pickle production in the early 1900’s. So much so that they patented and used a specialized Pickle Tank rail car for shipping pickles.
16yA8 TIL that the first laws outlawing food coloring were in regards to bread. White bread was expensive and some bakers added chalk to lighten dark bread. King Edward I (1272-1307) created a law saying anyone caught using whiteners in bread would be put in the public pillory for one hour.
PZXw TIL if the history of the universe was condensed into a year, the Milky Way would form on May 15, life on earth would appear on September 21, and the dinosaurs would go extinct on December 30. Modern humans would evolve on December 31 at 11:52 PM and Columbus would discover America at 11:59:58 PM.