› added 3 years ago

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TIL Franklin Pierce, 14th President of the United States, served all but six weeks of his term without a Vice President. His VP, William King, died of Tuberculosis in Cuba only six weeks after the inauguration.

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loAdV TIL in 1958, Frank Herbert was talking with his friend from the Quileute tribe, whose lands were being destroyed due to excessive logging. The man said white people were "gonna turn this whole planet into a wasteland, just like North Africa." This inspired Herbert to write Dune.
LkeVd TIL Japan's average elevation is actually quite low, despite the popular perception of Japan being covered in hills and mountains.
lo5P5 TIL in Scotland and Ireland, 29 February in a leap year is said to be the one day when a woman can propose to her partner. Finland has the same custom, with the addition that a man rejecting such a proposal was expected to buy his suitor enough cloth for a skirt as compensation.
nk1P TIL During World War I, before the traction splint was introduced, femur fractures had an 80% mortality rate. After the splint was introduced, the rate dropped to around 8%.
69olQ TIL, the 1915 graduating class at West Point is called "the class the stars fell on" because 59 of 164 graduates attained the rank of general.