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TIL that British ("matchstick men") artist L.S. Lowry holds the record for the most refused Royal Honours....in his lifetime, he turned down awards FIVE times, including a Knighthood in 1968.

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a5xN TIL Both Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte played, and we’re beaten by a, chess robot. The robot toured the world, beating masters and novices alike. However, in reality it was just a man in a box.
6A9l TIL that the Tourette Syndrome Association released a statement after the South Park episode “Le Petit Tourette” where they complimented the show on being “well researched” and that it “served as a clever device” to get accurate information to the public.
Ba5r TIL in 1992, a Lawyer and a Judge were looking for files on a former prisoner in a police station near Paraguay. Instead, they stumbled upon archives documenting an international conspiracy involving the torture, murder, and imprisonment of 480,000 people, now known as the Archives of Terror.
wLdY6 TIL In 1930, a lawyer tried to leave $50,000 in trust to build a Womanless library. “No Woman Admitted” signs were to be posted at each entrance and no works by women were to be allowed on the premises. His family successfully challenged his will after his death, and the plans were scrapped.
0KWj TIL the Cold War is credited to have started in Canada, after a Soviet Cipher Clerk defected to Canada and revealed Stalin’s attempts to steal nuclear secrets.