› added 5 years ago

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TIL that Yakov Kreizer was the first Soviet general awarded the Hero of the Soviet Union title during World War II

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LQ5AZ TIL: The Great Slave Auction occurred in 1859 and consisted of 436 slaves auctioned over 2 days to over 200 buyers and sightseers. It was heavily advertised and netted over $9.9 million in today's money. It was considered the largest slave auction until 2022, when historians found a larger auction.
PYO0g TIL in 1941, when a General asked Winston Churchill for more men to man Antiaircraft guns, Churchill replied "No, I can’t spare any men, you’ll have to use women." Mary Churchill (18), Winston Churchill's youngest daughter was among the first to join and rose to the rank of Junior Commander in 1944.
E1Vgo TIL that during World War 2, 18 American shipyards produced 2,710 Liberty ships (a type of cargo ship), a rate of 3 ships every 2 days. Each ship took an average of just 42 days to complete.
b6Ova TIL that William and Ellen Craft, two people enslaved in the American South, fled to the North in the 1840s, with Ellen (who was more light-skinned than William) posing as William's male master. They escaped to the U.K., where they raised five children, and eventually moved back to the U.S. in 1868.
wLNO6 TIL that French call AA batteries "Mignon" (french for 'cute' or 'adorable') and Poles call them "Paluszki" (meaning 'little fingers')