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63

TIL Burr tried to start his own country in Mexico after the duel with Hamilton

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p8MEA TIL That for good luck, cosmonauts pee on the wheel of the van that transports them to their space launch vehicle. A tradition that was started by Yuri Gagarin, the first man in space.
N7Pje TIL Robert Tod Lincoln, son of President Lincoln was at his father’s death bed after being shot, witnessed the assassination of President Garfield, and was near by at the Pan-American Exposition in Buffalo, New York, when President McKinley was assassinated, although not a witness.
e0DQE TIL that modern gunpower contains it's own oxidizer for combustion, meaning you could fire a gun in space.
dJLj TIL in the Middle Ages warmed bread was placed in drinks to add flavor. By the 1700s, dunking toasted bread in a drink became a sign of respect. In Modern times, only the term “toast” remains when everyone raising a glass in salute.
wLKZJ TIL German-Jewish poet Heinrich Heine once wrote in a play from 1821, "Wherever they burn books, in the end will also burn human beings." Over a century later, copies of Heine's books were among the many burned in Berlin's Opernplatz.