› added 1 year ago

36

TIL a sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif, owned a private army called "The Black Guard" comprised of West African and Haratin slave-soldiers. Considered more loyal than the locals because of their lack of tribal affiliation, Isma‘il's black soldiers formed the bulk of his army, numbering at 150k.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

R549l TIL a black slave soldier that fought in the revolutionary War lived to see the abolition of slavery, about 80 years after the war ended
5YBbn TIL the Beastie Boys were immensely sexist and homophobic in their early career. However, upon hearing criticism of this, they apologized for it multiple times(one of them through a song) since and, while not listed in article, have been activists for social causes and battling bigotry.
Dj6g TIL Logitech is called Logicool in Japan.
MeOVa TIL “Respect” made famous by Aretha Franklin, was originally written about a man’s struggle for respect from his wife but then became a feminist anthem.
PBPJ TIL that Arnold Schwarzenegger moved from Austria to the US with only a Gym bag, worked as a bricklayer and invested in real estate to become a millionaire before even starting his movie career