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TIL Simon was a ship's cat who served on the HMS Amethyst. In 1949, during the Yangtze Incident, he received the highest medal available to military animals after surviving injuries from a cannon shell, raising morale, and killing off a rat infestation during his service.

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b9kDE TIL A volcano eruption in Martinique in 1902 eradicated a city of 30.000. Of the 3 survivors, one was a man who ended up in jail after a brawl the night before. His underground solitary cell was the safest building in the city
6EaYZ TIL up to 88% of parents of deaf children never learn ASL.
16yRV TIL the future emperor Galba was foretold he’d rule Rome one day but only as an old man; Augustus’ heir Tiberius overheard this but said that wasn’t his problem since he’d be long dead by then anyway
nWp4P TIL Pope Pius 11( Aeneas Sylvius Piccolomini) was a published author before he became a pope. One of his books is rather eyebrow raising, in light of his future career choice. That book, The Tale of Two Lovers, is quite salacious and full of erotic imagery.
Ypx TIL that in 1968 John Lennon, inspired by a large amount of LSD, called an emergency meeting of the Beatles to inform them that he was in fact, Jesus Christ reincarnated.