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TIL of Frank Neuhauser, the winner of the first National Spelling Bee. His prize was $500 in gold and his classmates gave him a bicycle.

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1AXX TIL After ships reached the end of their service lives, they are sent to poorer countries’ shores to be dissembled by workers who get paid less than 3 USD a day in near-death, toxic work environments. A large ship takes up to six months to dissemble into scrap metal, and death was not uncommon.
PYg8E TIL that one of the creators, writers, and producers of such U.S. popular TV shows as "Frasier", "Wings", and "Cheers" died on Sept. 11, 2001, David Angell was returning from vacation on American Airlines Flight 11 when it crashed into the World Trade Center's north tower.
rXMe TIL that a Native American people, the Choctaw, donated money to the Irish during the Great Famine after suffering starvation themselves in the Trail of Tears
GrKN TIL the inventor of My Pillow was a crack addict who got sober when 3 of the largest crack dealers in the city staged an intervention.
mxjXO TIL while Benjamin Franklin was in Paris during the American Revolution, his secretary was a British spy. The spy used the cover of weekly letters about “gallantry” (exploits with women). He would write in-between the lines in a special ink and leave the letter in a dead drop every Tuesday night.