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TIL NASCAR Legend Dale Earnhardt, along with many other NASCAR drivers, resisted use of the HANS device when it was introduced. The HANS was developed specifically to help prevent Basilar skull fractures common to car racing. Earnhardt later died after suffering this exact injury

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R7rL6 TIL that the very first Medal of Honor recipient, Pvt. Jacob Parrott, received the honor in 1863 after stealing a train just north of Atlanta and riding it north to the TN border. Along the way, they destroyed track switches and cut telegraph lines, severely limiting Confederate communications.
0dgWy TIL LBJ reportedly used the N-word crudely and repeatedly in private in several occasions. Although historians note he only acted this way when negotiating with Dixiecrats a Dixiecans for his Civil Rights Act.
5vgn TIL that in 1990, a British Airways pilot was sucked half way out of the planes window for over 20 minutes. He was only kept in by a crew member holding onto his belt. He survived with frostbite and a broken arm.
D1kZe TIL: Toyotomi Hideyoshi, a Japanese military leader who unified Japan and became the de facto leader of Japan, was never granted the title of Shogun because he had no traceable samurai lineage, and his father was an ashigaru – a peasant employed by the samurai as a foot soldier.
QXg6 TIL the Grateful Dead provided funding for the Lithuanian national basketball team for the 1992 Olympics since the squad could not afford to participate. They wore tie-died jerseys during games and donned full Dead regalia during the medal ceremony for winning 3rd place.