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TIL the British were the first nation to employ the use of Agent Orange as part of a starvation campaign during the Malayan Emergency in the early 1950’s. The US would adopt this strategy in 1961 in Vietnam.

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eeDJ TIL that European Royal Families had a “Court Jew” to handle finances and negotiate loans since usury was forbidden by the Catholic Church
OoPQe TIL that dolphins need to leap out of the water (porpoising) when they’re swimming fast because they need additional oxygen to keep up with the physical exertion.
G4LG TIL 15th U.S. President James Buchanan regularly bought slaves with his own money in order to free them.
9lRB TIL when Dr Seuss was stuck writing his books, he and his editor would go to a secret closet filled with hundreds of hats and wear them till the words came…
1an0X TIL that JRR Tolkien wrote the Lord of The Rings while he was a visiting English professor at the university in Galway, Ireland. It’s widely believed that the nearby Burren region influenced his depiction of Middle Earth and that “Gollum” was named after a cave in the region called “Poll na gColm”