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TIL of Sidney Lewis who joined the British Army at age 12, fought in the Battle of the Somme at age 13 but was sent home when his mother complained. He reenlisted without her knowledge, fought in Austria in 1918, and went on to fight in WWII, too, before retiring to run a pub.

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66N8 TIL on New Years Eve of 1999, Brad Pitt played a prank where he bribed the Mexican Government to cut the power and phone lines of a resort and send in troops to arrest one of his friends on drug charges.
6EAQm TIL Crocodiles are the ultimate survivors. Having arisen some 200 million years ago, they have outlived the dinosaurs by some 65 million years. Even humans, the most fearsome predators ever to stalk the Earth, have failed to force into extinction any of the 23 species of crocodilians.
KOYJQ An extraordinary collection of images from Burns Archive shows the extent to which gas masks were promoted as an essential part of everyday life in the early 20th century. It had been 20 years since the end of World War I, when chlorine gas—and, later, mustard gas—had first been used. The estimates of total casualties from this form of chemical warfare are staggering: 88,000 dead and 1,200,000 injured. With war once again on the horizon, Britain and continental Europe began taking early precautions. In 1938, the British government issued 35 million “General Civilian Respirators”. Everyone from ballerinas to surgeons were encouraged to wear the masks.
VBMjQ TIL The Yardbirds had 3 of the top 5 guitarists on Rolling Stones’ list of top 100 guitarists of all time (Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Jimmy Page).
v1Knx TIL the writers of “Parks and Recreation” had no idea Nick Offerman was a skilled saxophone player when they wrote the Duke Silver plot line.