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TIL of William Shepherd of the Expedition 1 crew on the ISS. He is a Navy SEAL, studied 3 types of engineering, and was award the Congressional Space Medal of Honor.

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l70MN TIL about Peter Fossett, a man born into slavery at Thomas Jefferson's Monticello. He later bought his freedom and became a conductor on the underground railroad, a military officer, and a pastor. His wife, Sarah, filed a lawsuit in 1860 which desegregated the streetcars in Cincinnati.
0llN TIL Philip Seymour Hoffman had been sober for 23 years until he accepted an alcoholic beverage to celebrate the completion of The Master. This resulted in relapse, after which he started to use prescription medication. the following year he was using heroin.
8e878 TIL, in 1878, firemen from all-black Engine Co 21 always seemed to arrive first at fires soon after discovering that sliding down a long pole between floors saved them time over using stairs. Other stations quickly adopted the fire pole which became standard in the city and eventually worldwide.
BgZNr TIL of the Aswan scorpion invasion. In 2001, a rare rainfall event in Aswan led to the scorpions evacuating their homes and coming into contact with people. Over 500 people were stung.
wLJpM TIL of Sidney Lewis, the youngest person to ever serve in the British Army. He lied about his age, and enlisted in the Army at 12 years old in 1915, and would go on to fight for several weeks in the trenches at the Battle of Somme before his mother discovered and requested he be discharged.