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TIL During Napoléon Bonaparte's invasion of Egypt in 1798, alcohol was not available per Egypt being an Islamic country. In lieu of alcohol, Bonaparte's troops resorted to trying hashish, which they found to their liking

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OGZX Today I learned a Russian woman came to American in escape of military conscription as result of WW1, started a furniture business with $500 savings, and turned it into the largest home furnishing store in North America. She worked until 103 yr old, and she could neither read or write.
0dMN5 TIL that slavery was legal in New Jersey during the Civil War. The 1860 census listed 43 slaves in the state, and the last slaves were not freed until the passage of the Thirteenth Amendment in 1865.
9YDlm TIL that out at sea, a tsunami is only about a metre high, and could pass a boat without being noticed. As it approaches the shore, it’s the sudden deceleration from about 800km/h to 50km/h which creates the immense wave
JYwQj TIL the Pink Floyd single "Another Brick in the Wall" and the album "The Wall" were banned in South Africa in 1980 after the song was adopted by supporters of a nationwide school boycott protesting racial inequities in education under the apartheid regime
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