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TIL that James McCune Smith, the first African-American doctor, was rejected from all American colleges and had to attend the University of Glasgow in Scotland, where he graduated at the top of his class

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XAnX TIL of the Battle of Saragarhi where 21 Sikh soldiers chose to fight to the death against 10,000 Pathans and Afghan tribesmen advancing on their signaling post in Saragarhi. It is considered by some military historians as one of history’s great last-stands.
QvLX TIL Hungarian chemist Georgy de Hevesy dissolved Max von Laue and James Franck’s Nobel Prize medals in a highly corrosive mix of acids, aqua regia, to hide from the Nazis. After the war, he precipitated the gold out of solution and sent it to Stockholm where the medals were recast.
9wL4r TIL that the city of Tulsa is basically a contraction of the word “Tallahassee”, the Creek word for “Old Town”.
ADWZx TIL: The oldest bar in the world is in Ireland. Archeological records have found that the walls of Sean’s Bar have been around, and serving, since 900 AD. Further, there are records of every owner of the pub back to its 10th century founding. It opened over 1100 years ago.
pjxA TIL that on December 24, 1968, the crew of Apollo 8 broadcast themselves reciting the first ten verses of the book of Genesis. The founder of American Atheists sued the US government for violation of the First Amendment, but the Supreme Court dismissed the case due to lack of jurisdiction.