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TIL that in 1970, the State of Connecticut denied a gay man a driver’s license on the basis that his sexuality made him dangerous to other drivers

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W7wgB TIL in 1795, the French Revolutionary Army captured the 14 warships of the Dutch fleet anchored at the Zuiderzee bay next to Den Helder with a regiment of hussar light cavalry. "A capture of ships by horsemen is an extremely rare feat in military history."
5Ymon TIL of August Dvorak, who in 1936 invented a 'perfect keyboard' which is way more efficient than regular keyboards as it requires less finger motion and reduces errors compared to the standard QWERTY keyboard arrangement.
GGg4 TIL that after the frontman of Norwegian metal band committed suicide, his bandmate made necklaces out of pieces of his skull and gave them out to musicians he deemed worthy. He also took a picture of the scene, and it was later used as the cover of their next album.
nae7 TIL that Benjamin Franklin was an avid swimmer, and while in London in his 20s swam 3 ½ miles from Chelsea to Blackfriars, impressed onlookers with “feats of activity,” and seriously considered staying in England for good to found a swimming school and earn his fortune.
rNBL1 TIL success of June 6th D-Day 80 years ago, was the result of year-long elaborate deception of disinformation, decoy, and dummies. That included rubber tanks, inflatable trucks, canvas fleet, & parachuting dummy dolls. Also a phantom army, a fictitious network of spies, & fake radio traffic.