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TIL that shrapnel is named after Lieutenant-General Henry Shrapnel who was a British artillery officer who invented the shrapnel artillery shell.

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wZw1 TIL that the bottles of alcohol in cartoons marked with ‘XXX’ isn’t just meaningless. 'XXX’ was used to be an indicator of the strength of beer by a brewery. One 'X’ was weakest, and three 'XXX’ the strongest.
wL1E6 TIL Iceland is one of the few countries that is mosquito-free despite having 1600 species of dryland animals. However, in 1980 a professor of the University of Iceland found a mosquito on a plane and it is now kept in a jar at the Icelandic Institute of National History.
VdNG TIL New Mexico passed a law stating that “Pluto will always be considered a planet while in New Mexican skies”.
RW01 TIL that one of the most famous actresses of the silent film era in the US was Alla Nazimova, originally from Russia. She had romantic affairs with a number of other actresses and coined the use of the phrase “sewing circle” to refer to closeted lesbian or bisexual actresses of her day.
XEGBr TIL Robin Williams was asked to appear for the final night of Monty Python Live. He declined citing 'severe depression'. He committed suicide the following month. The DVD of the night was dedicated to Robin Williams upon release.