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TIL that during the Greek War of Independence, 115 Greek revolutionaries surrounded by 10,000 Ottoman troops managed to kill 300 and wound 800 while suffering just 6 casualties. When the Ottomans paused their attack to get cannons ready, the Greeks escaped through enemy lines undetected.

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VMVKm TIL German biologist Stefan Lanka, who believed that measles was a "psychosomatic illness", announced that he would pay 100,000 Euros to anyone who could prove that measles was a virus. German doctor David Barden proved him wrong and Lanka was ordered by the court to pay the money as promised.
BrOOk TIL Ming Dynasty eunuchs and courtesans in the Ming Dynasty formed a distinctive form of marriage in a secretive way. Although Ming eunuchs were incapable of bearing children, they were equally eager to have a family.
epmK4 TIL that American physicist Richard Feynman once faced off against a Japanese abacus expert to see which could calculate faster. The abacus consistently won on more simple operations, but Feynman was faster in division and complex calculations such as cube roots.
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