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TIL Braille was based on a tactile military code called night writing, developed in response to Napoleon’s demand for a means for soldiers to communicate silently at night and without a light source. It proved to be too difficult for soldiers to recognize by touch, and was rejected by the military

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9wYYG TIL that the danish 19th century pastor N.F.S. Grundtvig argued for freedom of speech and religion with the quote: "Freedom for Loki as well as for Thor"
epmrb TIL in the 1950s General Motors sponsored three Looney Tunes episodes to promote capitalist ideas.
GK8J TIL a 16 year old boy was jailed at Rikers for three years without a trial or conviction.
pYxWb TIL that In 1816, after the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, Earth experienced the “Year Without a Summer.” Global temperatures dropped, leading to food shortages, crop failures, and extreme weather events
LQgA0 TIL of Captain Thomas Cochrane, who became captain of a post-ship a mere 7 years after his commission as a midshipman. He later was depicted in the naval fiction series of fame, Horatio Hornblower as a pivotal character.