› added 7 months ago

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TIL the Roman Empire lasted over 1,400 years, influencing modern law, architecture, and languages across Europe and beyond.

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8a7PV TIL about Jahangir Khan: A Pakistani squash player who won the World Open 6 times and went undefeated from 1981-1986, winning 555 games in a row which is the longest winning streak by any athlete in top-level professional sports as recorded by Guinness World Records.
mVmv TIL in WWII, the BBC asked for holiday pictures and snaps of France ostensibly for an “exhibition” when actually, they were going to be used by the Allies to create detailed maps of the Normandy beaches so that they could plan for the Battle of Normandy.
JYX5v TIL Mother Damnable, who ran Seattle's first brothel, could swear expertly in Chinese, English, French, German, Portuguese, and Spanish.
rYoe TIL Robert E. Lee originally opposed the Confederacy, writing in an early letter, “I can anticipate no greater calamity for the country than a dissolution of the Union.” Even his wife heavily favored the Union.
5YZXQ TIL that there are actually fireflies all along the west coast of the U.S.; they just prefer to be active during the day.