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TIL: NASCAR is rooted in Prohibition bootlegging. They souped up stock cars to outrun the police and that led to competitive racing between gangs.

Read more prohibition.themobmuseum.org

via reddit.com

l7eaK TIL a Canadian pigeon, Beach Comber, arrived in Britain from Dieppe, France carrying a message from the Army alerting commanders of their landing there, marking the start of the Dieppe Raid. It's the only Canadian war pigeon ever to be awarded a Dickin Medal, one of only three animals so honored.
Nbwb TIL that a retired Major General suggested in 1935 that wars could be avoided by drafting the upper class before the rest.
1DJ4 TIL that after an unsuccessful attempt to steal Abraham Lincoln’s body in 1874, workers were hired to place the coffin further underground. They could not find a suitable area at first, so they simply set the coffin on the ground and covered it with lumber, disguising it as a woodpile for two years.
Y8Md TIL: In Soviet Union during 1991, voting “none of above” led to new elections with new candidates in 200 races. Boris Yeltsin later said the “none of the above” option “helped convince the people they had real power even in a rigged election, and [it] played a role in building true democracy.”
N74M1 TIL Benjamin Franklin had an abusive older brother who forced him to sign an indenture until he was 21 in Boston. His brother was abusive partly because Benjamin showed talent. At age 17, he ran away penniless to Philadelphia, gained connections and jump-started his political career.