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TIL of Joseph Grew, the US ambassador to Japan during the lead-up to WWII, who in Jan. 1941 heard rumors in Tokyo that the Japanese were preparing a surprise attack on Pearl Harbor in case of a break with the US. Grew even alerted the US State Department.

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p8ADA TIL that San Francisco had an outbreak of BUBONIC PLAGUE in 1900–1904 that killed 119. While city officials acted quickly to contain it, California Gov. Henry Gage covered it up to protect the powerful railroads and other businesses. Some newspapers helped by defaming the city health commissioner.
b99dp TIL the only bloodshed in the Anglo-Swedish war occured when a Swedish general killed 30 Swedish farmers for refusing to fight.
GYkgN TIL actress Constance Smith went to jail for stabbing her boyfriend in 1962. She stabbed him again in 1968 and was charged with attempted murder. They married in 1974.
QNy8k TIL that the average Rolls Royce buyer is 45 years old and earns $6 million per year
wo6vY TIL: That in 1974, a man performed a highwire walk between the Twin Towers of the WTC in New York. Philippe Petit, a street artist from Paris, took 6 years to plan what he called "le coup" (heist). The feat was later described as the "artistic crime of the century".