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TIL that Plymouth, England has a 17th century church that was burned out by incendiary bombs in 1941, dedicated as a memorial to civilian deaths instead of being rebuilt, and is currently enclosed within a roundabout on a main road through the city

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d8N4j TIL about the 18th century folk song Maggie May. A prostitute in Liverpool who robs sailors after spending the night with them, Maggie is eventually caught and sent to the Botany Bay penal colony in Australia. It's possible the song's story is of a real woman, Nellie Ray, a prostitute and thief.
eGvb TIL that Benjamin Lay was an 18th century Quaker vegetarian abolitionist who once kidnapped the child of slaveholders temporarily, to show them how Africans felt when their relatives were sold overseas
grmoD TIL of Francesco Morosini, a Venetian general who is said to have "dressed always in red from top to toe and never went into action without his cat beside him." After his death, they embalmed his cat Nini alongside him with a mouse between her paws.
6EnxZ TIL that Shaquille O’Neal holds the record for biggest total purchase in Walmart history. Shaq spent $70,000 in one stop at Walmart in 2008.
kKRd TIL A few days before delivering the Gettysburg Address, Lincoln saw John Wilkes Booth perform as a villain in a play at Ford’s Theatre. Someone told Lincoln, “He almost seems to be reciting these lines to you.” To which Lincoln replied, “He does talk very sharp at me, doesn’t he?”