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13

TIL that "Let all brave Prussians follow me!" was Field Marshal Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin last words, immediately after he was struck and killed by a cannonball

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mx6JR TIL about the Invention Secrecy Act enacted 1951 in the United States which would let the government not only steal your invention but legally prevent you from ever talking about it for the rest of your life.
9Y7GG TIL that acacias, the trees whose leaves are eaten by giraffes, release an airborne chemical called ethylene. Ethylene alerts nearby acacia trees to produce tannin, a toxin that makes the leaves poisonous, and lethal if over-consumed. Giraffes try avoiding this by eating trees downwind from another.
GYgKG TIL that the 21-gun salute stems from a tradition of old war ships firing all cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent. Therefore showing they were disarmed and lacked hostile intent.
69Egm TIL All of the gold discovered thus far would fit in a cube that is 28 meters (98 feet) wide on every side.
wLrY1 TIL during the last ice age icebergs were found as far south as Miami