› added 9 years ago

88

TIL of Robert Smalls, a seaman-slave during the American Civil War who stole a warship when the Confederate sailors went whoring and sailed himself and his family to freedom. Then fought for the Union. Then became a successful businessman and bought his former masters house.

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ADRMl TIL Eleven and Twelve do not follow the teen pattern because they come from Old English terms that mean "one left after ten" and "two left after ten," or "ain-lif" and "twa-lif," due to the fact that these numbers were used commonly, unlike the other teens, and therefore developed much earlier.
OGDjL TIL about California City, which was a city that was going to rival Los Angeles, but is now just empty roads in the desert
xMnB TIL astronomer Ptolemy thought that the gods, out of curiosity/boredom, would peer down at the earth from between the spheres; when this happened, stars would slip out of this gap, flashing towards the earth. Shooting stars meant that the gods are now paying attention to whatever you would wish for.
jNW4v TIL after Chuck Berry accused Brian Wilson of stealing the melody of "Sweet Little Sixteen" for "Surfin' USA", the Beach Boys' manager gave Berry the copyright to the tune. He didn't tell the members of the band, however, who learned 25 years later that they weren't getting royalties from the song.
l7GMB TIL the Ainu worship bears, seeing them as divine gifts that provide hide and meat. When they find a cub, they raise it lovingly in the village, sometimes feeding it breast milk, and treat it as a god. Once the bear reaches one or two years old, they ceremonially kill it, honoring its sacred role.