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TIL that in his will, George Washington left directions to emancipate all of the enslaved people that he owned after the death of Martha Washington. On January 1, 1801, all of the enslaved people he owned were freed. The Emancipation Proclamation was put into act on January 1, 1863, 62 years later.

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R5Wg4 TIL that the ancient Olmecs believed in werejaguars, similar to the werewolf in European cultures.
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4XXJR TIL seamen must keep a daily record of their work known as a Certificate of Continuous Discharge
pNgA TIL Karl Plagge was a Wehrmacht officer who used his position to try and save 1240 Jews in Lithuania from Nazi extermination. At his trial he did not speak in his own defense because he blamed himself for not doing enough. In 2005 he was awarded “Righteous Among the Nations”.
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