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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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BE7L TIL When Brahms was awarded an honorary doctorate in 1881, he strung together 4 popular student drinking songs into a symphony as a sarcastic thank you and premiered the song as the conductor at a special convocation.
8eNxa TIL: The world’s oldest wooden wheel has been around for somewhere between 5,100 and 5,350 years. Discovered near Ljubljana, Slovenia in 2002, it was determined to be the oldest through radiocarbon dating, showcasing the advanced state of craftsmanship thousands of years ago.
4Mog TIL the “Don’t wear white after Labor Day” rule was started by rich housewives after the Civil War. It was a way for woman from “noble old money” who were in the know to recognize those of “vulgar new money.”
jNROa TIL in 1988, a retired police officer found Cyril Smith, British MP with 144 accusations of child molestation and abuse, in a home with a sex offender and two drunk teenage boys. The officer was threatened to be prosecuted under the Official Secrets Act by the UK government. Nothing happened.
vd08 TIL we call the animal a cow because the herdsmen were English, but the meat beef because chefs were often French and beef is similar to the old French word for a cow. The same is true for pig/pork, and sheep/mutton.