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TIL The Civil War started in Wilmer McLean’s backyard and ended in his Parlor despite the fact that he moved nearly 120 miles away after it had started

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mxy5y TIL of Dick Assman, a Canadian gas station employee whose name made him a celebrity in 1995. David Letterman, learning of him, was amused by Assman's name and made him nightly feature on the show. As his fame grew polling showed that 49 percent of Canadians in September 1995 had heard of him.
K4na TIL that every part of a dandelion is edible. The leaves and buds can be eaten as greens, the flowers can be made into wine, and the roots can be roasted and ground to make “coffee.”
rRWkW TIL that EA Poe's revenge story "The Cask of Amontillado" was part of a literary feud. Poe's rival Thomas Dunn English wrote a novel, "1844," featuring a drunken wife-abuser based on Poe; Poe, in turn, used details from that novel as the setting for his own murder fantasy about English.
XOER TIL that, in 1943, L. Ron Hubbard wrote a series of private letters about losing his command and various military blunders, and general good health. Later, he founded scientology and claimed heroics and injuries in the war.
b9lQ9 TIL the largest British ship lost at sea, the MV Derbyshire at 92,000 tons, went down in a typhoon off Japan without ever issuing a mayday call. Investigators found the wreck and concluded the entire sinking could have happened in as little as two minutes. This video simulation is real time.