› added 11 years ago

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TIL Andrew Jackson was challenged to a duel by Charles Dickinson who was considered an expert shot. Jackson allowed him to fire first hoping his aim to be spoiled by his quickness. The bullet did miss just shy of Jackson’s heart. Dickinson had to stand there waiting for Jackson to kill him.

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Z8bAQ TIL Sec. of State Lawrence Eagleburger named all three of his children Lawrence Eagleburger.
Y7jZ TIL that former journalist Solomon Shereshevsky appeared to have no limits on his ability to memorize, memorizing poems in foreign languages (which he could not understand) within minutes and recalling them verbatim years later; however he could not recognize faces because they were so “changeable.”
XEjJk TIL: lakes near ocean coasts have a slightly higher salt content because of wind. Wind transfers salt off the ocean to fresh water lakes, altering the ecosystem and hostng unique forms of microbial life
E1wyW TIL Michael and Joy Brown gave their friend a paid year off in 1956 to write a book. Their friend was Harper Lee and she wrote “To Kill a Mockingbird”
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