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TIL that before Esther Williams became an actress, she planned on competing in the 1940 Olympics, but the Olympics games were cancelled that year due to the outbreak of the Second World War.

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v1dV7 TIL: Cartier sunglasses (which can go for $2650 and up) are a status symbol in Detroit. Detroit Police estimate 9 murders, 17 non fatal shootings, and 2158 robberies related to the glasses between '12 and '16.
By4y TIL Molly Pitcher manned a cannon during the Revolutionary War when her husband fainted from heat stroke or injury. She didn’t back down, even when a cannonball shot the skirt from between her legs.
nWjk9 TIL that in 1943, Rosa Parks boarded a bus being driven by James F. Blake when the latter told Parks to disembark and re-enter from the back. When Parks got off the bus, Blake sped off. 12 years later, Parks would famously defy Blake, thereby prompting the Montgomery bus boycott.
Wkw5B TIL that during WWII, J. Hunter Reinburg wanted to make ice cream for his men while stationed on a tropical island in the Pacific. He put the ingredients in a can mounted on the underside of his plane and would fly to 25,000 feet where the air temperature was -30 degrees fahrenheit.
peKN TIL that sliced bread was briefly banned in the USA in 1943.