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TIL a 12-year-old slave named Edmond Albius revolutionized vanilla by developing a novel pollinization technique

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n7EY TIL in 1959 the “inch” was adjusted by 2 millionths of an inch, to make it equal exactly 25.4 millimeters.
epDdE TIL American ballet dancer Tanaquil Le Clercq contracted polio at age 27 in 1956 and was confined to a wheelchair. Le Clercq began studying with George Balanchine at age 12 and married him at age 23. When she was 15, Balanchine choreographed a dance for a polio benefit which presaged her illness.
XAd8 TIL that in 2008 in Afghanistan, a British Marine threw his back on a grenade and lived, and also saved lives of his patrol. His rucksack took the impact, and he was awarded with the Victoria Cross, the highest British military honor. He only suffered a nosebleed and a shock in the aftermath.
ADmJ7 TIL of Roly Bain who was a Clown and an Anglican Vicar who claimed to have custard pied ten bishops.
0dZj5 TIL Canada has the only walled city in North America. One of the most fascinating facts about Canada is that Quebec City is the only city north of Mexico that still has fortified walls. First the French, later the English, built up Quebec City’s fortifications between the 17th & the 19th century.