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TIL the US Supreme Court ruled in a case brought by Jehovah's Witnesses in 1940 that public schools could compel students to salute the flag and recite the Pledge of Allegiance regardless of religious objections. The ruling was overturned in 1943.

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OmQY TIL Beethoven won a sight reading piano competition by turning his sheet music upside down, playing it, then improvising on one of its themes for thirty minutes. His opponent, Daniel Steibelt, never returned to challenge him again.
gMgMW TIL The USSR was the world's 2nd largest economy post-WW2 & the world's largest exporter of arms. By the 1940's Stalin announced that illiteracy had been eliminated & the USSR would produce the world's 1st satellite, the 1st human being in space & the 1st woman in space.
8gWa TIL Ben & Jerry’s had a company rule that from top to bottom, the pay ratio between the highest salaried executive and lowest-earning-worker would be no greater than 5 to 1. It lasted for 16 years until Ben retired.
J1yDV TIL that modern birds come from four distinct lineages that survived the asteroid impact.
GnQE TIL 2 ancient cities in China were drowned in 1959 by a man-made lake and were forgotten about until discovered in 2001 by a tourist diving company. The cities remain intact and in good condition.