› added 7 years ago

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TIL Bhutan, Wales, and Malta are the only countries the world whose flags have dragons on them.

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7e8O TIL that Vermont abolished slavery in 1777, while still an independent nation. This means Vermont was both the first state, and the first nation in the Americas to abolish the institution of slavery.
vP49D TIL that as early as 1802, Thomas Jefferson designed a cypher wheel to encrypt messages. It's unknown if he ever actually built or used one, but a similar tool was invented for the U.S. Army to use from 1920 until the start of WWII. Jefferson's designs were discovered shortly after.
v1ngK TIL that Adelicia Acklen saved her fortune because she was friends with a Confederate general and friendly with a Union admiral. The general agreed not to burn her Louisiana cotton and the admiral allowed her to ship it to New Orleans. She sold it to the Rothchilds of London for $960,000.
6E57J TIL In Thailand, it was considered a capital offense punishable by death if someone touched the queen. in 1880, The queen drowned when her royal boat capsized on the way to the Palace. The many witnesses to the accident did not dare to touch the queen while she was drowning.
neAxP TIL about 'Jemmy Button' the Fuegian native who was stolen on Darwins 'Beagle' to England, taught to be an 'English Gentleman' and returned to Tierra del Fuego where he subsequently reverted to his 'native ways' and was later blamed for the murder of a group of missionaries.