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TIL The Veterans Administration lobotomized over 1900 veterans of World War II

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Oo9K6 TIL a slave was indicted for waging war against the state and was later sentenced to be hanged for treason. Two dissenting judges argued that a slave, being a noncitizen, could not commit treason. He was later pardoned.
rxkx TIL that hours after Nintendo announced the death of their CEO, Satoru Iwata, a rainbow appeared over their headquarters in Kyoto, Japan. It was dubbed “The Rainbow Road to Heaven”
XEJNX TIL that the comedian Milton Berle was so popular in 1951 that the U.S. television network NBC signed him to a $6 million, 30-year contract. Berle's comedy-variety show was canceled in 1956 due to low ratings. NBC, however, continued to pay him until 1981.
K7ZB TIL Tom Petty escaped death as well as saved his wife and 5 year old daughter when an arsonist tried to set his house on fire. He later wrote “I Won’t Back Down” which was inspired by the experience.
ebWg TIL that when the first phone book was published in 1878, it was just a list of people who owned telephones, with no numbers provided