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Today I learned that the 19th Amendment (Women's Suffrage) almost wasn't ratified until a Tennessee senator who was against it (Harry Burns) received a letter from his mother telling him to "be a good boy" and vote for ratification. He broke the deadlock the next day and the 19th was ratified.

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7WEr TIL There is a popular toothpaste in China that is titled “Darlie” and is formerly titled “Darkie”. In Chinese it still literally translates to “black people toothpaste” (黑人牙膏). Its logo is a black man smiling.
awRmM TIL It took the steam engine to make the horse popular and affordable. As rail, canals, ferries, and ports brought more and more goods across continents and oceans, horse populations increased exponentially to collect and distribute all those goods, becoming "the backbone of 19th century life".
ADlOg TIL The German Empire committed genocide in Namibia from 1904-1908, killing upto 110000 natives, making it one of the earliest attempts at genocide in the 20th century. In 2015 the German government refused to consider reparations for the act.
epKmn TIL about Whittier, Alaska. Most of the town lives in 1 building, called the Begich Towers Condominium, thus giving Whittier the nickname “town under one roof”
JlnV TIL “UVB-76” is a mysterious Russian radio signal (on 4625 kHz). For almost 40 years a repeating buzzing sound has been broadcasted, though every very few years it stops, and a Russian voice reads numbers and Russian names. In 2013, for the first time, UVB-76 issued an order: “Command 135 initiated”