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TIL that the US military was so unprepared leading up to WWII, General George Patton personally bought tools and parts from the Sears-Roebuck mail order catalog to get the 2nd Armored Division to operational status.

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DQn5D TIL in 1927, actress Mae West spent 10 days in jail because of the explicit nature of her stage play "Sex".
8eJ6G TIL of Jan Janský, who independently discovered the blood groups I, II, III, and IV (corresponding to modern O, A, B, and AB)
R7kn9 TIL That the first person to reach both poles was also the first person to reach EACH pole. Roald Amundsen was the first to reach the South Pole first in 1910, and also the first to reach (verified and credibly) the North in 1926.
DQdgp TIL The parasitic flatworms released by freshwater snails kill up to 200,000 people a year. Only two other animals kill more humans than the flukes released by freshwater snails - humans and mosquitos.
eEbJ TIL “Rebellion to Tyrants is Obedience to God” was Benjamin Franklin’s suggested motto for the Great Seal of the U.S.