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TIL that prior to British troops firing on civilians at the Boston Massacre in 1770, they were pelted with oyster shells, ice, stones, sticks, and beaten with clubs by an unruly mob. At the trial, the soldiers were successfully defended by none other than John Adams and all were acquitted of murder.

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JJnB TIL Raisa Gorbachev once told a British minister there were more than 300 ways to cook potatoes in the USSR. When he had doubts, she sent him a cookbook and a note: “My apologies for being somewhat inaccurate: in fact, there are five hundred, rather than three hundred, recipes to cook potatoes.”
YaRP TIL in Holland’s embassy in Moscow, two Siamese cats kept meowing and clawing at the walls of the building. Their owners finally investigated, thinking they would find mice. Instead, they discovered microphones hidden by Russian spies.
gMjNL TIL of DMHO - the joke to call water by an alternative chemical compound name (Dihydrogen monoxide)
4kbGR TIL During the Samoan Civil War of 1886-1894, Germany launched naval attacks on Samoa. The US responded by sending naval warships to confront the Germans. On March 15, 1889, the Apia Hurricane struck Samoa, sinking all the German ships and all but 1 American ship, practically ending the conflict.
W7NVo TIL that Elysia marginata sea slugs steal chloroplasts from the algae they eat in order to photosynthesize, and can regrow their entire leaf-shaped bodies after decapitation.