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TIL about Daniel Freeman, a Civil War veteran and the first person to claim land under the Homestead Act. Later in life, he brought up and won a landmark separation of church and state case against a teacher who was evangelizing to her students with permission from the school board.

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l70EN TIL during WW2 the US and Canada invaded a Japanese-held Alaskan island with more than 35,000 men. After more than 300 casualties and the near sinking of the destroyer USS Abner Read from traps, mines, and friendly fire; they realised there were no Japanese on the island.
NXQ5P TIL: Contrary to the portrayal in the Looney Tunes cartoon, in real life coyotes far outpace roadrunners. Coyotes can reach speeds of up to 43 mph, while roadrunners top out at 20 mph.
j6yQN TIL 12-year-old Bahia Bakari was the sole survivor of a plane crash in the Indian Ocean that killed her mom & 151 others. She had little swimming experience & no life vest. So she clung to a piece of the wreckage & floated in heavy seas for over 9 hours, much of it in darkness, before being rescued.
b6Bra TIL of St Clair’s defeat in 1791, when Native Americans supplied with British made firearms, demolished a US military force and killed 656 soldiers, in what has been regarded as one of the worst ever defeats of the US military.
4jAo TIL of Endicott Peabody, the Episcopalian minister who served Tombstone, Arizona and was a spiritual advisor to Wyatt Earp, also taught all four of Theodore Roosevelt’s children, and presided over the wedding of Franklin and Eleanor Roosevelt.