› added 5 years ago

99

TIL even though South Vietnam lost against North Vietnam during the Vietnam War, South Vietnam's military was considered one of the best in world. It was seen as good as Israel's military.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

Wk8PX TIL US diplomat Larry Lawrence fabricated his military records in order to qualify for burial at Arlington Cemetery in 1997. After the deception came to light years later, his body was disinterred in an unprecedented move in the history of the cemetery.
m1LYE TIL of Black Joe's Tavern, a bar opened in 1795 by a freed slave and his wife in Marblehead, Massachusetts. It was described as a "racially integrated drinking place for hard drinking fisherman.
0wQap TIL before the Civil War, Ulysses S. Grant struggled financially after leaving the military to start a family, working in fields with his wife's family's slaves which was uncommon, but after acquiring a slave, William Jones, he gave him his freedom unconditionally instead of selling him for profit.
e0DD6 TIL the Manhattan Project scientists originally wanted to bomb Kyoto, but Secretary of War Henry Stimson successfully convinced the president that it would be needless culture vandalism, as he had toured the city on his honeymoon and knew it was not a military target.(Reposted with corrected source)
4kNga TIL a 19th century self-help movement called “Ralstonism” (named after author Everett Ralston) convinced the Purina Mills folks to rename their company Ralston-Purina. The name “Everett Ralston” was a pseudonym and the man never existed.