› added 11 months ago

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TIL Albert Henry Woolson outlived over two million Civil War Union Army comrades when he died on August 2, 1956, at the age of 106. At his death, he was recognized as the last surviving Union Army veteran.

xVmY0 TIL the University of Nevada at Las Vegas has a Center for Gaming Research and it is actually about gambling, which is also interesting.
l7WOA TIL that Dmitri Mendeleev, who is credited with creating the Periodic Table of Elements was nominated for a Nobel Prize in Chemistry 9 times but never won. His awarding was blocked each time by the 1903 winner, Svante Arrhenius, who held a grudge against Mendeleev for criticizing one of his papers.
W7ymY TIL the tiny French archipelago of Saint Pierre et Miquelon became a massive bootlegging centre for whiskey and wine during the U.S Prohibition, after Canada moved to curtail illegal exports to America.
X09ej TIL The Popeyes restaurant chain claims it is actually named after Gene Hackman’s character, Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, in the film “The French Connection,” which was released the year before the chain opened in 1972. The chain did later license the characters from Popeye the Sailor comics in the 2000s.
dxJ9 TIL that in the War of 1812, the 93rd Highlanders regiment were halted within range of the enemy. The commanding officer was killed and with no orders to advance or retreat, the column held fast and took concentrated American fire. This continued until another general ordered their withdrawal.