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TIL Clara Barton held a clerkship in the US Patent Office with pay equal to that of men. She was the first woman to hold a position or pay of this type in government. Being wrongly fired in 1857 she returned under Lincoln as a copyist to help pave the way for future women's equality in government.

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gRey TIL 32 men from the single Kenyan Kalenjin tribe ran under 2:10 in the marathon in October 2011 alone; by comparison only 17 American men had done so in all of history to that point
vRd4 TIL Australia has the highest rate of gambling in the world, mostly wagering on poker and slot machines.
epZgJ TIL the FCC forbids broadcasters from using fake EAS (Emergency Alert System) tones or alerts in TV shows, or commercials. The 2013 Trailer for Olympus has Fallen" resulted in cable companies getting a 1.9 million dollar fine for including a fake EAS tone.
e6m6 TIL there’s only one wild herd of West African Giraffes in the world.
gMweL TIL about Marco Bragadin gruesomely killed, first dragged around with sacks of stone on his back; then tied to a chair and hoisted up a Turkish flagship, then tied to a column and flayed alive, then his skin was stuffed and redressed in his military clothes, then rode on an ox around town