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TIL that during the Mexican-American war, a battalion made up of mostly Irishmen called "St Patrick's Battalion" fought against the Americans, and when caught, were executed, making it the largest mass execution in United States history

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ne7Rr TIL that Benedict Cumberbatch was kidnapped at gunpoint in South Africa. He talked his way out of being killed and said "It taught me that you come into this world as you leave it, on your own. It's made me want to live a life slightly less ordinary”
4wR TIL: That for 3 weeks after 911, the most searched for phrase on Google was ‘Nostradamus’
b6Zn0 TIL: the term is milquetoast (timid, weak, unassertive), not milk toast. It originates from the 1924 comic strip character Caspar Milquetoast. However, the origin is that he's named after a "weak", bland dish of...milk toast (buttered toast served in a shallow bowl of warm milk).
xX5k TIL Philip of Macedon sent a message to Sparta saying, “You are advised to submit without further delay, for if I bring my army on your land, I will destroy your farms, slay your people and raze your city.” Sparta replied “If”. Neither Philip nor Alexander the Great ever attacked Sparta
bGy7 TIL that in the film The Dark Knight, the man who shouted “we are not intimidated by thugs,” to the Joker, was actually Patrick Leahy, the senior senator from Vermont and a self-confessed batman fan. He has appeared in a cameo role for every other Batman film since Batman Forever.