R5PWa TIL Despite having no official relations, Indonesia convertly bought A-4 combat jets from Israel in the 80s and sent pilots and technicans to train how to operate them. The pilots went as far as going to the US to take pictures of themselves at various landmarks for a cover story.
W7BXL TIL In 1973 a Swedish convict Jan-Erik Olsson took 4 ppl as hostages during a bank robbery in Stockholm. During the incident they built a strong emotional bond with him, that none of the hostages testified against him, instead they helped him. This psychological bond is called "Stockholm Syndrome"
9wE5p TIL that the tiniest color picture ever printed is invisible to the naked eye. It is the width of a human hair, or a single pixel on a Retina display.
nWgyW TIL "It Wasn't Me" by Shaggy was one of Michael Jackson's favorite songs. When he met Shaggy, he told him it sounded like a song he would write, which prompted Shaggy to quip, "So you be bangin', huh?"
4klmX TIL in 2017 researchers hoping to study how various scavengers disrupt human remains set up a camera trap fully expecting to only see images of foxes, raccoons, coyotes, & various birds. However, they ended up capturing the first known photographic evidence of a deer gnawing on human remains.
x6g71 TIL that the first widely sold car rearview mirror wasn't a safety device. Instead, the 'Cop-Spotter' was intended to help you avoid the police. After the product launched in 1921, mirrors in cars grew increasingly popular, eventually being recognised as an essential safety feature.
epvkJ TIL: A hip hop group named "the Coup" planned to release an album named "Party Music" in September 2001 with the following cover, which was created in June 2001. Due to the September 11 attacks, the album was postponed until November 2001 to create a new cover.
VBrK8 TIL In Thai Culture, it's considered bad luck to give someone a watch or clock as a gift
X0YL8 TIL The Great Male Renunciation is responsible for why male fashion is much less extravagant than female fashion in the western world. When during the enlightenment male clothing became utilitarian.
OGXJR TIL: In 1989, during Operation Just Cause, the U.S. military surrounded the Apostolic Nunciature in Panama while trying to capture Manuel Noriega. U.S. forces blasted loud rock music—including "I Fought the Law" by the Clash—to put pressure on Noriega to give himself up
69r8J TIL that there is a museum called Real Bodies: The Exhibition in Las Vegas that exhibits real human bodies preserved through a process called plastination. This allowed for full body displays in dynamic poses.
wogn1 TIL about the Ethiopic term "abugida" - a segmental writing system in which consonant–vowel sequences are written as units; a consonant letter being primary in the unit, and vowel notation being secondary. Letters with shared consonant sounds show resemblance to one another.