› added 12 years ago

147

TIL that the Smithsonian was created from a donation of a wealthy Englishman that had never once set foot on American soil - and he also never wrote about or discussed the motives for this bequest.

Read more si.edu

via reddit.com

Rnm1 TIL the U.S. and Russian Military use depleted uranium bullets that can pierce vehicle armor; once the bullet pierces the armor, it gets sharper and automatically catches on fire, igniting fuel and causing the vehicle to explode.
8aLLb TIL that french queen Marie-Antoinette never said the infamous quote "let them eat cake" according to historians. The first recording of Marie Antoinette in relation to the phrase did not occur until 50 years after her death.
jNd8R TIL The last person to be convicted of blasphemy in the United States was an Arkansas man who in 1928 put a sign in his storefront reading, "Evolution Is True. The Bible's a Lie. God's a Ghost." He spent 3 months in jail.
6E0oQ TIL farmer Wilmer McLean fled Virginia after the First and Second Battles of Bull Run occurred on his property and damaged his home. In 1865, his new home in Appomattox was selected by Colonel Marshall of the Confederacy to be the site of Lee's meeting with Grant, ending the war.
0wQO1 TIL Chernobyl still has a number of inhabitants, including, but not limited to workers on watch and excluison zone personnel.