› added 3 months ago

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TIL that a lot of soldiers during WW2 were using and abusing hard drugs. Japanese, American and British forces consumed large amounts of amphetamines, but the Germans were the most enthusiastic early adopters, pioneering pill-popping on the battlefield during the initial phases of the war.

vPKEr TIL: The hubble space telescope, the international space station and many other famous spacecraft are technically still inside the earths atmosphere, often by hundreds of miles.
0wE61 TIL that the Texas School Book Depository building, from where Lee Harvey Oswald shot and killed President of the United States John F. Kennedy, was slated for demolition prior to the assassination, but was then preserved to investigate the murder, and is now a museum and National Historic Landmark
7rXr TIL the US sailor kissing the nurse in the WWII photo taken in time square to celebrate the end of the war, was on a date with another women when he grabbed the stranger and the photo was taken. The other woman still married him
xVd9g TIL that the Navy bean is the considered the official bean of the Nation of Islam, and is said to allow one to live up to 140. All other types of beans are "divinely prohibited"
v19E4 TIL that in 1900, the Secretary of the Navy wanted to use the USS Constitution for target practice until it sunk. A benefactor offered to buy it but was refused so he started a campaign that successfully pressured Congress into saving it. Built in 1797, it is now the oldest ship still afloat.