› added 10 years ago

452

TIL: Thousands of lions are being bred on farms to be shot by wealthy foreign trophy-hunters.

Read more theguardian.com

via reddit.com

XE6xj TIL The space shuttle Enterprise was originally planned to be named Constitution and unveiled on Constitution Day, September 17, 1976, but Star Trek fans convinced President Gerald Ford to name it the Enterprise.
R70jj TIL that Josef Stalin was highly suspicious of doctors and had many Kremlin doctors arrested and tortured. So few doctors were available that after Stalin suffered a stroke, one imprisoned doctor claimed he was mid-interrogation when his captors suddenly started asking for medical advice instead.
78a5p TIL that Dimethylmercury will penetrate latex, butyl or neoprene gloves in about 15 seconds and you’ll likely die if you get a drop on your gloved hand.
vPmmR TIL that the Germans invaded Norway off of maps from a tourist guidebook. Hitler gave the commanding ground general less than eight hours to plan the invasion so the general picked up a guidebook at a nearby stationary store. Norway resisted for 61 days - the longest of any German defeated nation.
epgXJ TIL that in the 18th century a ship named HMS Invincible was defeated by a sandbar