› added 1 year ago

40

TIL that during WWII, the British MI5 used a "double cross system" to turn German spies into double agents, misleading the Germans about the D-Day invasion's location and timing, which contributed significantly to its success.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

mpWP TIL that the Confucius genealogical line as the longest family tree in history, with 86 recorded generations over 2,500 years: the Chinese philosopher (551 to 479 BCE) is thought to have 3 million descendants all over the world.
bZVj TIL that after the success of the song “Barbie Girl”, toy-maker Mattell filed a lawsuit against Aqua for the sexual insinuation in the song. The judge dismissed the case saying, “The parties are advised to chill.”
LQO59 TIL that Penguins as we know them were named thus because they looked remarkably similar to Pinguinus Impennis. There's no relation. The OG Pinguinus Impennis were hunted to extinction in 1844.
8aWmG TIL World's largest printer of Bibles is in China, and is also the only company in China authorized to print Bibles.
QN76X TIL that 8% of our DNA comes from remnants of ancient viruses. And an additional 40% is made up of repetitive strings of DNA that's also thought to have viral origins. Almost half our DNA didn't come from us.