› added 8 years ago

156

TIL 75% of all Silent Films Have Been Lost

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

Opj7 TIL that the WWI Native American code talkers lacked words for modern-day military terms. They used “big gun” for artillery, “little gun shoot fast” for machine gun, “stone” for grenade and “scalps” for casualties, etc.
6E8aw TIL a hologram is a photographic recording of a light field, rather than an image formed by a lens.
l7GVK TIL TWA flight 800, a Boeing 707, crashed during takeoff in Rome in 1964 after a thrust reverser deployed during it's takeoff roll, causing it to ovverun and hit construction equipment at the end of the runway, killing 49. this is not to be confused with the 1996 crash of TWA 800.
6EK6J TIL that in Papua New Guinea, sorcery is legally defined: "Good magic", used for things like healing and fertility, is legal; while "Black magic", held responsible for unexplained deaths, is illegal
VyMp TIL more than 300 people died in a supermarket fire because the owners shut the doors in order to prevent people from fleeing with merchandise without paying for it.