› added 12 years ago

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TIL that in 1976, North Korean soldiers murdered two American officers who were trying to trim a tree in the DMZ. The U.S. responded by sending a 813-man task force to cut the tree down.

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jNL1n TIL In the gas chambers of Auschwitz it could take between 7-20 minutes for the victims to die from the gas while they fought to get out.
5Y9v9 TIL A Spoonerism is an error in speech in which corresponding sounds are switched between two words in a phrase. For example, a "Blushing Crow" instead of "Crushing Blow."
X0PBP TIL That Typhoon Tip was the largest most intense storm ever recorded, with winds 190 mph and size of 1380 miles wide in the south pacific, north of the Solomon Islands in 1979. Hurricane Patricia (2015) had the highest winds at 215 mph but was smaller in size and didn't last as long.
rNmjy TIL 15th century Korea developed the Geobukseon (turtle ship), a warship roofed with spiked plates to prevent boarding actions. Each Geobukseon was also designed with a dragon head on the bow that hid a cannon or could release smoke to inspire terror or cover ship movements.
M5xB TIL that 1-3% of the population are known as the sleepless elite. This group of people routinely get 6 hours or less of sleep daily and remain totally functional.