› added 2 years ago

60

TIL about Odette Sansom Hallowes. An SOE agent during WWII, she was captured by the Gestapo, interrogated, tortured, and sentenced to death twice. She survived the war and was the first woman to be awarded the UK’s George Cross. In 1951 her GC was stolen, but later returned with an apology note.

Read more beatlyzer.com

via beatlyzer.com

groDb TIL about Project Genetrix which was a United States Air Force program designed to launch General Mills manufactured surveillance balloons over China, Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union to take aerial photographs and collect intelligence.
69MG8 TIL Sherpas mitochondria operates more efficiently in low oxygen environments than non-Sherpa ethnicities. This adaptation likely helps them thrive in the low-oxygen environment of the Himalayas.
b6vG0 TIL about the Arecibo message, a radio message consisting of information about humans and Earth that was sent to globular star cluster M13 in 1974, in hopes that extraterrestrial life would receive and decode it.
wL0aJ TIL about an Alligator named Wally, who was found guarding $1.5 million worth of marijuana plants in California
R4D1 TIL that China has built a new skyscraper every five days, more than 30 airports, metros in 25 cities, the three longest bridges in the world, more than 6,000 miles of high speed railway lines and 26,000 miles of motorway, all in the last 5 years.