› added 5 months ago

18

Today I learned about the Los Alfaques disaster where a boiling-liquid expanding-vapor explosion from a road tanker instantly destroyed everything in a 300ft radius killing 215 people

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

OgXg TIL South African residents can legally attach small flamethrowers to cars to repel carjackers
D1bDD TIL it takes a crane and $50 000 to castrate a hippo in Columbia
AwRa TIL at the age of 10, Russian Jewish immigrant Mila Kunis auditioned for but failed to get the role of a Russian Jewish immigrant in the film “Make A Wish, Molly.” Instead, she was cast as a Mexican girl in a secondary role.
o5mL TIL The Shot at Dawn Memorial in Staffordshire, UK is a monument to to servicemen executed by firing squad during WWI. It is alleged that soldiers accused of cowardice were often not given fair trials; they were often not properly defended, suffering from shell shock, and some were minors.
dMwQ TIL that Teddy Roosevelt once held the World Record for most hands shaken in one day, with 8510 at a White House Reception.