› added 5 years ago

181

TIL about Juan Pujol Garcia, a spy who single handedly saved thousands of lives during D-Day by using his made-up network of spies to convince the Germans that another attack was going to happen in Calais instead of Normandy. He was also the only person to be decorated by both the Axis and Allies.

Read more mentalfloss.com

via reddit.com

wL1B1 TIL that people brought picnic baskets and opera glasses to watch the first battle of the US Civil War, expecting the whole dispute to be over quickly and easily. They had a bad day.
WkMVY TIL that Mark Hamill cited his disappointment in the US government's constant state of war as inspiration for Luke Skywalker's hermit personality, as an event in life that can destroy even the most hopeful person's optimism.
6E8WZ TIL that a bakers dozen is comprised of 13 because in medieval England there were laws that related the price of bread to the price of the wheat used to make it. Bakers caught cheating customers by overpricing undersized loaves were punished. For fear of coming up short, they would throw in extra.
XLWQ TIL the same guy who voices Optimus Prime voiced Eeyore as well as characters in Ducktales, My Little Pony, and Carebears.
Br0WD TIL John Wilkes Booth wasn't really a lone gunman - he had 8 coconspirators who were convicted. And their plot was to kill not just Lincoln, but also the Vice President and Secretary of State.