› added 4 years ago

54

TIL that Louisiana's Airline Highway was so named because it runs relatively straight--and only later, two major airports were built alongside it.

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VBLJB TIL George C. Scott called the Oscars "a two-hour meat parade, a public display with contrived suspense for economic reasons," and sent a telegram to the Academy telling them that he'd be refusing the award, and didn't even want his name on the ballot.
Bg4re TIL A dam in Saltville, VA holding back a pond filled with 27 years of toxic waste broke on Christmas Even of 1924 and flooded an entire neighborhood killing 19 people.
pY8Kb TIL of Operation Looking Glass, the code name for an airborne US command and control centre that would take charge of the response if all US ground bases were lost due to nuclear war. They started with 5 Boeing KC-135's and a plane was in the air 24/7, 365 days a year, for nearly 30 years.
DQ94P TIL that Lee Harvey Oswald was Teddy Roosevelt's third cousin, whereas FDR was Teddy's fifth cousin.
O4D6 TIL: The suicide rate for the Army is up 15% over last year. For the Marines its up 28%.