› added 5 years ago

82

TIL about the American Service Members Protection Act of 2002, which gives the United States the authority to use military force to liberate ANY American or citizen of a U.S allied-country from being held in the International Criminal Court at Hague!

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

N7rbN TIL Helium was first discovered in 1868 on the SUN. Astronomers at the time noticed a certain wavelength in sunlight which could not be produced by any known element at the time. It was thought that the gas was only present on the sun, thus was named after the Greek god Helios.
69YNw TIL Octopus Wrestling was a famous sport back in the 60s.
1aPO7 TIL about the Chicago Spire, a planned 2000 foot high skyscraper which would have been the highest building in the Americas, and 2nd tallest in the world. It would have looked like a "tall twisting tree" or "blade of grass." It was cancelled in 2008 due to the economic crisis.
VMxMm TIL In 2007 Tacoma Self Storage was visited by a flock of birds. One of the birds landed atop the neon sign and accidentally hit the switch on the ‘S’. Ever since the ‘S’ has been turned off every Black Friday, going dark to make the season bright.
7vdM TIL the “s” curve in drain pipes acts as a water lock to prevent sewer gas from escaping into buildings