› added 8 years ago

140

TIL that Prince Andrew, Duke of York served as a Royal Navy helicopter pilot for two decades. The UK government wanted to prevent him from serving in combat during the 1982 Falklands War, but his mother Queen Elizabeth insisted that Andrew fight. The Duke served in anti-missile decoy, ASW, and SAR.

Read more wikipedia.org

via ift.tt

epWVb TIL that Margaret Chung, the first Chinese-American female physician, "adopted" over 1,500 soldiers. She treated them, cooked for them and gifted them jade Buddha figurines they wore around their necks.
neO6W TIL about Marcus Licinius Crassus, an ancient Roman who was the richest man in his time in history. He gained his wealth largely through slaves, politics, and real estate. In mockery of his greed, melted gold was poured in his mouth after his death.
ppWe TIL that there is was one airline crash for every 3.1 million flight flown in 2015; and that plane crashes involving “deliberate acts of unlawful interference” are not classified as accidents.
X0w0r TIL while sailing from Tahiti to San Diego, Tami Oldham Ashford & her fiancé's boat temporarily capsized when they got caught in a hurricane. Tami got knocked out & woke up 27 hours later with her fiancé missing. Over the next 41 days, she used a sextant & a watch to navigate 1.5K miles to Hawaii.
X0a4D TIL that Helen Sharman, the first British person in space, worked for the confectionery company Mars before being selected to travel to the Mir space station, leading to the press dubbing her "the girl from Mars".