› added 1 year ago

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TIL: The US DoD invented a PHASR which is a non lethal laser rifle which serves to disorientate and blind the target. While blinding laser weapons were banned in 1995 by the UN, the PHASR was allowed as the effect was temporary. It was tested in New Mexico and the name derived from Star Trek.

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Yp5lr TIL In 2007 a man in a wheelchair was hit by an 18 wheeler. The handles were ensnared within the grill of the truck and he was pushed at over 60 mph for several miles on the highway. Amazingly, he escaped without injury.
YOBr TIL the first episode of an X-Files spin-off called “The Lone Gunmen”, which aired March 4, 2001, involves a US government conspiracy to hijack an airliner, fly it into the World Trade Center, and blame it on terrorists - thereby gaining support for a new profit-making war
Vw1k TIL Laws against child labour were introduced in Prussia to improve the health of army recruits.
VbKp TIL A MacBook charger has a tiny computer inside it for regulating power and such. That computer is about as powerful as the CPU for the original Macintosh.
GApO5 TIL The bald eagle’s role as a national symbol is linked to its 1782 landing on the Great Seal of the US. Charles Thomson chose the best elements of the various designs. Thomson recommended that the small, white eagle used in William Barton’s design be replaced with an American bald eagle.