› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the Kodak company manufactured hand grenades in the later years of WWII, and they were even used in the invasion of Normandy. The stock remaining after WWII was ordered to be destroyed because the grenades would explode prematurely, injuring American soldiers.

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p86RA In Delhi, air quality index (AQI) levels are usually a severe 200 on a good day (anything above 25 is deemed unsafe by World Health Organization). During peak pollution periods last year they soared well into a life-threatening 900 and sometimes off the measurable scale. But as Delhi’s 11m registered cars were taken off the roads and factories and construction were ground to a halt, AQI levels have regularly fallen below 20. The skies are suddenly a rare, piercing blue. Even the birdsong seems louder.
wLLgJ TIL that nearly all citrus fruits are hybrids of four original species
nWvMo TIL during sling load operations with helicopters, a dangerous amount of static can build up on the airframe so one of the loaders has to use a discharge wand hooked to a grounding stake or they will receive a fatal electric shock.
BnQx TIL that HSBC was caught laundering money again, again, and again, of the collusion of the biggest banks that caused Trillions of dollars of damages (the LIBOR scandal) as well as that they are unanimously deemed as “too big to jail”.
epeOn Today I learned that Winston Churchill's mother Jennie took as a second husband George Cornwallis West, who was 20 years her junior. Thus, Winston Churchill technically had a stepfather who was his own age (just sixteen days older, to be exact).