› added 5 years ago

76

TIL of Project Stormfury. Ran by the US government in 1962, it was an attempt to weaken tropical cyclones by flying aircraft near the eye walls, and “seeding” them with silver iodide in hopes to freezing their inner structures. The project was a failure, and ended in 1983.

xVj70 TIL that on the Mississippi River in the 1850s, the word "two" was often pronounced "twain." When leadsmen measured a depth of two fathoms, they shouted "mark twain!" The American writer Mark Twain, a former river pilot from Missouri, got his pen name from this phrase.
8e0eK TIL: The Środa Treasure hoard was discovered in 1985 while building the foundation of a phone booth. The government seized 3000 coins. Years later, a bigger find was uncovered, however this time most of the find was taken before the authorities arrived. A criminal investigation was launched.
pMPZ TIL In 2005, Facebook hired graffiti artist David Choe to paint murals in their new office space; Choe accepted Facebook shares instead of a small cash payment of several thousand dollars, and when Facebook went public in 2012, his payment for the murals ballooned into a 200 million dollar payoff.
Y7D5r TIL that the 1994 film “The Mask,” was based on a much more violent comic book. The protagonist, Stanley Ipkiss, goes on a revenge spree, murders a number of cops, and is eventually shot in the back and killed by his girlfriend, Kathy, who sees the Mask for what it is, and plans to destroy it.
mWWo TIL Henry Ford received letters from both Clyde Barrow (Bonnie and Clyde) and John Dillinger thanking him for building the V-8 because of how much it helped them get away from the crimes they committed.