› added 9 years ago

186

TIL that in WWII the Soviets used captured Germans and fake radio messages to convince the Nazis of a large German armed group stranded behind Soviet lines. The Nazis kept sending airdrops and rescue missions, which the Soviets would promptly capture and force to participate in the illusion

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

d8O6K TIL of the "King of All Boomboxes", the JVC RC-M90, which was produced in 1981. LL Cool J and The Beastie Boys made this boombox famous by including it on their album covers. The competitive environment to obtain one is so fierce among collectors that prices are very high and there's much bickering.
J1mlk TIL N.Machiavelli's remains are lost, partially because an angry bull once chased a man who was trying to hide inside the Machiavelli family chapel/tomb, located inside the Santa Croce Basilica in Florence. The bull gored the man to death, ransacking the chapel in the process
nMmB TIL the most decorated enlisted man in the British Army in WWI was a conscientious objector who never fired a single shot. He was a stretcher bearer who won the Victoria cross for charging into fire unarmed and carrying out 3 wounded men on his back
R7Q8Q TIL Rome has major struggles with expanding the subway system in the city because diggers keep running into major archaeological finds. The Metro C expansion has been in the works for the past 40 years and has unearthed Hadrian's Athenaeum, a military complex, and an amphitheater .
eZQn TIL Wizard of Oz author L. Frank Baum wanted to ‘exterminate’ all Native Americans