› added 6 years ago

53

TIL that 3 years after illegally joining the Marines at the age of 14, Jack Lucas snuck onto a ship bound for Iwo Jima, stormed the beach without a rifle, and threw himself on top of two grenades to protect his team. He survived, and is the youngest person to earn the Medal of Honor at 17.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

yVLOa TIL that Shen Kuo, a Chinese polymath from the 11th century, not only made significant advancements in astronomy and geography but also discovered the concept of true north using a magnetic compass, over 400 years before it became common in Europe.
OoQjL TIL That the "seam" on a USB is always supposed to point down (horizontal) or to the left (vertical) when plugging in.
OoRdg TIL that the US voted to keep Pol Pot's Khmer Rouge as the UN representative for Cambodia up until the 90s, twenty years after the Khmer Rouge had been destroyed by the Vietnamese
LkGmd TIL “Uncrustable” sandwiches have been classified as both a type of ravioli and a type of dumpling
YpPNZ TIL that the longest unbroken treaty relationship in U.S. history is with Morocco, with whom a treaty of peace and friendship was renegotiated in 1836, and remains in force today