› added 1 month ago

7

TIL, that when Nelson Mandela left prison, one of the first places he visited was Ireland but he was only allowed to give a speach to the Dáil, one of the two houses of the Irish parliment, as speaking to both was a right reserved for Heads of State.

Read more irishexaminer.com

via reddit.com

XZJE TIL that during World War II in Australia, there was a dog whose hearing was so acute that it could warn airforce personnel of incoming Japanese planes 20 minutes before they arrived, and before they showed up on radar. “Gunner” could also differentiate the sounds of allied and enemy aircraft.
j6oyj TIL Hydrogen-alpha solar telescopes work thanks to an optical device called an etalon, made up of two semi-reflective, optically flat plates. The flatness of the plates and how parallel they are defines the quality of the view of the Sun, which has an ‘orange peel’ appearance through the telescope
N7kkJ Til of afro turks, people of Zanj (Bantu) descent in Turkey, the current pop is now mixed with the rest of the population.
lKaV TIL that Andrew Jackson was the only president to pay off the national debt, but a depression from 1837 to 1844 caused the national debt to increase and it has not been paid in full since.
nWBpb TIL messenger pigeons only fly home to where they were born and pampered. To keep them loyal, they were isolated in cages while traveling. Releasing them with a message meant they'd rush back to their luxury life. They acted as a speedy, one-way messaging service.