› added 8 years ago

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TIL The plastic card where the U.S. nuclear launch codes are written includes codes which have no meaning. The president must memorize where the correct code is located on the list, which allows him to positively identify himself as the commander-in-chief and thereby authenticate a launch order.

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OoQaY TIL after hearing The Doors' first album, lead singer Jim Morrison's father urged him "to give up any idea of singing or any connection with a music group because of what I consider to be a complete lack of talent in this direction."
XEDmj TIL that almost 23% of the world's fresh water - more than every American great lake combined - is in one lake in Russia
oBnEK TIL that shortly before the Attack on Pearl Harbor, the Japanese government sent its declaration of war to its embassy in America. However, the message was so long and confusingly worded that by the time the embassy had it decoded and translated, the attack had already finished.
awE7Z TIL about the Erikkson twins, sisters who were both knocked down by vehicles on a UK motorway. A TV crew filmed the incidents, and the madness that ensued as one twin stood up and attacked police attending the scene. Days later she stabbed a man to death.
OGak7 TIL that over 30% of pediatric burns are from accidents involving instant ramen, according to a 10 year retrospective study at the University of Chicago Burn Center.