› added 5 years ago

180

TIL in 1981 a man named Roger Fischer had an idea for a volunteer to have ICBM launch codes put in their chest cavity. In the event of an emergency, the volunteer would carry a knife to be killed with. It was meant to force the personal killing of one man to start the impersonal killing of millions.

Read more boingboing.net

via reddit.com

eaPD TIL that there is a siren for the Holocaust Remembrance Day that literally stops everyone in their tracks
7A1P TIL that a whistleblower named Gustl Mollath was forcibly committed to a psychiatric hospital for claiming that a major bank was engaging in money laundering. A report by the bank itself later leaked, proved that Mollath was right and allowed him to be released.
KYK44 TIL that Boston Celtics legend Bob Cousy was appointed commissioner of the American Soccer League despite his unfamiliarity with the sport. He was relieved of his duties after 5 years because despite his tenure, Cousy would still go around telling people he knew nothing about soccer.
WkOJL TIL in 2002, Tropicana aired a half-hour orange juice infomercial called "Breakfast Americana" on Lifetime, A&E, TLC and Discovery Channel. When it also aired on local CBS affiliates, some major markets drew higher ratings than NBA basketball and 'Everybody Loves Raymond'.
b9YWZ TIL the reason why NASA (and later the Russians) use a specialised space pen instead of pencil in space is because the graphite of pencils is conductive and can cause short circuits and even fires. The pens have been used since the Apollo era and are still being used right now on the ISS.