› added 4 years ago

163

TIL Christopher Columbus had experienced a hurricane or tropical storm in 1495 near Hispaniola, the first known recorded and reported hurricane ever. He later declared that "nothing but the service of God and the extension of the monarchy" would induce him to expose himself to such danger.

Read more smithsonianmag.com

via reddit.com

ne9x9 TIL of Lydia Litvyak, The Jewish Soviet Fighter Ace. During WWII she claimed 14 kills, trained 45 pilots, and shot down an ace who wouldn't believe a woman beat him until she described the fight. She went missing on a flight Just before she was to receive the award "Hero of the Soviet Union"
kYY5 TIL Brazil Prisons offer their prisoners to reduce their sentence for 4 days (up to 48 days/year) for every Book they read and write a report on.
EVaP TIL Horses are as good as bloodhounds in tracking people
R5v6j TIL about The Dancing Plague of 1518 - A case of mass hysteria in Strasbourg where hundreds of people danced uncontrollably for days, leading to several deaths.
GY5DG TIL about the Oslo Breakfast, a meal that began to be served to Norwegian schoolchildren starting 1932. A typical version included an orange, milk, whole-wheat bread, rye biscuit, cheese, carrot and a spoon of cod-liver oil. It reportedly increased the average height of 14 year olds by 4 inches.