› added 7 years ago

341

TIL that the USS Constitution, a wooden frigate first launched in 1797 and still active for ceremonial and educational purposes, is the only active ship in the U.S. Navy fleet to have sunk an enemy vessel in combat.

Read more popularmechanics.com

via reddit.com

wo6y8 TIL In 1921 conman Stanley Clifford Weyman posed as a U.S. naval officer and convinced an Afghan Princess to give him $10,000 to set up a meeting with the President. He spent it on travel and lodging for her, and got her a meeting with the President. The ensuing press coverage led to his arrest.
7rxJX TIL One cubic inch of muscle weighs slightly more than one cubic inch of fat.
78adZ TIL about Oliver Pollock, the man who created the US dollar sign (and went broke funding a war)
8aGaX TIL Pandora's Jar was called Pandora's Box due to translation error and the mistake has stuck!
R7aB6 TIL: America is home to “Body Farms,” places where corpses are just tossed out into nature to rot for scientists to study decomposition and forensics.