› added 12 years ago

368

TIL of SHIRO ISHII. As head of Japan’s Unit 731, Dr. Ishii was responsible for gruesome experiments performed on prisoners of war. The US granted Dr. Ishii immunity from prosecution in exchange for his germ warfare experiments. He continued in his research until 1959.

4kePb TIL the term "Ass Clown" is credited to be from the movie "Office Space."
7rgwX TIL that when the cruise ship MV Aurora was christened the champagne bottle did not smash, an occurrence considered a bad omen. It has since had two Norovirus outbreaks, broke down during a 103-day world cruise costing its parent company £25m, and was caught up in the 9/11 attacks.
rNJYd TIL that the Sphinx is the oldest known monumental sculpture in Egypt dating back to the old kingdom during the reign of Khafre (c. 2558–2532 BC). The nose was deliberately chiseled off before the 15th century as it's absence is referred to in descriptions by the 15th-century historian al-Maqrīzī.
8aWG8 TIL According to “The Impact of Disease on the Civil War”, 3/5 Union troops died of diseases. 63% of Union fatalities were due to disease, 12% due to wounds, 19% of Union deaths were due to death on the battle field. Likewise, 2/3 Confederate troops died of infection.
EKZp TIL Following Fight Club ‘​s release, several fight clubs were reported to have started in the United States. A “Gentleman’s Fight Club” was started in Menlo Park, California in 2000 and had members mostly from the tech industry.