› added 11 years ago

70

TIL that in 2002, a fire broke out at a girls’ school in Mecca, Saudi Arabia. Some girls were stopped by “religious police” from running out of the building because they were not wearing correct Islamic dress. 15 girls died.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

kKE TIL an estimated 5% of US flights have an undercover Air Marshal on board who carries a gun and is authorized to make arrests.
b7vE TIL that White Star crewmembers on the Titanic were considered fired as of the moment it sank
R5WQ1 TIL of the Highway of Death, a six-lane highway between Kuwait and Iraq where US forces boxed in and then systematically slaughtered an estimated 1,000+ retreating Iraqi soldiers during the Gulf War. The devastation was so immense that President Bush Sr. declared a ceasefire the following day.
P5vZ TIL The idea of having the Olympic torch run from ancient Olympia to the host country was invented by the Nazis for the 1936 Berlin Summer Games.
mVQO TIL both dolphins and elephants have prehensile penises. In the case of the dolphin, this is sometimes used to grab divers by the ankle.