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TIL In the 1950s, full size B-47 nuclear bombers would do a partial backflip called an “Immelman maneuver” and fling their nuclear weapons in a parabolic arc towards the target . This was so they would not be consumed by the 40,000 foot tall fireball from their own weapons.

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9wbGG TIL that Sweyn Forkbeard was the first Viking king to rule England. He massacred, plundered, and burned his way through the countryside, capturing London on Christmas Day 1013. He died just 40 days later. Upon his death the previous king Æthelred the Unready came back and retook his throne.
p84Wp TIL The celebrity holdout of the Mt. St Helens eruption, Harry Truman, refused to believe the volcano would be a threat to him. His family was futile in an attempt to bribe him away with whisky. On 05/18/80 Harry was buried under 150 ft of volcanic ash with his 16 cats.
JylQ TIL that in old Marvel comics, the mafia is called “the Maggia” to avoid offending the real mafia, who controlled comic book distribution.
j6xbQ TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed.
KYLb4 TIL the city of Guangzhou, China, is also known as 'City of the Five Rams', from the five stones at the old Temple of the Five Immortals, which are said to have been the sheep or goats ridden by the Taoist culture heroes credited with introducing rice cultivation to the area.