› added 9 years ago

105

TIL The Ka-50 helicopter has a ejection seat. Before the rocket in the seat deploys, the rotor blades are blown away by explosives in the rotor disc.

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gMBxb TIL radioactivity was discovered accidentally due to bad weather. H. Becquerel stopped his experiments on uranium that required sunlight in an overcast day and put uranium crystals and photographic plates away in a drawer. When he opened the drawer, he discovered the radioactive nature of uranium.
7jnx TIL the pirate Hayreddin “Red beard” Barbarossa (1478-1546) was exiled from so many countries that he ended up starting his own country (Regency of Algiers) with the blessing of The Ottoman Empire which became present day Algeria, Tunisia and parts of Morocco.
ZxbQ TIL: In 2007 a scientist invented a method to remove the allergens from Peanuts.
p8RLp TIL: People in Tokyo stand on the left side of the escalator while in Kyoto & Osaka people stand on the right, for a reason that has never been definitively determined
d8117 TIL that the oldest person alive(120) sold her apartment at the age of 90 in exchange for monthly payments of 400€ until she died. The person she sold it to died at 77. Their family still had to pay her.