› added 11 years ago

74

TIL that after the great Chicago fire, England donated a library’s worth of books to replace the ones that burned. What England didn’t know, however, is that Chicago did not have a library before the fire.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

yQdJw TIL that a Water Salute is a ceremony in which an aircraft passes under one or more arches formed by the water jets from airport fire fighting vehicles. They are used to mark notable events such as the retirement of senior pilots or air traffic controllers.
9bLp TIL that because of the starvation and hardship endured by the Irish people during the potato famine, Ireland has been at the forefront of famine relief and its people have given more to the fundraising efforts of Live Aid per capita than any other nation in the world.
Dygg TIL that six Ginkgo trees survived the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima without deformities. All six are still alive today.
QJ9od TIL that singing clearly is possible with a speech impediment because singing and speech are processed by different hemispheres of the brain
N757M TIL an MIT study found that tin-foil hats amplified "radio bands reserved for government use" rather than blocking signals.