› added 12 years ago

137

TIL the NSA is the largest employer of mathematicians in the United States

Read more math.uh.edu

via reddit.com

6EyPQ TIL that Hughes engineers swung a satellite around the Moon and approached earth from a 'stealthy' direction, "downwards from the Moon rather than up from the ground, the way we typically think of missile launches by aggressor nations."
MeVya TIL that the first chainsaw was invented in 1830 and not made for cutting trees. It was called an Osteotome and designed to aid in childbirth - quickly sawing through the pelvic bone was sometimes seen as better than a caesarean.
0wa05 TIL that actor Christoph Waltz ('Inglorious Basterds', 'Django Unchained') did his own version of the (in)famous 'Trololo' meme song.
Lrjr TIL: Skull fragments Soviets claimed to be Hitler have been DNA tested and said to be that of a woman.
dDPP9 TIL in 1961 a volcanic eruption caused all 264 residents on the remote island of Tristan da Cunha to be evacuated to the UK where they lived in a disused army barracks in Hampshire. While there, they saw cars, elevators & cinemas for the first time. In 1963, all but 14 returned to live on the island