› added 4 months ago

15

TIL that the threat from Algeria was the reason the U.S. Navy was founded. In 1794, the U.S. Congress passed the Naval Act, authorizing the construction of six frigates, including the USS George Washington. This decision was largely driven by the need to protect American merchant ships from Algiers.

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via reddit.com

W7xXL TIL certain species of birds have been known to use cigarette butts in their nests as a way to repel mites and other parasites.
9YeWm TIL about the Freedom Summer Murders, where 3 Civil Rights workers were abducted and killed by local law enforcement. Despite sufficient evidence, the state of Mississippi refused to prosecute the perpetrators, and some were only convicted of Civil Rights violations and served little time in prison
X01OP TIL that the names "Arctic" and "Antarctic" comes from the Greek arktos, “bear,” because the constellation Ursa Major, “the greater she-bear” (also known as the Big Dipper), is always visible in the northern polar sky. “Antarctic,” then, means “opposite the bear.”
LkpJv TIL during the filming of Interview with the Vampire, a shallow trench was dug for Brad Pitt to walk alongside Tom Cruise so that their significant height disparity wouldn't be apparent on camera.
QJX1M TIL that in the 60s, the CIA sponsored a Harvard study where an undergraduate student was humiliated and subjected to "brutalizing psychological experiments". The student who had the worse reaction to the experiment was Ted Kaczynski who later became the Unabomber.