› added 1 year ago

42

TIL that in 1859, the United States controlled almost 70% of the East African copal ("young amber") trade, with Germany controlling about 25% of the market. Copal was used to create wood varnish for furniture and carriages. The U.S. Civil War (1861– 1865) led to Germany taking control of the market.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

KDxJ TIL that there is a hanging display in Chicago of 58,226 dog tags of every American soldier killed in Vietnam.
4X7k6 TIL that a 61yo Californian man Gregory McFadden after suffering for more than a decade with a medical condition that rendered him unable to sleep and eat properly decided to commit suicide by jumping off a helicopter mid-flight. However, he survived the jump and later died at the hospital.
R50Ml TIL what it means when a superhero has “peak human strength” (like Captain America)
nWjgP TIL that DFIA (prev. Munchausen by proxy) is one of the most lethal forms of child abuse, with a 6-10% child mortality rate; 25% of siblings of FDIA child victims were also found to be deceased. The only known treatment is separating child from the abusive caregiver, and caregivers rarely improve.
DX5J TIL that a 17 year old survivor of the 2011 Norway attack was arrested, stripped naked and jailed on suspicion of carrying out the attack due to his alleged lack of emotion upon being rescued. He was released after the police discovered he was a traumatized survivor of the Chechen war.