› added 10 years ago

216

TIL The Treaty of Ghent of 1814 once contained a clause that if Britain and Spain were to go to war, the U.S. would be given the rights to “protect” occupy Canada for a period up to 20 years, after which the U.S. could buy it for 50 million if 2/3rd of Canadians voted to stay part of the U.S..

Read more ourdocuments.gov

via reddit.com

b9Y1j TIL Dragonflies are capable of higher-level thought processes when hunting its prey. The discovery is the first evidence that an invertebrate animal has brain cells for selective attention, which has so far has only been demonstrated in primates. It selects one target and filters out all others
4XJvg TIL that during the Battle of Dien Bien Phu, the United States proposed "Operation Vulture" which involved the potential use of nuclear weapons against the Viet Minh in support of France. These proposals only fell through due to the British government's refusal to support them.
6E408 TIL that immediately after the death of Queen Elizabeth II, her secretary will inform the Prime Minister via a secure phone line by saying "London Bridge is down", thus initiating Operation London Bridge, a detailed procedure that outlines the action for days and weeks after the sovereign's death.
77WZ TIL: NY Hospital Painted an MRI Machine like a Pirate Ship to Alleviate Children’s Fears of the Machine
M858 TIL the actor who played the scientist from “In a cave with a box of scraps” scene in Iron Man was Ralphie from A Christmas Story. He was also one of the executive producers of the film.