› added 7 years ago

95

TIL that the 21-gun salute stems from a tradition of old war ships firing all cannons harmlessly out to sea, until all ammunition was spent. Therefore showing they were disarmed and lacked hostile intent.

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5kgk TIL: In NYC in 1987 the number of people bitten by squirrels: 95. The number of people bitten by other people in NYC that year: 1600.
VMZ0k TIL that during the Siege of Syracuse (213-212 BC), Greek mathematician Archimedes refused to abandon the geometry equation he was working on during a battle. His last words before being killed by a Roman soldier were: “Don't disturb my circles!”
gr8J9 TIL in 1952, Jimmy Carter led a team of nuclear scientists in disassembling a Canadian nuclear reactor undergoing meltdown. To accomplish this, Carter, alongside other American military personnel, personally lowered himself into the reactor to disassemble it by hand.
eprmn TIL that Harry S. Truman was the last U.S. president to serve without a college degree. Although he briefly attended Spalding’s Commercial College and University of Missouri–Kansas City, he never earned a formal degree.
W7ROo TIL During the Vietnam War the act of "Fragging" was when US troops would toss a grenade in their commanding officers tent; known and suspected fragging cases by explosives in Vietnam from 1969 to 1972 totaled nearly 900 incidents.