› added 10 years ago

199

TIL of le Chevalier d'Eon, a French diplomat that lived alternatively as male or female. There was a betting pool over his real gender (male) that closed only after his autopsy.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

XEAn8 TIL that "survivorshp bias" has its name from WWII where engineers failed to increase bomber pilot's chance of surviving when they increased armour on bombers where bullet holes where most often found until a statistician then proposed to increase armour where holes couldn't be found.
xVk1 TIL a Nisei soldier had his arm shot off as he was about to throw a grenade into a German bunker and then pried the grenade from his severed hand and threw it into the bunker, taking it out. Oh yeah, he’s also the most senior US Senator.
VpWD TIL there exists a series titled “Manga Bible,” an adaptation of the Christian Bible in manga form.
dD6BB TIL that Abraham Lincoln founded the US Secret Service hours before being assassinated
PoMJ TIL that airplane pilots would announce that Jonas Salk was on board and passengers would burst into applause. Hotels routinely would upgrade him into their penthouse suites.