› added 11 years ago

79

TIL the U.S. had “Ugly Laws” on the books until the 1970’s … prohibiting unsightly people from appearing in public

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

wyjo TIL until late 1942, it was common for German U-boats to provide torpedoed survivors with food, water, and the direction of the nearest landmass. This ended when a U-boat towing lifeboats and flying the Red Cross flag was attacked by a US bomber.
6Oml TIL Winston Churchill was seriously injured in NYC in 1931 when he was struck by a car while attempting to cross the street. Accustomed to British traffic, he looked the wrong way and, seeing no cars, stepped into traffic. He went out of his way to ensure the driver of the car did not get blamed.
N7GRN TIL "Baseball is so popular in Japan that many new Japanese fans are surprised to learn that Americans also consider it their 'national sport'"
ANRvx TIL as a cost-saving measure not all new cars come with spares
8a0LV TIL of the Dryton and Apollonia archive, a family archive from 2nd century BC Egypt which contains info for 3 generations of a soldier's family, in the form of wills, divorce papers, financial accounts, personal letters etc