› added 9 years ago

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TIL a disgruntled employee attempted to hijack and crash a FedEx flight using hammers and a speargun. Despite their traumatic head injuries, one pilot flew the plane upside down while the other grappled with the assailant until he was subdued. Both pilots lived and managed to land the plane safely

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Jw14 TIL Swedish and Scandanavian children dress up as witches and go door-to-door asking for candy… on Easter.
ZPGp TIL that North Korea revalued its currency in 2009. Citizens were given a week to exchange old money for new, and were only permitted to exchange a certain amount of currency, worth something like $120 US at the time. This completely wiped out savings for many families.
07oj TIL that during WW II the 603rd unit was designated as Camouflage Engineers. Many of the soldiers were recruited from arts schools and set designers. Their objective was not only to teach camouflage, but to deceive the enemy through the art of design. They became known as the Ghost Army
vg6L TIL that in 1976, a Soviet pilot defected to Japan in his advanced MiG-25 fighter, which Russia demanded be returned. Japan complied, but only after allowing American engineers to examine the aircraft. Japan then shipped it back piece by piece, and billed Russia $40,000 in transport and labor costs.
M7NBW TIL that Bell Labs, a research company that has contributed to many significant inventions, including transistors, lasers and solar cells, and whose work has been awared nine Nobel Prizes, is currently owned by Nokia