› added 7 years ago

206

TIL of Operation Moolah, a 1953 USAF effort to obtain a combat capable Soviet MiG-15 jet by rewarding any defecting Communist pilot 100k cash. The person who won it didn't even know it was being offered.

Read more militaryhistorynow.com

via reddit.com

5Gxr TIL that the strawberry attached to a typical tomato pincusion is filled with abrasive emery, and used to sharpen pins and needles.
ADJdw TIL Charles Darwin predicted the existence of the giant hawkmoth 20 years earlier which was eventually discovered in 1882. He was 5,700 miles away then as he sat in his London office inspecting an unusual Star-of-Bethlehem orchid sent by a colleague.
vPgGr TIL that the 23 year reign of Emperor Antoninus Pius is considered the most peaceful in the history of the Roman Empire. There’s no record of Antoninus leading any military action, and it’s likely he likely never saw or commanded a Roman army or came within 500 miles of a legion during his reign.
R154 TIL some people have “blindsight.” They are blind due to damage in the brain’s visual cortex, but the eye and optic nerve are fine. They can’t consciously see anything but can guess their way through an obstacle course or guess the emotional content of a photo through intuition with decent accuracy.
Yp8gG TIL In the 1990s, an issue of the popular The Amazing Spider-Man that sold around 70,000 would be considered a failure. These days, what counts as a successful superhero book is anything that can sell a regular 40-60,000 copies. Most sell quite a bit less.