› added 9 years ago

140

TIL on April 5, 1943 the Destroyer USS O'Bannon encountered a Japanese submarine. Too close to fire their guns, the crew threw potatoes at the Japanses sailors, who thought they were grenades, distracting them long enough to get distance from the sub, fire their guns, and eventually sink it.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

KOmW4 TIL before the WWII Battle of Okinawa, the Japanese military forced Okinawan boys as young as 14 to fight against the US invasion. They weren't expected to win so the boys were given suicide missions. The only weapon most were given were 2 grenades - one for the US solders the other for themselves.
VeQ8 TIL that there is an underground parking garage in Israel that can be converted in 3 days to a fortified emergency hospital with room for 2,000 patients. It can generate its own power and store enough oxygen, drinking water, and medical supplies for up to 3 days.
e5D5 TIL after several overburdened hospitals turned away a 22yo woman’s 4 Ebola-stricken family members, the Liberian woman fashioned protective equipment out of plastic garbage bags and treated them herself for 2 weeks. Three of the Four family members survived.
6yyW TIL after 9/11, Iran held a minute of silence, and 60,000 Iranians attended a candlelight vigil for the citizens of their enemy. Many other countries hostile to the US set aside their difference to pay respect to the scale of the tragedy.
VBdbD TIL Dr. Howard Tucker is the world's oldest practicing doctor at 102 with 77 years of practice. He also passed the bar examine at 67. He is a neurologist and works as an expert witness in medical related legal cases.