› added 10 years ago

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TIL that the OSS director once showcased the then newly invented gun silencer to president Franklin D. Roosevelt by shooting 10 rounds at a sandbag in the oval office without Roosevelt noticing, and then handing him the smoking gun.

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leLK TIL that in 1985, police engaged in a standoff with the black liberation group ‘MOVE’ at their home in Philadelphia. A massive firefight ensued in which the police used choppers to drop two C4 bombs on the roof. The fire destroyed 65 houses and 11 people died.
6EmQl TIL the gold medalist in the men's triathlon in the 2016 Olympics ran the 10k portion in around 31 minutes. This is the same as running a mile in around 5 minutes for six times. The 10k portion of triathlon takes place after a 1.5 km swim and 40 km cycle with no breaks in between.
xVdRk TIL the reason public trams died out in American cities is because they were forced to subsidize infrastructure for cars and allow them to use tram-lines as roads thereby slowing down all rail networks, making them uncompetitive.
E10wV TIL that when Canadian serial killer Wayne McGray was sentenced, he said “Just because I’m locked up in segregation doesn’t mean I can’t kill somebody”. Ten years into his sentence, he killed a cellmate.
1rJV TIL: The incredibly unrealistic looking computer system in Jurassic Park is, in fact, a real thing.