› added 4 months ago

14

TIL that 18th-century Russian general Vasily Mikhailovych Dolgorukov was promoted to officer after distinguishing himself during the Siege of Perekop in the Russo-Turkish War of 1735 - 1739 with the age of 13.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

8eaDV TIL President Dwight Eisenhower regularly had a supply of Coors beer flown to Washington DC by the US Air Force, at a time when Coors could not be legally sold east of the Mississippi River, and President Gerald Ford once smuggled some back to DC from Colorado in his luggage.
kJkGW TIL about the 1980 Sunshine Skyway bridge disaster in St. Petersburg, Florida, U.S. The original bridge collapsed when it was struck by the freighter MV Summit Venture. 35 people died, including passengers on a Greyhound Bus.
P17GV TIL that Parmentier, to encourage the consumption of potatoes which people were wary of, decided to have the field where he grew them guarded by armed men during the day but not at night. Guarding the field increased the value of the crop; at night it was easy to steal tubers, and consumption spread
jNAQj TIL That Dwight's brother Mose in The Office was the producer of The Office, as well as the creator of Parks and Rec, The Good Place and Brooklyn Nine-Nine
1aPO7 TIL about the Chicago Spire, a planned 2000 foot high skyscraper which would have been the highest building in the Americas, and 2nd tallest in the world. It would have looked like a "tall twisting tree" or "blade of grass." It was cancelled in 2008 due to the economic crisis.