› added 11 years ago

74

TIL that on May 30, 1883, a rumor that the Brooklyn Bridge was going to collapse caused a stampede, which killed at least twelve people. To prove the bridge was safe, P. T. Barnum led a parade of 21 elephants over it.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

eA55 TIL Dyslexia is also auditory, not just visual.
yVQkJ TIL In 1968 South Korea hatched a plan to assassinate Kim Il Sung that went terribly wrong: Recruits (petty criminals) snapped during intense training on a remote island, killed their trainers, hijacked and blew up a bus in Seoul, killing 15... In all 37 people killed, 7 missing and 30 wounded.
rNRnw TIL The first Mediterranean description of the New World predates Columbus's expedition by over a century. Galvano Fiamma of Milan described the New world some time between 1339 and 1345, likely learning of it from sailors visiting Genoa.
4X6Zb TIL that a British POW started a hobby of stitching while in captivity. His work was so good it was hung on the wall by the German guards, not realising the secret message stitched on it. The message 'God Save The King' and 'F--- Hitler' was stitched in Morse code.
awmwJ TIL the electric car was invented before the internal combustion engined car.