› added 5 years ago

1321

TIL that the 1968 Pandemic H3N2 virus, commonly referred to as the Hong Kong Flu Virus, was an extremely contagious virus with a low fatality rate that originated in China and was widespread in the United States about five months later. It struck in two waves, with the second being more deadly.

Read more britannica.com

via reddit.com

El97 TIL L. Ron Hubbard commanded a sub chaser, fought a nonexistent sub, and shelled Mexico
R7MJ8 TIL of Gino Bartali, a cyclist who used his fame as a winner of the Tour de France to smuggle counterfeit documents hidden inside his bicycle through Nazi checkpoints in WWII Italy under the guise of training. These documents allowed as many as 800 Jews to escape persecution by the Nazis.
MemAV TIL Hilda Woodward was one of the oldest female artists to feature in a song that became a Number One single in the United Kingdom. Woodward, who played piano for the band "Lieutenant Pigeon" alongside son and frontman Rob, was 58 when "Mouldy Old Dough" reached Number One. She died aged 85 in 1999.
Oo44g TIL: There is an underground coal mine on fire in Pennsylvania
x601B TIL that Merian C. Cooper, creator of the original King Kong, was a bomber pilot in both WWI and WWII, and retired with a rank of brigadier general