› added 11 years ago

72

TIL that in the US Civil War, the Union dug a mine-shaft under a heavily defended Confederate position, and then detonated 8,000 pounds of gunpowder, instantly killing ~300 Soldiers and starting a battle during the Siege of Petersburg

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PDJw TIL that the pizza Margherita owes its name to Italy’s Queen Margherita who in 1889 visited the Pizzeria Brandi in Naples. The Pizzaiolo (pizza maker) on duty that day, Rafaele Esposito created a pizza for the Queen that contained the three colors of the new Italian flag.
kJ481 TIL that ‘Persepolis’ - Marjane Satrapi’s autobiography of her childhood during the Iranian Revolution - has faced numerous attempts at banning the book from schools and libraries. Every attempt has failed.
ZWo TIL that Fred Perry, the last British Wimbledon men’s champion, also won the Table Tennis Championship, the only tennis player to ever do so.
ZpPr4 TIL "Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones" was the first all-digital live action feature. This means that no film was used in the creation of it until film copies had to be made for theaters.
wrlP TIL In exchange for Pepsi products, Russia gave the company 17 submarines, a cruiser, a frigate, and a destroyer making Pepsi become, for a few days, the 6th largest military power in the world by number of diesel submarines.