› added 7 years ago

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TIL: Of the United States' 2.9 million female high school athletes, only 3% are cheerleaders, yet cheerleading accounts for nearly 65% of all catastrophic injuries in girls' high school athletics and carries the highest rate of catastrophic injuries in sports.

oROb8 TIL that during the Cold War, the U.S. Army trained elite soldiers to deploy nuclear weapons by hand. They developed special rigs for Special Forces paratroopers to jump with bombs strapped to their chests.
9wyJM TIL the statue atop the US Capitol building was going to have a liberty cap (the old Roman symbol of an emancipated slave), but future Confederate President Jefferson Davis made the sculptor remove it.
9DyG TIL Sir Adrian de Wiart served in the Boer War, WWI, WWII, and was shot in the face, head, stomach, ankle, leg, hip, and ear. He survived 2 plane crashes, tunnelled out of a POW camp, and bit off his own fingers when a doctor wouldn’t amputate. About WWI, he wrote, “Frankly I had enjoyed the war.”
oBwQr TIL that "Five-O" being slang for "police" was inspired by the TV show "Hawaii Five-0" (and not the other way around). "Hawaii Five-0" was named that in honor of Hawaii being the 50th state to join the United States
N7yZ8 TIL The Earl of Barrymore was challenged to a race by a butcher who bet he could win if given a short start and choice of track. As he was overweight, Barrymore eagerly agreed. The butcher chose Brighton's narrowest lane and though the Earl quickly caught him up, he was unable to pass.