› added 4 years ago

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TIL of the Kolyma Highway. A 1200+ mile long modern road in Russia that an estimated quarter of a million people died building. Because of permafrost, interment into the fabric of the road was deemed more practical than burying the bodies in new holes, resulting in the nickname The Road of Bones.

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xW8g TIL men’s and women’s clothes button on opposite sides due to historical tradition where men needed quick access to their weapon using their right hand, while wealthy women were dressed by servants with the button configuration being flipped for easier access by the servants
LkOAm TIL While attacking a series of machine gun nests during WW2, Daniel Inouye had most his right arm shot off while arming a grenade. He pried the grenade out of his severed hand and destroyed a bunker with it before finishing the last resistance in the bunker with a one-handed Tommy gun burst.
pO6Z TIL humans are unlikely to sink entirely into quicksand due to the higher density of the fluid: quicksand has a density of about 2 grams per milliliter, while human density is only about 1 gram per milliliter. A human would descend about up to their waist, but no further.
4k11J TIL that whole chickens and covered pies are not allowed into the Papal conclave
9YNNQ TIL a local Chinese man has prevented over 300 suicides from the Yangtze River Bridge. Chen Si visits the bridge every day and offers help to anyone in distress, including followup phone calls and even occasionally offering his spare bedroom.