› added 7 years ago

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TIL that during WWII, the US Navy discharged gay sailors at Treasure Island in San Francisco. This helped make SF both a refuge and a major travel destination for gay men.

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via reddit.com

p8P44 TIL: 100 crew members of the nuclear submarine USS Scorpion were scheduled to make its 1968 deployment. One sailor refused to go citing the sub’s dire need of maintenance. 99 sailors were killed when the sub sank in the Atlantic.
l70lG TIL OJ Simpson wrote a book titled If I Did It after being found not guilty for the murder of his ex wife Nicole. After filing for bankruptcy a judge awarded all profits of the book to the family of his ex wife who promptly changed the cover to say I Did It with the if in tiny font.
p80Ob TIL the Australian Kangaroo 1 tonne gold is the largest bullion coin in the world made of 99.99% gold and weighing 1 tonne or 35,274 ounces, 80cm wide and more than 12cm deep. At today’s (May 26, 2020) gold price ($1,710.42USD) this coin is worth $‭60,343,937 USD.
6PvY TIL Minnie Schönberg, the mother of the Marx brothers, upon hearing that farmers were exempt from being drafted, bought a farm and forced the brothers to work on it so they wouldn’t be called to fight during WWI.
v1QRL TIL During the Vietnam War the US tried to weaponize the religious beliefs of the Vietnamese. They believed anyone improperly buried would wander the earth in agony. So the US played horrifying sounds of a wailing Vietnamese man over the jungle at night as part of a psyop campaign.