› added 9 years ago

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TIL in 1932 Oskar Speck was an unemployed contractor in Germany who left via kayak to seek work, but en route changed his plan & decided to see the world. By 1939 he kayaked all the way to Australia. Unbeknown to him, WW2 started & upon arrival, he was detained as an enemy foreigner until WW2 ended.

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via reddit.com

bo1Z TIL a man planned a roller coaster designed to kill its passengers.
DQnVY TIL the US Navy wanted the Golden Gate Bridge to be painted in black and yellow stripes so it would be more visible to ships passing in fog.
yAXa TIL When the First iPod was Presented to Steve Jobs he Dropped it in an Aquarium and used the Air Bubbles to Prove there was Empty Space and it Could be Made Smaller.
GAMMj TIL that Chinese Americans are the most prolific inventors in America as a group
rRwZ0 TIL that when Norway was occupied by the Germans in WW2, the Nazis made the Lebensborn program where Norwegian girls were forced into mating with Nazi officers and having their children. One of the Lebensborn women grew up to be Frida Lyngstad, who was a member of the Swedish band ABBA.