› added 10 months ago

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TIL that on 27 April 1865 the steamboat Sultana exploded on the Mississippi, killing about 1,700 mostly Union POWs—the deadliest maritime disaster in U.S. history

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M7Y4b TIL that in 1940 the Germans conquered Denmark so quickly that the Danes didn't have time to formally declare war against them. They surrendered after 2 hours.
XEbRR TIL the original reason why umbrella handles are curved is to make it easier for servants to hold the umbrella at an angle to shield their employer
OGmQ1 TIL the “30m / 50m / 100m” water resistance on watches isn’t actual depth. 30m usually only means handwashing
rAny TIL that resumes with White sounding names (e.g. Emily and Brendan) elicit 50% more callbacks than resumes with African American sounding names (e.g. Lakisha and Jamal). This discrimination persists even when resumes with African American names list more credentials than resumes with White names.
grnkA TIL there is an IQ floor (80 points) to serve in the US Armed Forces and this requirement was relaxed during the Vietnam war. These people died at 5 times the rate of other Americans in the war.