› added 8 years ago

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TIL on Jose Fernandez’s 4th attempt to defect from Cuba to the US, a person fell overboard. Jose jumped into the waters and saved the person. He recalled, “I don’t remember much, just diving in the water and swimming towards this woman. As I was getting close, I could see it was my mother”

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E1E0X TIL the first airplane dogfight was between two American mercenaries on opposing sides in the Mexican Revolution. Both men had orders to kill, but neither pilot wanted to harm the other, so they exchanged multiple volleys of pistol fire, intentionally missing before exhausting their ammunition.
wdv7 TIL that there is an opposite of ambidextrous called ambisinister, which means you suck equally with both hands.
dBlK TIL Mussolini bribed Greek generals not to resist an Italian invasion during WWII, only to have Greek resistance fighters push his army back into Albania. The invasion was a display of confidence that highlighted Mussolini’s recklessness and proved the weakness of the Italian army.
7ryJO TIL during WW2, the US Navy had two freshwater aircraft carriers on the Great Lakes to train its pilots
v6R4 TIL that scientists once tested the intelligence of beavers by playing the sound of running water on a field. Eventually, the beavers began covering the tape player with branches and mud.