› added 7 months ago

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TIL after realizing their tail-warning radars had the opposite effect - attracted luftwaffe to their night raids rather than increase survivability - The RAF decided to abuse this fact to intentionally lure german aircraft into deadly traps using their mosquito night fighters

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0dwpy TIL The Washington Monument build was halted due to a few reasons, including the civil war. This moment in history is still visible today by the different shading of marble used in the actual build.
xY0 TIL that some jumping spiders possess object permanence, or the knowledge that something you can’t see is still there, which humans don’t develop until 8-12 months old
DQmYJ TIL One of the reasons Germany didn’t develop nuclear weapons first during World War II was due to the Norwegian heavy water sabotage. In 1943, Norwegian resistance fighters launched a daring attack on the Vemork hydroelectric plant, which was producing heavy water essential for Germany's atomic bom
wgrW TIL:in 1927, James Dole the “Pineapple King” sponsored the Dole Air Race, putting up a prize of $25,000 for the first airplane to fly from Oakland to Honolulu and $10,000 for second place. Those prizes were won by the only two airplanes to survive the flight. Ten other people died in their attempts.
JJXv TIL a Japanese Oil Tanker captain fell into a cactus at a Santa Barbra Oil Field, provoking laughter from the local workers. 5 years later he returned in an Imperial Japanese Navy sub and made the first mainland shelling of the US at that oil field.