› added 9 months ago

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TIL that the Norden Bombsight used by US Bomber aircraft in WWII cost $1.1 billion to research and produce, about half as much as the Manhattan Project and over a quarter of the cost of all B-17 bombers manufactured. While successfully precise in Stateside testing it was far less accurate in combat.

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8K7Z TIL Dull, Boring and Bland. The community of Boring in Oregon is marketing itself as “The most exciting place to live”. It’s sister communities are the Scottish Dull and Australian Bland.
woyb8 TIL the video game 'Tropico' where you play as a dictator was banned in Thailand after Thailand's military coup on May 22, 2014 stating it might affect the peace and order of the country.
b9dOQ TIL a defector from the Russian GRU revealed that if war broke out with the US, Russian agents planned to poison the Potomac River with chemical or biological weapons, targeting the residents of Washington, D.C.
v19KL TIL The Vatican has its own telescope staffed by priests, and has previously been given awards for the pursuit of scientific research.
VvxQ TIL that during the 2005 French riots, up to 1408 cars were burned per night across the country. The government declared that the riots had ended when, after three weeks of chaos, only 98 cars were burned per night (“return to a normal situation everywhere in France”).