› added 8 years ago

637

TIL Loneliness and feeling unloved are twice as likely to kill you as being fat.

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p8XXG TIL the Statue of Liberty's eleven-pointed star pedestal is the remains of Fort Wood, originally one link in a chain of defenses protecting New York City and its vital harbor.
Drgr TIL during the Vietnam War special forces used a silenced pistol called a ‘hush puppy’ for eliminating noisy animals like guard dogs. It was also sometimes used on ducks.
Y1xr TIL that the Marines in Aliens were asked to read Robert A. Heinlein’s novel Starship Troopers and undergo military training before the shoot.
Me86B TIL in 1999 the Natural Law Party claimed that they could end the fighting in Kosovo by sending meditators and yogic flyers to the Balkans and generating a "peaceful consciousness". In fact, they managed to send a group of volunteers to Croatia to meditate there.
nXRd TIL Japanese engineers were asked to redesign the front end of the Bullet Train because it carried enough speed to create a sonic boom whenever it exited a tunnel. Residents could feel the blast from miles away.