› added 1 year ago

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TIL of Mathias Schenk, an 18 year old Belgian who was drafted to the German army in 1944 as a Sturmpionier (assault engineer) under threats of sending his father to the eastern front. He survived 19 knife fights and after the war travelled to Poland 32 times bringing food, clothes and diapers.

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P96Z TIL that in 1959 a pilot ejected from his plane directly into a violent thunder cloud. The storm winds kept him aloft for 40 minutes, pelting him with hailstones and so much rain that at times he had to hold his breath to keep from drowning in mid-air.
4XNgN TIL that because Pluto’s orbit is so elliptical, it is actually closer to the sun than Neptune for 20 years every 248 years
mxw0x TIL about the Singing Revolution which was a series of events between 1987 and 1991 in the Baltic States which incorporated the singing of patriotic songs as a method of protest against the Soviet Union. These events would ultimately result in the Baltic State gaining their independence.
x6BXD TIL about the Dubbed Ghost Stories animation. Voice actors were told "do whatever it took to sell the show." Whoever got in the studio first set the tone/subject for the scene, which the other cast members had to follow. This produced a dub full of random fourth-wall-breaking jokes
MAxK TIL Mount Everest is growing by 2.5 inches per year