› added 5 months ago

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Today I learned the first US Woman to be an Electrical Engineer (Edith Clarke, born 1883) designed the massive Hoover Dam turbine systems

Read more spectrum.ieee.org

via reddit.com

yVYNp TIL that Elvis Presley was a distant relative of Abraham Lincoln as well as the two Presidents Harrison, all of whom are descendants of the Harrison Family of Virginia
bvJQ TIL that after needing 13 liters of blood for a surgery at the age of 13, a man named James Harrison pledged to donate blood once he turned 18. It was discovered that his blood contained a rare antigen which cured Rhesus disease. He has donated blood a record 1,000 times and saved 2,000,000 lives.
oBZdo TIL a woman was permanently banned from American Airlines after she lit matches mid flight to cover her farts, causing the crew to panic and order an emergency landing.
Mneb TIL the term “Riding shotgun” was used to describe the guard who rode alongside a stagecoach driver, ready to use his shotgun to ward off bandits or Native Americans.
b9xM0 TIL that in 2003, the mayor of Chicago illegally bulldozed the runway of a downtown airport in the middle of the night to create a park. This stranded 16 planes on the ground and required an inbound flight to be diverted. The FAA fined the city $33k - the maximum allowed at the time.