› added 4 months ago

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TIL Stephen Hilder died during a 3-person team skydive after his main and reserve parachutes failed. The investigation into his death is "unique in British crime history" as it revealed expert-level tampering with both parachutes, but failed to determine whether the incident was murder or suicide.

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via reddit.com

emok TIL two British twins who were separated at birth and adopted by different parents ended up marrying each other without knowing they were siblings. Upon realizing they were twins, a British court annuled the marriage.
oBMg7 TIL about dazzle camouflage, used for naval ships in WWI. It consisted of "complex patterns of geometric shapes in contrasting colours, interrupting and intersecting each other." This would make it hard for German U-boats to accurately shoot torpedoes.
gMXM9 The earliest English word we have a record of was discovered during an archaeological dig near Norwich, England in the early 1930s. It was written in an ancient runic script carved on the bone of a deer: "raihan."
b9n79 TIL that it doesn't just rain diamonds in Jupiter. It also rains diamonds in Uranus and Neptune
8NGa TIL that during the 2008 presidential election, author Stephen King referred to Glenn Beck as “Satan’s mentally challenged younger brother.” In the same year he also spoke out against a Massachusetts bill that would restrict the sale of violent video games to minors.