› added 5 years ago

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TIL that the very first Medal of Honor recipient, Pvt. Jacob Parrott, received the honor in 1863 after stealing a train just north of Atlanta and riding it north to the TN border. Along the way, they destroyed track switches and cut telegraph lines, severely limiting Confederate communications.

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XEDKR TIL that two rival churches in Greece hold a 'rocket war' annually during Easter, where tens of thousands of home-made rockets are fired at each other. This event was originally held with real cannons, until their use was prohibited in 1889.
LQv6v TIL During the Battle of the Bulge, General Anthony McAuliffe responded 'Nuts!' to a German surrender ultimatum, baffling their commanders. The 101st Airborne held out under siege until relief arrived
we0M TIL that Ron Perlman put on the make-up for Hellboy (a 4 hour process) just to fulfill a child’s Make-A-Wish request. He then spent the whole day with the child.
v1O58 TIL about Aimo Koivunen, a Finnish ski commando who in 1944 escaped from pursuing Russians by taking 30 pills of Pervitin. He skied for 400 kilometers in -20C temperatures with no food and ammunition, got injured by a landmine, and had a pulse rate of 200 beats per minute by the time he was found.
eaAg TIL Really nasty tactics against history’s best cricket player had diplomatic consequences for England and Australia