› added 12 years ago

91

TIL that as only a Private in the US Army, Henry Kissinger was placed in charge of a German city after WWII, responsible for forming a civilian government to run the municipality. He accomplished this in eight days.

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9YNWD TIL in a 7-hour operation, a 17-year-old had 232 of his teeth surgically removed
5VVGD TIL The largest US industrial spill was in Kingston TN. 2008 with 5.4 million cubic yards of coal ash equivalent of 1.1 billion US gallons was released into the surrounding environment.
XEOrR TIL that the eating the liver of certain arctic animals such as polar bears or walruses would kill you due to its high concentration of vitamin A
ZQpD TIL that lightning can cause red, jellyfish-shaped flashes as big as 48 by 48 km to appear above thunderclouds. These are called sprites (air spirits), after their elusiveness, and are actually clusters of balls of plasma.
oBxw7 TIL There is company which is harnessing carbon from the air to make fuel for vehicles and aeroplanes. They hope to make it viable economically soon.