› added 8 years ago

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TIL that during World War II in Australia, there was a dog whose hearing was so acute that it could warn airforce personnel of incoming Japanese planes 20 minutes before they arrived, and before they showed up on radar. “Gunner” could also differentiate the sounds of allied and enemy aircraft.

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8eeeb TIL, in 1989 in Tacoma, WA, Army Ranger buddies at a bbq were threatened by Crips in the neighborhood. The Rangers called more buddies, who brought more firearms. They set up defensive positions and a shoot-out ensued later that night when the Crips made a move on the house.
VnPQ TIL that to prevent the Germans from guessing that Enigma had been cracked, the British claimed to be using an infrared camera to locate U-boats. They were delighted to learn that the Germans responded by developing a special paint for submarines.
40gw TIL that Douglas Bader was a pilot who could sustain more G-Forces in combat because he had no legs.
5bpn TIL that due to a requirement for official Welsh road signs to be bilingual, Swansea council installed a sign barring heavy lorries. It wasn’t realized until long after that the Welsh actually read, “I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated”.
rR4We TIL Dwight D. Eisenhower said “The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants…It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals…We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people.”