› added 1 year ago

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TIL about how, during World War II, the United States military experimented with using bats as weapons. In a project called "Project X-Ray" or "Project Bat Bomb," the plan was to attach small incendiary devices to bats and release them over Japanese cities.

R5yla TIL the Battle of Cúl Dreimhne (c. 561 AD), sometimes called “The Battle of the Book,” was allegedly sparked when St. Columba copied a manuscript without permission, leading to a dispute with St. Finnian that escalated into a full-scale conflict. This was allegedly the first ever use of copyright.
W7AJd TIL that on the 13 January 2018, Hawaii mistakenly broadcast a statewide emergency alert on TVs and radio warning of an incoming ballistic missile due to a training error.
KODN6 TIL that in the 80s, three brothers from Florida got HIV from medicine made to help cope with their haemophilia. After first being disallowed to go to school, a federal court ruled they were allowed to attend. A week after the verdict, their house was burned down by an arsonist.
b9NMZ TIL G.H Hardy came up with a scale of mathematical ability that went from 0 to 100. He put himself at 25. David Hilbert, the great German mathematician, was at 80. Ramanujan was 100. When he died in 1920 at the age of 32, he left behind three notebooks that still inspire mathematical work today
4XVr6 TIL that Lego bricks from 1958 still interlock with those made in the current time. Each Lego piece must be manufactured to an exacting degree of precision. When two pieces are engaged they must fit firmly, yet be easily disassembled.