› added 4 years ago

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TIL Robert A Heinlein challenged readers' possible racial preconceptions by writing strong, sympathetic characters, only to reveal later that they are of African or other ancestry.

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d80pE Today I learned that the Second Sino-Japanese War broke out because a Japanese soldier ditched during a drill to use the bathroom. When they couldn't find him, they assumed that he was kidnapped by a nearby Chinese Town. That led to an armed conflict that led to a full-scale war that lasted 8 years.
eLK6 TIL the man who shot President Ronald Reagan in 1981 was found not guilty by reason of insanity,and lives freely today at his mother’s house
5vgn TIL that in 1990, a British Airways pilot was sucked half way out of the planes window for over 20 minutes. He was only kept in by a crew member holding onto his belt. He survived with frostbite and a broken arm.
KLWw TIL the plastic used to make Legos is the same type of plastic used to make hard hats
9YNR7 TIL that an American minister travelled to Britain to learn methods to teach the deaf. After being denied by the British, he learned his methods from the French. As a result, ASL has a 60% similarity to French sign language, and is almost unintelligible to a British sign language user.