› added 4 years ago

55

TIL about Cher Ami, a pigeon serving the US Military in WWI, who despite being shot through the breast, losing a leg and being blinded in one eye, successfully delivered messages that saved hundreds of US Soldiers. She died shortly after and is now on display at the Smithsonian

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woEGY TIL Martin Van Buren Bates (1837-1919) is currently the tallest known person to live to at least 80 years. He stood at 7 ft 9 in (2.36 m).
OXya TIL that the Nazi salute looked almost identical to what was, at the time, the salute to the American flag. The USA changed the salute in 1942 after the Nazis adopted it.
P15BG TIL that on average, a drunk driver will drive under the influence 80 times before their first arrest.
xVD90 TIL That Lincoln was almost assassinated 9 months before he was assassinated. While riding back to the Soliders' Home, a rifle fired hitting his hat. His horse was startled and ran "break-neck speed" as the President described it. Lincoln dismissed it as a hunting accident.
OoWRX TIL that Aaron Sorkin once sent himself to the ER while acting out a scene he'd written | While writing a Newsroom episode, he was acting out a scene where a character lunges at someone, and he smashed into his bathroom mirror, breaking his nose and making a huge bloody mess.