› added 2 months ago

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Today I learned about the Girardoni air rifle; a rifle developed in 1779 that was capable of effectively shooting up to 125 meters with a muzzle velocity of 600 fps, it had a 20 round magazine and an internal air reservoir that was good for up to 30 shots before needing to be refilled.

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8lOb TIL the difference between a “gift” and a “present” is that a present must be “presented.”
78lRb TIL in 1788 the Hapsburg Monarchy lost between 1,000 and 10,000 soldiers in a battle that the Ottomans didn't show up to due to drunken scouts and lack of communication due to many different languages being spoken within the army.
1lNO TIL that the best selling item at Wal-Marts are bananas
XXaP TIL L. Ron Hubbard believed so strongly that he had been Cecil Rhodes in a previous life that in 1966 he travelled to Rhodesia to recover the huge amounts of gold and diamonds he had stashed away in this previous life. Declared an unwanted persons, he was deported and lost $200,000 on the expedition
loDV5 TIL although the United States Mint Police is one of the oldest federal law enforcement agencies, only one of its officers has died in the line of duty since 1792 - a motorcycle accident in 2005