› added 5 years ago

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TIL fire in Sweden turns cans of rotten fish into exploding missiles

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R7ny4 TIL that the legendary Foyles bookshop in London protected themselves from the Blitz during WWII by covering the roof with copies of Mein Kampf.
RlJ6 TIL Comedian Mitch Hedberg’s heroin addiction was so severe that it mangled his right leg to the point of amputation, instead doctors performed a 13 hour surgery to save his leg leaving him with a limp for the rest of his life.
4XM6J TIL a volcanic eruption in 1815 led to the development of Mormonism, Frankenstein, and the modern bicycle. Famines made Joseph Smith move, inspiring The Book of Mormon. Rains made Mary Shelley stay inside, inspiring Frankenstein. No feed for horses created the need for a self-propelled transport...
KYDQR TIL astronaut John Young risked the U.S space mission Gemini 3 by smuggling a beef sandwich into space which was breaking up and creating crumbs and that could have caused damage to the spacecraft or the equipment.
16A1O TIL about the Castle Bravo nuclear test in the Marshall Islands. The explosion was twice as big as expected, causing radiation burns and sickness to residents of nearby islands. They never received compensation by the US government.