› added 4 years ago

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TIL in the 1880s, some coffins were equipped with shotguns and explosive devices (“Coffin Torpedos”) to deter grave robbers.

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LP90 TIL A bill was introduced in Maine to outlaw tomatoes in clam chowder
JYjk8 TIL that during WWI, officials didn't trust units of the D.C. National Guard to secure infrastructure around the capital because so many of their men had foreign ties.The job was given to the only unit they felt they could trust as 100% American: the all-black 1st Separate Infantry.
Wk898 TIL Radar was developed as a consequence of the urgent need to counter Nazi bomber attacks. The British Radio Research Station was asked to investigate a radio-based "death ray", but found it was more practical to use radio to detect enemy aircraft
l0pr TIL that half of Harvard’s entire class of 2010 went into finance and consulting
w4EM TIL when Rodney Dangerfield was asked how long he’d be hospitalized for brain surgery, he responded, “If all goes well, about a week. If not, about an hour and a half.”