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TIL the US Army developed a nuclear warhead recoilless rifle and mounted it to a jeep

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oB1Bo TIL that if an Icelandic horse ever leaves Iceland, it is banished from the country forever
Lk8rV TIL about the Bengal famine of 1942-43, in which the British allowed at least 1.5 million Bengalis to die of starvation. Only when Ian Stephens broke with British censorship and published pictures starving people and bodies did the British start to provide relief.
16vwD TIL there were various hippopotami-based deities over ancient Egyptian civilisation. Taweret protected birth and childrearing co-existed with Ipet, whose "white, dazzling, sweet milk" facilitated the afterlife. Later came Ammit to devour the unjust. All goddess hippos had pendulous human breasts
AKJw TIL that Manhattan Project mathematician Richard Hamming was asked to check some arithmetic by a fellow researcher. Hamming planned to give it to a subordinate until he realized it was a set of calculations to see if the nuclear detonation would ignite the entire Earth’s atmosphere.
loYQA TIL the Japanese used "nightingale floors" to alert castle lords to enemy attacks. These floors were designed so that walking on them created a shrill chirping noise. To tell friend from foe, the lord of the castle would identify a set rhythm for allies to use when walking on the nightingale floors.