Post * a8B69 — Curious Curator

› added 1 year ago

49

TIL that during World War II, the US government partnered with the American Mafia in Operation Underworld to gather intelligence, prevent sabotage, and ensure order. They leveraged organized crime networks, like Meyer Lansky's assistance to Naval Intelligence in safeguarding New York docks.

Read more

0Py TIL Napoleon offered a prize to anyone who could feed his troops effectively, and thus canned foods were born

mx9px TIL that vultures are the most threatened birds in the world (and are ecologically vital). By feasting on poisoned carrion, they end up poisoned themselves.

Eg6Nd TIL William Thornton, a phycisian and a close friend of George Washington failed to arrive early enough to treat him in 1799. Instead he proposed a plan to reanimate his frozen corpse using blankets, a transfusion with sheep's blood and a tracheostomy to pump his lungs with air. It was rejected

oby7 TIL Men in Black was based on a comic book, and instead of wiping witnesses’ minds, they simply killed them.

9ZQM TIL that president George H.W. Bush was once given a 9-foot Komodo dragon as a gift from the Indonesian government. Its name was “Naga”, and it was the largest Komodo dragon in the western hemisphere. He donated it to the Cincinnati Zoo.