› added 5 years ago

97

TIL: There's a tiny chunk of Russia located two countries west of Russia. Like East Germany, it's land the Red Army conquered in the last year of WWII. Unlike East Germany, the Russians are still in control of the ex-Prussian/ex-German area of Königsberg --called since WWII the Kaliningrad Oblast.

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OGbxY TIL the oldest currently active missing persons case in the United States is almost a century old: the October 1926 disappearance of Marvin Clark from Portland, Oregon.
MeQn0 TIL a group of American and German forces actually fought side by side during the last days of WWII to defend a castle against attacking SS forces
5VVXQ TIL D-Day was originally supposed to happen on 5th June but meteorologist James Stagg persuaded Dwight Eisenhower to postpone by a day right at the last minute. The weather conditions had to be just right for the landings and planners took the tide, wind speed and even the moon cycle into account.
G0A5 TIL that some knife makers attach a coin to each knife they sell, to circumvent the superstition that giving someone a knife as a gift severs the relationship: the receiver can ‘pay’ for the knife by returning the coin to the person who gave the knife to them, turning the gift into a 'purchase’.
xAEb TIL in medieval times the Japanese used to dye their teeth black. It also acts as a dental sealant to prevent tooth decay. The reason for this was objects that were pitch black, such as glaze-like lacquer, were seen as beautiful.