› added 13 years ago

110

TIL - Pavlov’s House was defended by 25 men for two months against German attacks so frequent that the Russians would have to kick over piles of dead Germans so they couldn’t be used as cover by the next wave.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

GYBe4 TIL before his murder, James Fannin made three requests: he asked for his personal possessions to be sent to his family, to be shot in his heart and not his face, and to be given a Christian burial. The Mexican soldiers took his belongings, shot him in the face, and burned Fannin's body.
R54O8 TIL that football legend Pele was banned from playing for a non-brazilian team by a presidential law declaring him a 'national treasure'
m1WQM TIL that in WWII, American bombers dropped empty beer bottles as noise makers to confuse Japanese sound-locator flak gun directors, and in other cases to frighten and confuse Japanese troops to keep them awake all night before an Allied attack.
vPLJK TIL soviet aircraft aren't actually named things like "Fishbed" or "flanker" by the soviets, just translated. Instead, these are designations invented by NATO for easier communication between troops. First letter refers to class of aircraft, syllable count indicates jet versus propeller driven.
4kdBX TIL The bands Fountains of Wayne (self-titled) and Flamingoes (Plastic Jewels) released albums with the exact same cover photo within two weeks of each other in 1996. Unbeknownst to either band, the photographer Nick Wappington had licensed the picture to both bands.