› added 4 years ago

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TIL Japan in WWII launched over 9,000 balloon bombs that were carried across the Pacific Ocean by the jet stream. The bombs killed 6 people, started forest fires, and one traveled as far East as Farmington, Michigan. The balloons were made of paper.

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oBKOA TIL: Vasa Syndrome, a term for problems in communication and management that can cause projects to fail, is named after the Vasa, one of the largest and most spectacular warships ever built, which sank in 1628 on its maiden voyage because it was too unstable to withstand a gust of wind.
6E11Y TIL A turquoise lake in Siberia is nicknamed the "Novosibirsk Maldives" because of how tropical it looks. Popular with Instagrammers, it is actually a power plant's ash dump and caused by calcium salts and other metal oxides
ZpP14 TIL strength training increases bone density
9wYB TIL irish people were also enslaved in the americas
woLeP TIL rock star Billy Joel is half-brother to European conductor Alexander Joel. Their shared father's journey from Germany to the US and back to Europe includes a sad tale of a successful business essentially stolen by the Nazis.