› added 7 years ago

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TIL Before 1972 it was a felony for unmarried people to possess contraception such as birth control or condoms in the United States.

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lwg7 TIL of Sgt Earl Hale. While taking six SS officers prisoner, one slashed Hale’s throat. He survived and remained in the European Theater. Later, General Patton himself would berate him for being out of uniform until he produced a doctor’s note excusing him from wearing the required tie.
dDZGd TIL that Saddam Hussein commissioned a copy of The Holy Quran, etched in his own blood. It took 27 litres of his blood to draft the Quran.
yY0p TIL that LBJ feared he would die at age 64 because his father and grandfather had done so; it played a role in his decision not to seek reelection. LBJ died at age 64.
NNLP TIL that during the attack on Pearl Harbor the USS Aylwin, with only 50% of her crew and under the command of an Ensign, made it out of the Harbor and was able to effectively engage the enemy. She remained under the command of the Ensign for over a day while she conducted combat patrols.
OXJ4 TIL Stephen Colbert’s father and two older brothers died in a plane crash because the cockpit crew became distracted from talking while landing the plane. A few years later, the FAA created the ‘Sterile Cockpit Rule,’ prohibiting staff from engaging in non-essential conversation once below 10,000 ft