› added 7 years ago

100

TIL in 1979, GIGN commandos briefly converted to Islam to advise and assist Saudi counterterror teams in seizing the Grand Mosque in Mecca, infidels not being permitted to step foot in the Holy City - the mosque had been taken over by an estimated 300 - 600 militants

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NXedN TIL Although Laika is commonly perceived as the first animal in space, this is not the case. The very first animals sent into space were fruit flies on board of a V-2 rocket launched by the US. They returned to Earth alive.
4K5w TIL: That “fruit salad trees” are real, and can grow several different kinds of fruit.
01Pp TIL That the Soviet Union, and now Russia, have a fail-deadly system which automatically launches a full scale nuclear attack in the event that authoritative command is incapacitated. It uses light, seismic, radioactive, and overpressure systems to activate the launch. It is still in use today.
j70R TIL that during the newyork draft riots of 1863, the New York Times defended their building using Gatling guns against the rioters.
xV6b0 TIL A father of five worked 23 years as a custodian for Boston College so all of his children could attend the university for free. They all graduated and together saved nearly $700,000 in tuition. =)