› added 12 years ago

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TIL the security director for Morgan Stanley in the WTC predicted airliners crashing into the towers, drew up a detailed plan accordingly, and used it to swiftly evacuate all but 13 of 2700 Morgan Stanley employees and hundreds more. He died when the buildings collapsed.

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BQGW TIL one of the undisputed fathers of computer science helped develop crypto analytical devices to fight the Nazis. His reward; a criminal conviction for homosexuality and forced chemical castration. Within 1 year he became impotent, developed breasts due to hormonal imbalance, and committed suicide.
Aww TIL that carrier pigeons beat internet upload speed as late as in 2010. They actually sent pigeons over with USB sticks the same time they started uploading a video over broadband and the pigeons won.
mxKjM TIL rain on concrete or soil causes pockets of gas that were stored to be released because they get softened, which gives that familiar ‘after-rain’ smell
7dNx TIL that the janitor of the Air Force Academy was a Medal of Honor winner who went unnoticed for almost ten years until a cadet stumbled across his story in a history book. When the janitor passed away, he was buried at the cemetery and is the only non-air force enlisted man buried there.
7mL7 TIL that Arnold Schwarzenegger was already a self made millionaire at 22 years old before appearing in his first movie. He used what he learned in school to invest his bodybuilding contest winnings in real estate and to market gym equipment and exercise supplements.