› added 7 years ago

9318

TIL that Nixon didn’t want pigeon poop along the path to his inauguration, so he had $13,000 of a chemical bird repellent sprayed on trees around the area. It turned out the spray was toxic, and instead of pigeon poop, Nixon had dead pigeons lining the path to his inauguration.

Read more publicradioeast.org

via reddit.com

LKAV TIL that a mother murdering her children is more likely to murder sons (64%) than daughters (36%), and likewise, daughters are more likely to murder their father (81%) than mother (19%). Fathers and sons are more egalitarian in their murders, killing their children / parents at about equal rates.
5Qyn TIL John Belushi disappeared off the set of ‘Blues Brothers’ (1980) one night. On a hunch, Dan Aykroyd went to the nearest house with lights on; “Belushi? He came in here an hour ago and raided my fridge. He’s asleep on my couch.” The confused homeowner informed him.
ne0dr TIL of a 1972 CIA project to wiretap enemy phone lines deep within North Vietnam. The helicopter used in the operation, developed at Area 51, was the quietest ever built. In the dead of night, its pilots flew 100-200 feet above North Vietnamese farmers and anti-aircraft guns without being detected.
oRYgR TIL that millipedes and are not insects, they are a category all on their own. Millipedes belong to the class Diplopoda, while insects belong to the class Insecta.
yM1e TIL that a succulent native to Morocco produces Resiniferatoxin, a compound so spicy that it is approximately 1,000 times stronger than pure capsacin on the Scoville scale. It can cause severe chemical burns and is being researched towards a possible new class of analgesics