› added 12 years ago

105

TIL that, over the course of the Civil War, due to poor financial choices, the Confederacy experienced inflation rates of (literally) over 9000%.

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D1OdV TIL PhD students built a supersonic cannon that can fire pingpong balls that break the sound barrier, and shoot clean through steel cans.
lEd5 TIL that when a Ford plant pulled out of Green Island, NY the town seized it’s water-powered electrical turbine by eminent domain and now it provides electric to it’s residents for about 40% cheaper than surrounding areas. Most residents have electric heat.
VM7PD TIL about "water sandwiches," a Great Depression food consisting of bread soaked in lard and water. It was sometimes served with "bulldog gravy," a mixture of milk, flour, and grease.
AMdg TIL that Spanish Flu didn’t come from Spain or hit it especially hard. Spain didn’t have the wartime censors other countries had, so Spanish media could report freely on the pandemic. This made it look like the situation in Spain was especially severe - resulting in the nickname “Spanish flu”.
xg75 TIL of Neerja Bhanot, a 22 year old Indian air hostess who helped hide 41 American passports aboard a hijacked plane. She died shielding three children from gunfire and was posthumously awarded bravery medals from India, Pakistan, and the United States.