› added 6 years ago

75

TIL that nearly 1/4th of all Caucasian service members of the Union Army were foreign-born, coming from countries such as Germany, Ireland, Scotland, Italy, and Russia among others. 9.7% of the Union Army were African American freedmen from the north, half being ex-slaves.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

p8lv8 TIL about Vasily Arkhipov who if he had agreed with the other 3 officers in his submarine during the Cuban missle crisis could have very easily ended the world
NXp6E TIL Nissan Motors sued an individual, Uzi Nissan, over ownership of the "nissan.com" domain name. Uzi ultimately won the legal battle, but it took eight years and cost him $3 million.
xOED TIL that a man enlarged his penis to the point where he could not have regular sex with it anymore.
aRNZ TIL that Alligator Snapping Turtles will eat almost any type of meat including including squirrels, armadillos and other turtles. One study in Louisiana showed 79.8% of the stomach contents of adult snapping turtles was composed of other turtles.
PY8Gn TIL before 9/11 there were only 16 people on the no-fly list. As of 2013 there are over 47,000 people now on the no-fly list.