› added 11 years ago

50

TIL US Marine Jack Lucas survived and earned the Medal of Honor by pulling two live grenades under his body during Iwo Jima. Later, he joined the airborne and survived a training jump when both parachutes failed to deploy.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

GAlAG TIL that in 1859, the United States controlled almost 70% of the East African copal ("young amber") trade, with Germany controlling about 25% of the market. Copal was used to create wood varnish for furniture and carriages. The U.S. Civil War (1861– 1865) led to Germany taking control of the market.
OG4vL TIL the chocolate marshemellow treat (Viva Puffs/Mallomars in North America), were known across much of the world as “N*gger Kisses” or some variation of that until the late 2010s in some countries
E1kxd TIL In 2019, researchers painted cows black-and-white and found that fly bites reduced by 50%, because flies are less likely to sit on black-and-white striped surfaces. They have proposed this method as a possible prevention technique for the spread of disease through fly bites.
8exPX TIL that Jackie Kennedy became the First First Lady and first American woman to be awarded the French Legion of Honor, the highest civilian award by the French Government for her work as a cultural ambassador of the United States and contributions to U.S foreign relations.
XwPE TIL Christian von Koenigsegg believed that one day, computer memory chips would be able to store an entire CD’s worth of data and that it would probably be a cheaper way to buy and store music. However, no one seemed interested in the idea, so, Christian moved on.