› added 9 years ago

248

TIL that several days before the Invasion of Afghanistan, a CIA agent made an agreement with the military commander of the Taliban, to kill Bin Laden and capture his top Lieutenants. Before the plan could be carried out, the United States began its invasion.

Read more theatlantic.com

via reddit.com

oReoL TIL that the song "Take Me Home, Country Roads" was written about a road in Maryland, by a songwriter from Massachusetts that was living in Washington, DC, and had never visited West Virginia.
ZpyJa TIL The Dick Van Dyke Show was originally written entirely by Carl Reiner, about stories from Reiner's life, and starred Carl Reiner. The pilot was unsuccessful so it was reworked with Dick Van Dyke playing Robert Petrie.
Wk8Ko TIL whales breach to remove parasites from their bodies. They carry a variety of external parasites that may cause itching and irritation to their skin.
DL7P TIL I learned that General Motors, Standard Oil, Firestone Tire, Mack Trucks, and Phillips Petroleum were all convicted of monopolizing the sale of buses and supplies to National City Lines and its subsidiaries in an effort to eliminate the competing electric trolley car.
JY754 TIL about Wilfred Pickles, a northern English BBC newsreader during the Second World War. Because of his strong Yorkshire accent, he was chosen for the job as "a deliberate attempt to make it more difficult for Nazis to impersonate BBC broadcasters".