› added 10 years ago

298

TIL that $2.5 billion dollars of the nearly $9.5 billion dollars of Haiti aid relief money went toward actual aid relief

Read more npr.org

via reddit.com

Z8mPG TIL that in 2006, some army units used Silly String to check enemy encampments for trip wires. Before entering a building, soldiers would squirt the string across the room. If it fell to the ground, it was safe. But if it hung in the air, they knew the room had trip wires.
4XBP6 TIL about Celia Blay, a 65-year old woman who caught a murderer over the internet. A man had been posing as a female nurse online, trying to convince people to commit suicide. At least five people did. Blay gathered enough evidence to prove it was one man, eventually leading to his capture.
OGxk6 TIL background music help with concentration - it increases task-focus and decreases mind-wandering
wN48 TIL that Pitbull tried to promote his energy drink by promising to go to the Walmart that received the most likes. As a result, he was sent to Kodiak, Alaska, a city that only has around 6,000 people.
Z8G9Q TIL In 1958 Mao Zedong ordered all the sparrows to be killed because they ate too much grain. This caused one of the worst environmental disasters in human history. Locust populations ballooned, swarming the country and causing famine.