› added 2 years ago

87

TIL: The first helicopter used by the US in combat was during WWII, originally meant to ferry parts from ships to shore, they quickly realized how useful they were and used them for medevac purposes.

Read more smithsonianmag.com

via reddit.com

Z8XXv TIL in 2001, a South African company named Naspers decided to purchase a 46.5% stake into an up-and-coming Chinese tech company. This initial investment of $32 million into what would become Tencent has now ballooned to over $175 billion, making it one of the most successful investments in history.
6ENJ7 TIL that terminally ill patients in the US may choose to be treated with experimental drugs only passing minimal testing, as covered by the "Right-to-try-Law".
16ak8 TIL Some teen thieves were made to dress up as Flintstones characters as punishment for stealing a Flintmobile replica from a comic book store
kOE9B TIL the Byzantine Emperor Basi II, or Basi the Bulgar Slayer, after the Battle of Kleidion, put captured Bulgarians into groups of one-hundred, and left ninety-nine of each group blind. The latter of whom was captured and left with only one eye, and had to lead the blind group back home.
pANG TIL in ‘Avengers’ Loki called Black Widow a “Mewling Quim”. The rough translation is “Whiny Cunt”.