› added 11 months ago

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TIL Operation Fantasia. Because a fox-shaped spirit is an omen of doom in Japanese folklore, the U.S. developed a psychological warfare campaign during WWII that included a plan to release foxes sprayed with glow-in-the-dark paint in Japan. It was never executed.

oBY6R TIL that Jean Baptiste Charbonneau, Sacagawea's infant son who accompanied the Lewis and Clark Expedition, later befriended a German Duke, lived for a decade in his palace, learned a dozen languages fluently, became mayor of a California city, struck gold, and made a fortune on buffalo tongues.
epw7E TIL that there were many "Southern Unionists" during the US Civil War. 40% of US Military Officers from Virginia fought for the Union and approximately 100,000 Southern Unionists served in the Union Army, with units of White Troops raised from every Southern state except South Carolina.
MerNK TIL Florida repealed its helmet law in 2000. In the 30-months after, helmet use in Florida dropped from 99% to 53%. The number of riders under 21 who were killed (despite still being legally required to wear a helmet) nearly tripled, from 35 to 101. Hospitalizations increased by 40%.
V5mm TIL severing the bridge between the hemispheres in your brain causes the two hemispheres to become separate “selves” with different impulses, desires and capabilities.
QJ4Md TIL that Kai the Hatchet Wielding Hitchhiker is still in jail and hasn't been to trial for murdering a gay lawyer that had sex with him.