› added 9 years ago

181

TIL Battle of Pelusium (525 BC) Persian soldiers used cats as shields as Egyptian religion forbade harm towards cats.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

GAQ15 TIL that roast beef is so synonymous with England and its cooking methods from the 18th century that a French nickname for the English is "les Rosbifs".
1a5kO TIL there was a Black samurai named Yasuke who fought alongside Oda Nobunaga, the first unifier of Japan
a8nWo TIL about HNoMS Pol III. With 1 cannon and 2 machine guns, this Norwegian PT boat attacked a Nazi invasion force made of 2 heavy cruisers, 1 light cruiser, 3 torpedo boats, and 8 minesweepers, rammed one of the torpedo boats, and launched flares to alert coastal defenses to the incoming invasion.
6EpLl TIL that the Germans probably didn't give the US Marine Corps their "Devil Dog" nickname.
kJeEE TIL "Mr. Blue Sky" by ELO was considered for use as the theme song for NBC's "The Office" (2005-2013). However, it was already used as the theme song for another NBC show, the short-lived "LAX" (2004-05). Thus, an original composition by Jay Ferguson was used instead for the show,