› added 11 years ago

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TIL the King of Siam offered Lincoln war elephants to use against the Confederacy in the Civil War, and Lincoln rejected the offer.

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via reddit.com

b9l5N TIL that Christopher Columbus was thrown in jail upon his return to Spain for mistreating the native population of Hispaniola
JYbem TIL that Martin Luther King Jr. won a Grammy at the 13th Grammy Awards in 1971. That is one more than Katy Perry, Snoop Dogg and Nicki Minaj.
G6AN TIL of Dr. Liviu Librescu, Romanian-born Holocaust survivor and scientist. During the Virginia Tech massacre, he survived being shot through a door five times while aiding students in escaping the gunman. He later died of his injuries and was awarded Romania’s highest civilian honor.
loEl5 TIL that the "tires" on the Apollo lunar rovers were made of a woven mesh of zinc-coated piano wire with titanium treads to keep them from sinking into the lunar soil. The tracks they left are only 1/2" deep.
78EMr TIL If a swarm of bees flies into an occupied hive in Switzerland that belongs to another person, the owner of this hive acquires the swarm without any obligation to pay compensation.