› added 9 years ago

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TIL: The Battle of Khas Oruzgan in 2008 Afghanistan. Australian SF asked Dutch helicopter pilots for assistance after taking casualties , but they refused. The soldier on the ground responsible for guiding air support told the Dutch: “If you’re not going to engage then you might as well fuck off”

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obDY TIL that bread did not exist in Japan until 1543, when it was brought to the archipelago by Portuguese missionaries. The new food was initially popular, but disappeared once the country cut ties with the west. It would not be eaten again until the 19th century.
O4pR TIL Sarah M. Pratt, wife of Orson Pratt who was an original apostle in the Mormon Church, claimed that Joseph Smith’s polygamous marriages never produced offspring because Smith had his doctor, John. C Bennett, practice abortion “on a large scale” during their time in Nauvoo, Illinois.
a841J TIL In 1985 a private radiotherapy clinic in Brazil was abandoned, leaving behind a radiation source with 100 grams of Cesium-137. Thieves stole the container in 1987. Over 200 people were contaminated and 4 people died after it was broken into (and the glowing blue dust was spread around)
LkPpp TIL that the actors of The Last of Us Part II could improvise their performances and were allowed up to 20 or 30 takes.
4X4ga TIL in the early 1900s, women used hatpins to fend off sexual harassers in the streets. These pins were so effective in fending off assaulters that legislation was proposed to curb these “accessories to assault.” Men would often come away with wounds that were “not serious, but very painful.”