› added 11 years ago

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TIL that Winston Churchill’s first thought when Pearl Harbour was attacked was “We have won the war”.

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4kvgb TIL that, from 1951 until a major incident in 1957, Lake Karachay in the Ural was used by the Mayak nuclear reprocessing plant as a dumping ground for liquid radioactive waste and now contains 4.44 exabecquerels (EBq), causing a radiation level of 600 röntgens per hour
rRrXx TIL that perhaps the biggest reason Europeans had such an easy time settling the Americas was that they carried diseases such as smallpox, influenza, and measles. These were novel to the natives and eventually reduced their populations by as much as 90%, making conquest easier for the Europeans.
5E8n TIL that Korla Pandit, a prolific 1940’s musician from India and one of TV’s first musical stars, was actually an African American man from Missouri. His secret lasted until his death.
OopVg TIl the US strategic petroleum reserves are stored in underground caverns carved out of salt. Salt does not react with the oil and is self-healing. The plastic behavior of salt will cause it to naturally close fractures or gaps and prevent any leakage.
9YPKp TIL former president John F. Kennedy, after his patrol boat was rammed during WWII, swam over three miles to the nearest island while pulling an injured crewmate with his teeth.