› added 1 month ago

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TIL in WWII, the US Army, with the approval of Walt Disney, had Mickey Mouse gas masks made for civilian children.

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PYZ7L TIL about the Tarpeian Rock in Rome. In ancient times Romans threw traitors and murderers off this rock, named after the mythological first traitor to be flung from it: the Vestal Virgin Tarpeia.
WMrN TIL: Female black bears delay the implantation of their fertilized eggs for months, effectively timing when they will give birth, and aborting the pregnancy if they are not healthy enough to rear cubs
R5Ky1 TIL 32-bit devices won't be able to tell the time accurately by early 2038, 13 year from now.
WkPP8 TIL the natural birth rate of boys to girls is 105 to 100, but it evens out by reproductive age because more boys die in childhood.
a8LoM TIL in Nazi Germany, “whisper jokes” (Flüsterwitze) served as a means for citizens to express dissent & critique the regime. One joke involved Hitler visiting an asylum where patients greeted him “Heil Hitler!” except one man. When questioned, he said, “I’m not crazy; I am the head of the ward.”