› added 10 years ago

203

TIL to avoid boredom while in a POW camp during the Korean War, Lt. John Thornton would ride an imaginary motorcycle around. He did this every day until the guards called him to their headquarters and took away his imaginary motorcycle stating that it was against rules and regulations.

Read more books.google.com

via reddit.com

9w09D TIL that after being investigated by the FTC for their pyramid scheme-like business practices, the FTC charged Herbalife $200 million but failed to outright call them a pyramid scheme.
oBgA TIL in 1984, to prove to people that leprosy is difficult to catch through close contact, Pope John Paul II kissed a number of lepers in a South Korean leper colony.
R7Bn6 TIL While advocating for the legalization of birth control, Ethyl Byrne was the first female to be force fed during her hunger strike in jail after 185 hours without food or water.
a8MwL TIL there's no medically safe amount of alcohol to drink
xVOMo TIL that the handrail around the turret in some early WW2 tanks is an antenna. The presence of a handrail antenna would reveal to the enemy that the tank is a command tank, which made it a primary target in the combat. Because of this, it was eventually replaced with a whip antenna.