› added 7 years ago

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TIL that congressional approval for the first Gulf War was effected by the testimony of a Kuwaiti nurse who claimed to have witnessed Iraqi soldiers pulling babies out of incubators and throwing them on the floor to die. This never happened. The nurse was not a nurse. She was coached by a PR firm.

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BVyk TIL that in the ‘60s at the height of the Cold War, the US continuously flew planes carrying nuclear bombs around the world as a precautionary measure in the event of an attack by the USSR. 5 of these planes crashed, and nuclear contamination resulted in at least 2 instances.
YpvXP TIL bees perform a math dance to communicate the direction and distance to flowers, pollen, etc.
pYmeO TIL That in 1908, two unknown American business men traveled to Spain to meet with renowned architect Antoni Gaudi in hopes of commissioning him to build a hotel in Lower Manhattan.
VoLD Today I learned it’s against United States Federal law for government workers and law enforcement to deprive you of your rights, punishable by time in jail–even the death sentence. This is a law that is not enforced.
W1yd TIL that Rep. Tom Moore Jr. once submitted legislation to the Texas legislature in favor of honoring notorious murderer Albert DeSalvo “for his work in ‘population control’” as an April Fool’s Day joke. Without paying any attention to it, it was unanimously passed.