› added 9 years ago

191

TIL that in WW2 an American popular culture trend resulted in people graffiti-ing “Killroy was here” across Europe, which convinced Hitler that Kilroy was a spy and Stalin even investigated trying to find out who Kilroy was.

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D1PJY TIL During World War II, it was common for soldiers to keep family photos under clear grips on their 1911 pistols. They were called “Sweetheart Grips.”
wVR6 TIL France gets 78.8% of its electricity from nuclear power, more than any other country
R5484 TIL There were ads in the back of 60's and 70's comic books that allowed kids to order a live monkey through the mail.
E7yd TIL that MIT engineer Dennis Klatt synthesised Stephen Hawking’s ‘voice’. Hawking subsequently requested to keep that voice throughout every upgrade of his system.
X0Ejj TIL That there was a plot to kill or kidnap George Washington early in the Revolutionary War - the traitors were from Washington's Life Guards, similar to today's Secret Service. One of the traitors was the first person to be put to death for treason, Thomas Hickey, in front of 20,000 people.