› added 9 years ago

66

TIL 6,500 former military personnel committed suicide in 2012 alone

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EmbP TIL Jan Demczur, a window washer working in the World Trade Center on 9/11, became trapped in an elevator in between floors after the first plane hit. Using his sqeegee to pry open the doors, he then broke through the drywall and led the passengers out of the building moments before it collapsed.
neKB TIL that ‘Soccer’ is not an Americanism. It’s short for ‘Association Football’ and was popularised by the captain of the English national team 1894-5.
e0j4E TIL that the darkest black created, an acrylic paint called "Black 3.0", was created by artists in retaliation of artist Anish Kapoor who had secured the exclusive right to use the aerospace material "Vantablack" in art projects, refusing all other artists who wanted to use it as well.
X9KQ TIL that a “white elephant gift exchange” takes its name from the legend of the King of Siam gifting rare albino elephants to those who displeased him because the upkeep costs would financially ruin them.
v147B TIL Israel has a strategy called The Samson Option. Yhe name that some military analysts and authors have given to Israel's deterrence strategy of massive retaliation with nuclear weapons as a "last resort" against a country whose military has invaded and/or destroyed much of Israel.