› added 1 year ago

45

TIL a series of US explosion tests by was performed in 1965 near Hawaii using 450t of explosives. 92,022 blocks of TNT were stacked in domes to simulate the shock effects of nuclear blasts without the radiation.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

kJ0n7 TIL a Russian named Vasili Arkhipov avoided causing WWIII after refusing his captain's orders to launch nuclear torpedoes at US war ships during the height of the Cuban Missile Crisis. 2 of the 3 officers on board wanted to fire the missile, however a unanimous decision was required.
RLWj TIL President Reagan once wrote a letter to a boy who was requesting federal funds to clean his room.
0Gn5 TIL that Jet Li was presumed dead during the Indian Ocean Tsunami disaster.
GAAN5 TIL that the British had a POW camp called Trent park during WWII. They would take axis prisoners of war and let them live in luxury, while secretly bugging the house. The program gave the allies lots of intel, such as the location of a V2 rocket facility.
XXND TIL During the Black Death, incoming ships were forced to wait for 40 days to prevent possible infection. The Italian word for 40, “quaranta”, is where we get the word “quarantine”.