› added 1 month ago

4

TIL that during WWII, the U.S. military developed bat bombs to burn Japanese cities by attaching tiny incendiary devices to bats. During a trial run, the bats escaped and accidentally burned down a U.S. Army airfield.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

16GVX TIL that there is a desert in Poland called the Błędów Desert (meaning the "mistake desert"). It is Central Europe's largest accumulation of loose sand and during WWII, the German military used to train there in preparation for the deserts of North Africa.
rRVL4 TIL that Omar Borkan Al Gala was asked to leave a cultural festival in Saudi Arabia because he was "too handsome". They feared female visitors would fall for him.
Yp9mv TIL Bruce Jay Friedman attributed the inspiration for his groundbreaking play 'Steambath' (which was the first to show nudity on broadcast TV in America) to "bad experience with the food at a Chinese restaurant"
Wk4m4 TIL that all SI base units of measurement are written in lowercase, except for those named after people, Kelvin and Ampere
oBMP7 TIL The first female prisoner to be force fed was fighting for birth control