› added 11 years ago

87

TIL that part of the Manhattan Project involved injecting patients with plutonium to see what would happen

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Z8mPG TIL that in 2006, some army units used Silly String to check enemy encampments for trip wires. Before entering a building, soldiers would squirt the string across the room. If it fell to the ground, it was safe. But if it hung in the air, they knew the room had trip wires.
0d1AM TIL about Required Minimum Distributions (RMDs) where you are required to withdraw money from your IRA (retirement found) and be taxed when you reach the age of 72.
m61y TIL that King Louis XI was known as “The Universal Spider”, as his taste for intrigue and intense diplomatic activity led his enemies to accuse him of spinning intricate webs of plots and conspiracies.
d89d7 TIL Churches in Europe once employed “dog whippers” who would whip unruly dogs on church grounds during services. They also popped sleepy parishioners on the head in England.
NXraM TIL Elytra, AKA the hard casing of beetle wings, were used in Mughal India and then later on in Victorian England to adorn clothing, like an early form of sequins.