› added 11 years ago

89

TIL Canada abruptly cancelled the development of its own fighter jet (Avro Arrow) in the 1950s in favour of Nuclear missiles (Bomarcs). All the engineers left for NASA thereafter.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

GJZN TIL that 14 of the poorest African countries are forced by France, through a colonial pact, to put 85% of their foreign reserve into France central bank.They are effectively putting in 500 Billion dollars every year to the French treasury.
KYZGB TIL that during The Cold War West Germany purchased the freedom of political prisoners in East Germany using cash and goods. Nearly 40,000 prisoners were purchased at an average cost of 40,000 Deutsche Marks per person.
8aNea TIL The characterization of Emperor Palpatine in the Star Wars saga as an ambitious and ruthless politician dismantling a democratic republic to achieve supreme power is in part inspired by Julius Caesar, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Adolf Hitler. Other elements of the character come from Richard Nixon.
lA51 TIL Nazi war criminals are still being tracked down in the US. The most recent Poland requested the extradition of 98-year-old Minnesota man Michael Karkoc, who is believed by authorities to have been a commander of a Nazi-led unit that was responsible for war crimes during World War II.
awZlA At least half of the oxygen produced on Earth comes from the ocean, mostly from tiny photosynthesizing plankton. But marine life also uses roughly the same amount of oxygen to breathe, for cellular respiration, and in the decomposition process.