› added 12 years ago

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TIL After WWI, the German government deliberately made the value of their currency nearly worthless in order to pay back the Allies.

wLdEP TIL about Gilbert Seltzer - a WW2 veteran who lead a secret platoon of men within a unit dubbed the 'Ghost Army'. Made up of artists, creatives & engineers, their job was creating deception about the enemy. From inflatable tanks to scripted bar conversations, this unit's work led to big US wins.
BpBe TIL NBA player Pete Maravich said in an interview when he was 26 that he “didn’t want to play in the NBA for 10 years, then die of a heart attack at 40” He proceeded to have a 10 year NBA career, and then die of a heart attack at 40.
DQNDe TIL smell is the only sense that isn’t processed by the thalamus (sensory integration center of the brain); instead, smell is directly processed in the primary olfactory cortex without us consciously registering them, which is why odors can bring back memories without us understanding why.
MWm0 TIL in WWII the Japanese decrypted a British message to London complaining about the weak state of “Fortress Singapore”, a key British base. It was so frank in its admission of weakness that they suspected it was a plant, believing no officer would be so open in admitting weakness to his superiors.
yVrel TIL that the famous plane hijacker known as D. B. Cooper was jokingly asked by a flight attendant on duty during the hijacking if he would give her some of his ransom money. He happily offered her some, but she declined citing the airline's policy against accepting tips from passengers.