› added 2 years ago

78

TIL The RAF dropped over 10,000 cats by parachute

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Q9B9 TIL Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer, originally named Reginald, began 75 years ago as a promotional coloring book gimmick during the Great Depression. Over the years, Rudolph had a son named Robbie, a brother named Rusty, and another cranky and overweight brother called Ralph.
Xxd8 TIL test pilot Thomas W. Attridge, Jr. shot himself down while testing the F-11 Tiger. After firing a short burst at 13,000 ft, Attridge accelerated into a dive and leveled off to fire another burst at 7,000 ft where he was struck by the bullets he’d fired earlier.
d87N9 TIL several years after Harriet Tubman escaped to freedom, she returned to rescue her enslaved husband. When she found out he'd remarried another woman and didn't want to leave, she thought about making a scene, decided it wasn't worth it, and then led several other slaves to freedom instead
rRkXo TIL the first non-stop transatlantic flight happened in 1919. A modified WWI bomber with an open cockpit took off from Newfoundland, Canada with a crew of two. They almost spiraled into the ocean twice in heavy fog, had to climb onto the wings to clear ice, and landed in a bog in Connemara, Ireland.
b6gy9 TIL US & UK shoe sizes is based on the size of a Barleycorn!