› added 9 years ago

150

TIL that in WWII, the US Army asked Americans to loan their dogs to the war effort. The dogs’ handlers even sent letters home to their owners for Christmas and to inform them of their dog’s performance throughout the war.

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Pm4V TIL the purpose of the Declaration of Independence was to gain support of the monarchies of France and Spain, who would not support a rebellion against a legitimate monarchy (England), but they would support America as an independent nation.
kJO77 TIL in 2011, a 29-year-old Australian bartender found an ATM glitch that allowed him to withdraw way beyond his balance. In a bender that lasted four-and-half months, he managed to spend around $1.6 million of the bank’s money.
78L1O TIL about the device ADE 651, which was described by its maker, ATSC, as being powered through the user's static electricity to detect explosives and drugs thanks to "programmed substance detection cards". It was bought in Iraq, Pakistan and the USA before the fraud was discovered
ppNZ TIL on the 25th anniversary episode of Sesame Street in 1994, Joe Pesci appeared as the character “Ronald Grump”, who wanted to demolish Sesame Street to build “The Grump Tower”.
E7nw TIL that Fidel Castro had a serious obsession with anything dairy. He once tried to breed a super cow to no avail, brought the French Ambassador just to debate about cheese and the obsession was big enough for it to be the target for one of the many plots made by the CIA to kill him.