› added 9 years ago

610

TIL on March 9-10, 1945, 300 B29 bombers dropped nearly 500,000 cylinders of napalm and petroleum jelly on Tokyo creating a 40-sq-km firestorm that killed over 100,000 and maimed another million. It was the most destructive single bombing in history, including Hiroshima and Nagasaki atomic bombs.

Read more abc.net.au

via reddit.com

YpPbd TIL During a 1989 Christmas television broadcast, Santa Claus encouraged all children to hold the phone to the TV, tricking them into dialing a 1-900 number that automatically charged several dollars to their parents' phone bill.
0wDdR TIL that the street scenes in Elf were actually filmed in the middle of New York City with REAL New Yorkers due to their small movie budget. Also, the funny line "You smell like beef and cheese; you don't smell like Santa" was completely off the cuff and unscripted.
J16Q8 TIL the space shuttle would orbit tail-first due to space debris, this allowed it to take a greater proportion of the debris load on the engines and rear cargo bay, which were not needed in orbit or during descent.
jN5gQ TIL the water that sits on top of yoghurt is called whey. This liquid contains protein, calcium and B vitamins and so it’s better to stir it back in rather than drain
0wjKR TIL a woman named Pamela Kreimeyer died at a gender reveal party after her family members filled a steel umbrella stand with gun powder, but instead of it emitting a shower of sparks, the metal pipe could not take the overpressure; acting like a pipe bomb.