› added 1 year ago

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TIL 15th century Korea developed the Geobukseon (turtle ship), a warship roofed with spiked plates to prevent boarding actions. Each Geobukseon was also designed with a dragon head on the bow that hid a cannon or could release smoke to inspire terror or cover ship movements.

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kO8xE TIL: John Matuszak, best known for playing Sloth in "The Goonies," was the first overall draft pick in the NFL in 1973 and won two championship rings with the Raiders.
KOZm9 TIL According to secret service agents, Ronald Reagan carried a pistol in his briefcase when he was president, "just in case you guys can’t do the job, I can help out". Reagan acquired a pocket sized pistol after college in the 1930s "and kept it lovingly the rest of his life”.
kBvE TIL The U.S. dumped 20,000 pounds of pure sodium into a Washington lake to dispose of a surplus.
YpdW TIL that, as Christopher Mintz-Plasse (McLovin) was only 17 when filming Superbad, his mother was required to be on set during the filming of his sex scene.
vlGB TIL in 1973, three astronauts on the Skylab 4 space station went on strike after being over worked, demanding more time for contemplating the universe and in Pogue’s words “studying the, the Earth below, and ourselves”: the first strike in space.