› added 9 years ago

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TIL that “forlorn hope” (the name of the first wave of attacking soldiers in battle, who take the most casualties) is actually a clumsy mistranslation of the Dutch phrase “verloren hoop,” meaning “lost troop.”

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rR1g0 TIL of 'Whiskey Plates'; in Minnesota those involved in certain DWI and DUI incidents obtain special registration plates that always begin with the letter 'W'.
kQrE TIL that in the late 1950s, China’s government began a campaign to kill millions of sparrows because they ate crops. As a result, there was a huge increase in crop-eating insects, which led to a severe famine.
X0JjX TIL Nintendo characters Mario, Kirby, and Zelda were all named after real people.
165w4 TIL that in 2018 a team of 12th graders managed to build a basic computer out of dominoes, that could add any number up to 63.
4koOa TIL there was a deadlier martime disaster than the Titanic: the Sultana. Carrying 6 times the passengers than it was alotted, the Sultana sank on the Mississippi river killing over 1,100 Union Soldiers. The tragedy did not receive much attention as it was days after the assassination of Lincoln.