› added 10 years ago

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TIL that dropping a bomb from a balloon is, to this day, a violation of the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, although there is no such prohibition for dropping a bomb from an aircraft

Bpwr TIL that Mr Rogers testified before the Supreme Court defending the position that home recordings for personal use do not constitute copyright infringement
7yk7 TIL In WWII the US Navy had huge floating dry docks that were big enough to hold battleships and aircraft carriers so damaged ships could be repaired close to the fighting and not have to be towed back thousands of miles to Pearl Harbor.
WkQQ8 TIL looking for publicity for his television, John Logie Baird went to the Daily Express to promote it. The editor was so terrified by his invention he said, "Get rid of a lunatic who's down there. He says he's got a machine for seeing by wireless! Watch him — he may have a razor on him."
Yprrx TIL 3 days before D-Day, a 21 year old Irish woman named Maureen Flavin took her hourly barometer reading and sent it to Dublin. She had no idea that this single data point would be sent directly to Eisenhower and averted disaster by delaying D-Day due to an incoming storm.
9wKkM TIL Thomas Cromwell led the persecution of Anne Boleyn based on a prophecy of "secret treason" against Henry VIII by "children of unbelief." Anne opposed Cromwell's harder line on the church but when a priest close to her attacked Cromwell in a sermon Cromwell became convinced the prophecy was true.