› added 4 years ago

104

TIL of the Edelweiss Pirates. A proto-hippie youth group in Germany which fought Nazi's as they frolicked through the countryside playing guitars and singing Anti-Nazi folk songs at campfires. They sheltered escaped concentration-camp prisoners and Allied soldiers in a program of armed resistance.

5Yedr TIL that a UK zoo banned visitors from wearing animal print clothes because it confuses the animals. "If someone wears the same pattern to the animal's coat they can become over friendly," a zoo spokesperson said.
J1gK1 TIL Astronomers image the Sun in detail using hydrogen-alpha telescopes with monochrome cameras rather than colour as they can make full use of their sensors. This means processing software is used to make the Sun appear in colours like yellow and orange
NXx4M TIL that Playing Super Mario 64 can boost memory. In a 2022 study, participants were split into 3 groups: one played the game, another took piano lessons, and the last did nothing. Those who played Mario showed improved short-term memory and increased grey matter in the cerebellum and hippocampus.
xV5kg TIL of the “perfect murder.” In 1929, man was found shot to death in his locked apartment in New York. The door and windows had been locked from the inside. No gun or fingerprints were found inside the apartment.
wo6y8 TIL In 1921 conman Stanley Clifford Weyman posed as a U.S. naval officer and convinced an Afghan Princess to give him $10,000 to set up a meeting with the President. He spent it on travel and lodging for her, and got her a meeting with the President. The ensuing press coverage led to his arrest.