› added 1 year ago

45

TIL, that the concept of a pre-flight checklist was first introduced by management and engineers at the Boeing Company following the 1935 crash of the prototype Boeing B-17 (then known as the Model 299) at Wright Field in Dayton, Ohio, killing both pilots.

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M7OjW TIL about Grand Duke Travis I of Westarctica, the American man who has claimed the otherwise unclaimed part of Antarctica as his own territory
OovgL TIL Morocco was the first country to recognize America as a legitimate nation.
NZ1Q TIL The US is the only first world country that uses the electoral college for presidential elections.
Ypwpr TIL that in 1942 the US effected gas rationing; the goal was not to save on gas but to conserve the rubber used in tires to benefit the war effort.
98lQ TIL that a German knight named Gotz von Berlichingen lost his hand in 1504, and had it replaced with a mechanical iron prosthetic. It was capable of grasping everything from a sword to a feather pen.