› added 2 years ago

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TIL Merriam Webster has an alphabetised index of 315,000 cards with every word in dictionary spelled backwards on them. Before the internet, the cards were used to identify words that end with the same letters.

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via reddit.com

xpww TIL that “Three days after Hurricane Katrina struck, authorities blocked the road that connects the city of Gretna to New Orleans. Thousands of evacuees say they were prevented from escaping the flooding and chaos, and that shots were fired over their heads.”
nexLd TIL that the Royal Air Force, in order to hide their success of identifying Luftwaffe bombers at night, made up a story about how carrots are good for eyesight. This was done so Germany wouldn’t know it was radar. A story told almost 80 years ago is why people still believe this myth today.
16vKW TIL that when Jeff Immelt was General Electric's CEO, he had an empty private jet following his own private jet, in case there were delays with his primary jet.
mxVWP TIL From at least the 14th century, belief in a flat Earth among the educated was almost nonexistent.
vPGAj TIL some Nigerians are paying to learn how to speak in a British accent.