› added 12 years ago

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TIL that the rape conviction rate is 58%, higher than the average for crimes. The myth that it’s hard to get a rapist convicted, which keeps some assaults from being reported, is absolutely false.

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oB4Yo TIL soon after US President Andrew Jackson was elected, he was given a 630kg (1,400lb) block of cheese from Oswego(NY). Jackson kept this cheese in the White House for his entire term, leaving the home smelling of 4 year old cheese for months after he was replaced by Martin Van Buren in 1837.
QJKgM TIL that Finland's reindeer herders wanted to reduce the 4,000 annual reindeer road deaths. They painted antlers in fluorescent colors, hung reflectors around necks, and used movable traffic signs. This failed, so they tried a mobile app for drivers to register sightings and get reindeer warnings.
9wV76 TIL that in 1942, the British War Office used holidaymakers' photos & postcards of northern european beach towns to help choose a location for the D-Day landings. To disguise this planning, the BBC asked people to send in photos from everywhere between Norway and the French-Spanish border.
N7j71 TIL that Fibonacci Numbers were created to model Rabbit Population.
aw0Zy TIL the FBI sent MLK a letter urging him to commit suicide