› added 1 year ago

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TIL about the Italian standard LMG during WW2, designed for alpine climate but used in deserts, it had a violent recoil, clips only held 20 rounds, they had to be oiled before they were inserted, it frequently overheated and exploded, and had a rate of fire comparable to a semi-automatic rifle.

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JY8Jm TIL that the Oneida silverware company was started by a religious millennial group (1850) who practiced free love and would have menopausal women train the young males how to not ejaculate during sex as a method of abstinence.
EgG5p TIL a Chinese factory taken over by unsupervised workers during the Cultural Revolution paid workers even if they didn't come to work. By the time someone was sent to investigate because of subpar products, almost all equipment was broken or stolen, and only 4% of the workers were still working.
nx1d TIL in 1858 a sweets seller in Bradford, England known as Humbug Billy accidentally produced peppermint humbugs containing lethal doses of arsenic killing approximately 20 people.
jNR7R TIL that similar to the fact that the American South may referred to as "The Bible Belt", or the Great Lakes Region is referred to as "The Rust Belt", the Mormon Corridor (in the Midwest of the US)is nicknamed "The Jello Belt" because they consume twice the amount of Jello as the average American.
P1VvE TIL that FBI agents advised radio stations not to play "Sixteen Tons" in the late 1940s because they considered it subversive and accused Merle Travis of communist sympathies. Tennessee Ford's version later became one of the best selling singles in history.