› added 8 years ago

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TIL The US Government spent 20 years and $20m on an experimental project to test and train telepaths for military use

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kJGW4 TIL "Murphy's Law" originated during rocket sled tests that took place in 1948-49 at Edwards Air Force Base in southern California, and is named after USAF Captain Edward A. Murphy. Murphy went on to make crew escape systems for the F-4, SR-71, B-1 and X-15.
Z868a TIL pizza was invented in Naples, Italy. Since 2004, Italian law insists Neapolitan pizza must include wheat flour, flour yeast, mineral water, peeled tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, sea salt & olive oil to be considered pizza.
eL6E TIL Soldiers in the U.S. military’s psychological warfare department (PSYOPS) used loudspeakers to tempt enemy fighters in Afghanistan into battles they couldn’t win by calling them,”lady men” and “cowardly dogs” and also air dropped propaganda leaflets.
gA44 TIL the original pledge of allegiance was completely secular. It was only in 1954, 12 years after its formal adoption, that a group of right-wing religious elements pushed for the phrase “under God” to be added, claiming it was “definitive factor in the American way of life.”
jdnQ TIL that pencils are yellow because, in the 1890’s, the world’s best pencil graphite came from China. In China, the color yellow is associated with royalty, so American pencil manufacturers started painting their pencils yellow to indicate they contained high-quality Chinese graphite.