› added 12 years ago

95

TIL more US soldiers died in the First Gulf War from accidents and friendly fire than were killed by enemy fire

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77QX TIL Sgt. Joseph R. Beyrle was captured during the D-Day airborne invasion but later escaped into Soviet lines. He fought with the Soviets and was eventually sent back to the U.S. He was awarded U.S. and Soviet medals.
W7eQ8 TIL 'Michael' was the most frequently given male name every year between 1954-1998 except for 1960 (David) and it fell out of the top five in 2011 for the first time since 1949.
WO7N TIL that with the invention of the pendulum clock in 1656, Christiaan Huygens increased the best accuracy of clocks from 15 minutes deviation a day to around 15 seconds a day.
BrDvK TIL that hippo sweat contains a chemical that has an SPF factor to prevent them from getting sunburned.
jNleN TIL: The Eiffel tower has a reletively untouched apartment designed and put in by Gustav Eiffel which few people were ever allowed in and he turned down every request by wealthy Parisians who wanted to stay the night in it.