› added 13 years ago

133

TIL Napoleon Bonaparte’s favorite lieutenant, Marshal Michel Ney, was granted permission at his execution to order the firing squad to fire. Ney told his men, “Wait for the order. It will be my last to you.”

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

VpDZ TIL that big pharmaceutical companies have been known to sue smaller ones to force the smaller companies to accept cash in exchange for not producing generic drugs
OnWL TIL that in 1967 a California teacher, in trying to teach his students how the German public supported the Nazi government during the 1930’s and 1940’s, created a faux-facist student movement to show them facism’s allure. In three days membership jumped from his class of 30 to over 200 students.
AAal TIL after the first attempt of the United States to launch a satellite into orbit failed, the Soviet Union offered the United States aid which was earmarked for undeveloped countries.
nWKb TIL, that during WWII, an American amphibious tank rammed a US destroyer while en route to the beach, “probably the only instance of a warship being rammed at sea by a tank”
QyYL TIL during the first stages of the Spanish-American War, USS Charleston fired 13 shots at the island of Guam as a response they sent a small ship carrying a Spanish officer who asked the USS Charleston for gun powder as they were out of it.