› added 6 years ago

525

TIL that the reason that school buses and other safety conscious vehicles stop at all railroad crossings stems from an accident in 1938 that killed 25 children.

Read more deseretnews.com

via reddit.com

4XpNo TIL a group of small worms in a petri dish encased in aluminum survived the Space Shuttle Columbia disaster and impact with the ground. They were found over two months later still alive.
R7Xa1 TIL that, due to a dispute over Missouri's statehood, Congress recorded two separate electoral votes in the 1820 presidential election, one counting Missouri's electoral votes and one without it, making them simultaneously existent and nonexistent.
eA4b TIL more than half of brits think Sherlock Holmes was a real person.
8eEnX TIL that Ian Fleming, of James Bond fame, had an affair with the mother of the founder of Island Records, Chris Blackwell, who helped make reggae music internationally popular and recorded some of its biggest names
7rlE7 TIL, Vesta Stoudt, who had the idea for duct tape, couldnt get her bosses at a military ordnance plant to take her seriously. So she sent a letter to FDR who recommended it to the War Production Board where it was approved for use on ammo boxes.