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TIL in 1687, the Parthenon in Athens exploded when it was hit by a Venetian mortar round in a war between Venice and the Turks. The building was being used by the Turks to store gunpowder. One account says the Turks did not expect the Venetians to target such a historic monument. 300 people died.

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vg6L TIL that in 1976, a Soviet pilot defected to Japan in his advanced MiG-25 fighter, which Russia demanded be returned. Japan complied, but only after allowing American engineers to examine the aircraft. Japan then shipped it back piece by piece, and billed Russia $40,000 in transport and labor costs.
0wprp TIL about Airstan Incident, In 1995 the Taliban used their MiG fighter jet to force a Russian IL-76 cargo plane to land at Kandahar Air Field. After a year of captivity, the crew tricked the Taliban into performing a routine maintenance on the plane, and then flew away, under fire, to the UAE.
nepoW TIL in 1984, the U.S. Army gave Donald Duck an honorable discharge in honor of his military service for appearances in Disney WWII cartoons and WWII mascots embodied in combat units of various U.S. military branches
yVlBw TIL that in 1991, flight deck crewman John Bridges was sucked into the intake of an A-6E aboard USS Theodore Roosevelt. Incredibly, he survived because he became wedged in the engine.
oRppR TIL of the Malaysian version of rock paper scissors called One Two Som which uses Rock, Water and Bird. Water is a stretched out palm (same as paper), but a Bird is represented by all five finger tips held together to form a bird beak. Rock kills Bird, Bird drinks Water, and Water sinks Rock.