› added 5 years ago

92

TIL The FBI Hostage Rescue Team was conceived after FBI Director William H. Webster witnessed a demonstration by Delta Force. When he inquired as to why the men did not carry handcuffs, an operator replied "We put two rounds in the forehead. The dead don't need handcuffs."

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Z8NNp TIL those maple seed "helicopters" are called samaras!
XEJMj TIL during WWII the British government distributed 600,000 Morrison shelters, which were designed as a DIY indoor bomb shelter kit for houses without cellars. When properly positioned they could protect a family from the collapse of a two story building and also doubled as dining table.
4XodX TIL that pipelines are internally maintained via "PIGS" (Pipeline Inspection Gauges), which perform cleaning, inspection and other maintenance operations. The PIG is inserted via a "pig launcher" and removed via a "pig catcher."
6e6l TIL Peter the Great, enamored of Western ways, encouraged cleanshavenness among Russians by imposing a tax on beards. Noblemen paid 100 rubles a year for a medallion that served as a beard license.
69WmZ TIL about the ‘Yakhchal’ which is an ancient structure used to produce, harvest, and store ice.