yVa7e TIL that the English ‘Gh’ in words like “Night” or “Eight” wasn’t originally silent, and was pronounced like the ‘Ch’ in the German words “Nacht” and “Acht”. Scots(a language derived from Middle English), still pronounced the Gh sound.
m1ejY TIL only 1 in 5 US soldiers during WW2 were 'combat forces', everyone else was in support roles.
DQWve TIL mawsynram in meghalaya, india is the wettest inhabited place on earth, with average annual rainfall over 11,871 millimeters (467.4 inches)
vPk5R TIL an effigy of Private John Marvin Steele in his Airborne uniform hangs from a steeple in Normandy. On the night before D-Day, his parachute got caught on the tower. He hung there for two hours pretending to be dead, but was taken prisoner by the Germans. He escaped later & rejoined his division.
J1Vp1 TIL kodinhi in india records insanely high twin rates and experts still don't know why
pYly8 TIL about The V Party, the Polish Party of VCR Owners, a political party active in early 90s Poland founded as a means of distributing unlicensed VHS tapes in rental shops
GA6G1 TIL There exists a small river island between France and Spain whose ownership transfers between each country every 6 months as part of a treaty from 1659
16EOP TIL the official city bird of Redondo Beach, California is the Goodyear Blimp.
oR8kL TIL Bank of America was originally called Bank of Italy!
dDnkd TIL of Air Force Maj. Harold Hering was discharged for asking in a missile training class, "How can I know that an order to launch came from a sane president?" A year later, James Schlesinger, Secty of Defense, ordered his command to check with him if Pres. Nixon issued any "unusual orders."
KYeo4 TIL about Euhaplorchis californiensis a fish brain parasite that modifies the behavior of the host to increase the likelihood of transmission to its next host
a8mMy TIL the oldest perfumery was discovered on the island of Cyprus.