/f/todayilearned
TIL: Samuel Byck tried to assassinate President Nixon by hijacking a plane and crashing it into the White House. Byck drove to BWI, shot a police officer, stormed a Delta aircraft and shot the two pilots. Police stopped Byck before the plane ever moved, but Nixon was in the White House at the time.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by theotherbogart t3_zcs5e2
TIL researchers at the University of Georgia have built a device named the "Wasp Hound", which contains a parasitic wasp species trained to recognize various odors like explosives or drugs. The wasps are tracked by a computer which triggers an alarm when enough wasps seemingly focus in on a scent.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by The_Critical_Cynic t3_1001i3q
TIL about Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk. He was responsible for rescuing a team of French nuclear scientists and the entire world stockpile of heavy water from France during WW2. He also served as part of an unexploded bomb detachment, successfully tackling 34 unexploded bombs
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by SteO153 t3_yfyf21
Submitted by JJKingwolf t3_yihhhu
TIL American writer Jack Kerouac served on SS Dorchester which was torpedoed by a German U-boat on 3 February 1943. Kerouac would have also been on the ship during the attack, but for a telegram he received from coach Lou Little, asking him to return to Columbia University to play football.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by History-Guy111111 t3_10sl9vl
TIL The most abundant wild bird on planet earth is the Red-billed Quelea. The birds fly in flocks of 2 million or more and in such tightly synchronized masses they can be mistaken at a distance for clouds of smoke. Single colonies can cover hundreds of acres, totaling tens of millions of birds.
audubon.orgSubmitted by Bluest_waters t3_11ec669
TIL researchers found that the global average temperature from 19,000 to 23,000 years ago was about 46 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s about 11 degrees Fahrenheit (6 degrees Celsius) colder than the global average temperature of the 20th century, per a University of Michigan statement.
smithsonianmag.comSubmitted by Embarrassed-Mouse-49 t3_10ggxp5
TIL Giovanni da Pian del Carpine was the first European to enter the court of the Great Khan. At 63 years old Carpine road 3000 miles in 106 days (including lent when he ate only salt, millet, and water) to appear before Khan Güyük. When Carpine returned he was made the Primate of Serbia.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_xvbt4d