/f/todayilearned
TIL about Operation Bernhard. During WWII, Germany attempted to bring about the collapse of the British economy by forging ≈£130 million in British bank notes. The notes are considered among the most perfect counterfeits ever produced, and are very difficult to differentiate from legitimate notes.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by rkadeYT t3_xwv3hr
TIL Al Capone was only 33 when he was locked away for tax evasion and developed neurosyphilis, leading to his death at 48. Eliot Ness was 27 when he formed the Untouchables--he died in a state of financial ruin in his 50s, likely hastened by his heavy drinking in his later life
fbi.govSubmitted by capsaicinintheeyes t3_yfs4ef
TIL Devon Allen, track & field athlete/Philadelphia Eagles wide receiver, was disqualified in the World Athletic Championships for a controversial false start. The starting blocks measured his reaction time from the time the gun went off at 0.099, which is 0.001 seconds faster than legally allowed.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by The_Critical_Cynic t3_yfezcn
TIL that the redwood tree the Julia Butterfly Hill lived in for 2 years in the 1990’s was badly damaged by vandals in 2000 who cut almost halfway through the tree with a chainsaw. A bracing was made to keep the tree stable and it will likely survive.
juliabutterflyhill.comSubmitted by triviafrenzy t3_yh138g
TIL One of the only pieces of Hitler's dream reconstruction of Berlin as Germania is an enormous concrete cylinder in the Tiergarten neighborhood. It's called the Schwerbelastungskörper which translates as "heavy load-bearing body." It was to test the load-bearing capability of the ground.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by muttmutt2112 t3_ycngn3
TIL Apollo 15 astronauts Scott, Worden and Irwin secretly carried 400 unauthorized postal covers in one of Scott’s spacesuit pockets to the Moon aboard the Falcon. They took payments for carrying the covers; were reprimanded by NASA and never flew in space again.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by thenerdknuckle t3_yigtnx
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