/f/todayilearned
TIL of the 1991 Downing Street mortar attack, in which IRA members launched three mortars at No. 10 Downing Street during a cabinet meeting, attempting to kill John Major. One hit the lawn 30 yards away, and it is believed that if this mortar had hit the building the entire cabinet would have died.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by a3poify t3_11l698t
Submitted by mimino99 t3_11jo0lp
Submitted by ChibiMoon11 t3_11gkzgu
TIL the Japanese turned the third of their superbattleships (after Yamato and Musashi) into the largest aircraft carrier ever built at the time. After four years of construction and enormous cost, she left the shipyard and was immediately sunk by a submarine.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by AirborneRodent t3_11fs8kt
TIL that in 2018 a framed painting by Banksy was sold at auction for over a million pounds. As the gavel fell an alarm sounded and a shredder concealed in the picture frame turned on and began to shred the painting. The buyer went through with the purchase.
wikipedia.orgSubmitted by D3vilUkn0w t3_11eqyr3
Submitted by akunis t3_120iqzc
TIL about the unusual death of a man in Spain in 2021, who died inside the leg of a paper-mache Steosaurus. It was thought the man entered the Stegosaurus to retrieve his phone, and days later was found by a father and son who noticed a smell coming from the statue.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by SligPants t3_11dcv0r
TIL that in The Shawshank Redemption, when Morgan Freeman’s character is asked “why do they call you Red?” and he responds with “maybe it’s because I’m Irish”. It’s because the character in the novel was a red haired Irish man. They cast Freeman for the part but added the line as a joke.
screenrant.comSubmitted by lettuceandcucumber t3_11bi7p2
TIL that singer Cass Elliot, better known as 'Mama Cass', did not like her 'Mama' moniker a single bit - to the point where she named her 1973 live album and TV special “Don’t Call Me Mama Anymore.” This is why her solo career in the 1970s is billed as 'Cass Elliot'.
legacy.comSubmitted by waitingforthesun92 t3_11b2r7p
Submitted by HCOONa t3_116iffr
TIL that the founders of video game maker "Acclaim" named their company so it would be listed alphabetically before their former employer "Activision" and before "Accolade" another company founded by ex-Activison employees. Activison itself was founded by ex-Atari employees based on the same logic.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Loki-L t3_115gff7
TIL : Concorde airplane flew so fast, if you left London (or Paris) in the evening flying west towards New York, to the passengers in the plane, the sun would actually appear to begin rising again shortly after reaching cruising speed. The plane flew faster than the Earth's rotation.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by PyrowithJared t3_113i02i
TIL about Bountygate - a scandal in the NFL during the 2011 season which involved New Orleans Saints players gambling over the severity of injuries they could cause the opposing teams players. The result was the head coach being suspended for a season as he was found to have condoned the behaviour.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by theanswar t3_10zqgt7