[WP] You’re in the highway patrol and you’re pulling over a car for a broken taillight. It’s supposed to just be another traffic stop, except the driver is an ex you never thought you’d see again.
[WP] A spy is sent to monitor a country’s secret weapons program. But they’re frustrated when there’s no such program to report and thus no glory to be gained. So they decide to engineer a secret weapon program into existence.
Say it’s the middle ages and I’ve just paid my weekly tithe at the local church; how much of that money is staying “local” versus going to the Papal coffers? How is this distribution of money decided?
Why did military ballooning for reconnaissance not really catch on in the 19th century the same way that fixed wing aviation for reconnaissance did in the 20th century?
Rail Network of Manchukuo August 1945.
TIL Surfmen was the terminology used to describe members of the United States Lifesaving Service before it was merged into the US Coast Guard. It is also currently the highest qualification in the Coast Guard for small boat operations.
What are some notable examples of Military Equipment/Weapons being used much more effectively by another country than the country they originated in?
[WP] Where do storks get the babies they give to childless couples? They get them from parents that don’t want their baby. Unfortunately for you one stork is under the impression you don’t want yours, no matter how many times you tell him otherwise.
TIL A South African Nationalist group called Ossewabrandwag, which included future PM John Vorster, strongly objected to South Africa's participation in WWII. They planned an uprising that was only abandoned for lack of weapons and conducted multiple acts of sabotage during the war.
TIL During the Great Depression the Caterpillar Tractor Company asked William D. Disston to make a tank design based on their tractor chassis, meant to be a cheap alternative to conventional designs. This resulted in the Disston Tank, which was only ever bought and operated by Afghanistan.
TIL The XNBL-1 "Barling Bomber" was an experimental American bomber that was nicknamed “Mitchell's Folly". It was so underpowered that on a flight from Dayton, Ohio to an airshow in Washington, DC, it failed to achieve enough height to get over the Appalachian Mountains and had to turn around.
TIL The ancient Greeks and Romans seemed to use butter only as medicine and considered it as a food of the barbarians. A play by the Greek comic poet Anaxandrides refers to Thracians as boutyrophagoi, "butter-eaters".
Primary route of the Iditarod race. Also the 1925 Serum run route, which delivered lifesaving medicine for a Diphtheria outbreak in Nome. The dogsled relay involved 20 mushers and about 150 sled dogs across 674 miles (1,085 km) in 5+1⁄2 days.
Why are there literally hundreds of WW2 Nazi movies, but only a handful of ones about the Japanese?
Hargraves: I want you to think about who has the most macho army in the world—or at least the image of it. Russia, right? They pride themselves on this macho bullshit. But they invaded Ukraine, and guess what? Russia is losing 5-6 soldiers for every one Ukrainian… ego doesn’t mean anything.
TIL In 1963 after the Kennedy Assassination, CBS producer Don Hewitt suggested to Dan Rather a plan to steal the Zapruder Film and copy it before returning the film. While Rather agreed to the idea, Hewitt had second thoughts and decided not to go through with the plan.
[WP] “Maybe I’m just getting old, but digitizing myself into the virtual world and going through the world wide web used to be more fun. Yeah everything is faster and more professional now but all the charms gone.”
1944 map of the island of Mindanao by the US Navy Educational Services Section.
[WP] “The dirty secret about magically enhanced weapons is that they want to be used. A few craftsmen can dull the effect, but the weapons magic will get in your head and convince you any fight is winnable. Why do you think so many low level warriors are willing to fight a level 100 adventurer?
Map from the August 1933 issue of National Geographic traces a flight over the top of Mount Everest, completed two decades before the first climbers would reach the summit. It is the first detailed map of the Everest region produced by the magazine.
[WP] You are a Magical Guild Inspector, and you are assigned to make sure any item or potion being sold in the marketplaces does what it is advertised to do. Though to catch the worst offenders you have to go undercover, which means disguising yourself as a dumb and gullible customer.
Tourist panoramic map of Rio de Janeiro
TIL The Wieliczka salt mine, excavated from the 13th century, produced table salt continuously until 1996, as one of the world's oldest operating salt mines. It is now a UNESCO world heritage site, with four chapels and numerous statues carved by miners and contemporary artists out of the rock salt.
Which person from history is considered to be a villain based solely on being on the "losing side" rather than because of anything they actually did or the content of their character?
[WP] “I will admit bringing victims of cancer back to life without the cancer is a novel cure, but the medical board has a strict no necromancy policy. The Frankenstein dog incident kind of poisoned the well there.”
