Really TRUE odd factoids

[Chris S]

Two pounds of pepper and ginger, a pair of scarlet trousers and 1,000 eels.

I thought that was one of Heston Blumenthal's recipes.

 

[Chris S]

'Never Ever' by All Saints uses the same chord sequence as 'Amazing Grace'.

 

[Chris S]

Wernher von Braun was a former Nazi who headed the Apollo space program. Apollo 14 played 'How great thou art' as it approached the moon. It uses the same melody as the Horst Wessel song.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Werner von Braun was spirited out of Germany to avoid being caught by the Nuremberg Trials. His actions, whatever they may have been, were quietly forgotten.

 

[Hover Fly]

There were about 120-odd rocket scientists brought out of Germany by the USA, mainly to stop the Russians getting them and the ability to build ICBMs more quickly, but also to help start NASA, along with quite a few USA Jews who worked with them quite happily.

 

[classic33]

Wernher von Braun, instrumental in helping put an American on the Moon, knew more about Robert Goddard’s work than the Americans he worked with after World War II.

 

[classic33]

The 1960s were the peak years of the Cold War, and American intelligence agencies tried some pretty bizarre strategies to get a leg up on the Soviets.

Project "Acoustic Kitty", was set up by the CIA. Operatives attempted to implant listening devices into the ears of cats in hopes of eavesdropping on top-secret conversations.

They placed the first cat near the Soviet Embassy in Washington, D.C., but—according to some reports—the poor cat was almost immediately run over by a taxi. The project was shut down in 1967 after the geniuses at the CIA finally figured out how difficult it is to train a cat.

 

[Seevio]

On the 20th June 2020, in the small Siberian town of Verkhoyansk, North of the Arctic Circle, a heat wave baking the region peaked at 38 degrees Celsius — just over 100 degrees Fahrenheit. It was the highest temperature ever recorded in the Arctic.

Tsar Bomba was tested on Yuzhny Island on 30 October 1961 . I would imagine the temperature may have nudged slightly above 38C although I can't find any specific temperature records.

 

[Beebo]

Tsar Bomba was tested on Yuzhny Island on 30 October 1961 . I would imagine the temperature may have nudged slightly above 38C although I can't find any specific temperature records.

I don’t think that counts. 😀

 

[classic33]

Both Neil Armstrong and Buzz Aldrin had to clear customs and immigration upon returning from the moon.

Michael Collins didn't, as he was classed as never having left American territory.



Territory replaced property in edit.

 

[Blue Hills]

Wernher von Braun was a former Nazi who headed the Apollo space program. Apollo 14 played 'How great thou art' as it approached the moon. It uses the same melody as the Horst Wessel song.

I knew the first, long been common knowledge, shameful as it is,but not the second. Was it commented on at the time?

 

[classic33]

"Amazing Grace" is the only major hymn that is pentatonic, i.e., can be played only on the black keys.

 

[MichaelW2]

There were about 120-odd rocket scientists brought out of Germany by the USA, mainly to stop the Russians getting them and the ability to build ICBMs more quickly, but also to help start NASA, along with quite a few USA Jews who worked with them quite happily.

Operation Osoaviakhim was the Soviet equivalent to Operation Paperclip, relocating useful rocket scientists and material to the USSR.
A similar operation recovered all of the Nazi nuclear research and material which accounted for the rapid developement of the Soviet nuclear bomb in 1949.

 

[Darius_Jedburgh]

Operation Osoaviakhim was the Soviet equivalent to Operation Paperclip, relocating useful rocket scientists and material to the USSR.
A similar operation recovered all of the Nazi nuclear research and material which accounted for the rapid developement of the Soviet nuclear bomb in 1949.

Not to mention Klaus Fuchs.

 

[MichaelW2]

Not to mention Klaus Fuchs.

The Uranium recovered from Germany saved the Russians about 1 year of delay. A significant amount of the German Uranium sources had been snaffled by the USA or destroyed by bombing specifically to keep it out of Russian hands.
The race to exploit Nazi atomic resources was every bit as important as the rocket race.