TIL that ‘Hellburners’, 16th century fire-ships filled with decks of gunpowder sandwiched between bricks and tombstones, are considered to be an early WMD.

This link was originally posted to /r/todayilearned. See more things from Dan's Reddit account.

The original link was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hellburners

Hellburners (Dutch: hellebranders) were specialised fireships used in the Siege of Antwerp (1584-1585) during the Eighty Years’ War between the Dutch rebels and the Habsburgs. They were floating bombs, also called “Antwerp Fire”, and did immense damage to the Spanish besiegers. Hellburners have been described as an early form of weapons of mass destruction.

Wikipedia

TIL that in 1952, 4,000 people were killed during a five-day smog in London

This link was originally posted to /r/todayilearned. See more things from Dan's Reddit account.

The original link was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Smog_of_1952

The Great Smog of London, or Great Smog of 1952, was a severe air-pollution event that affected the British capital of London in early December 1952. A period of cold weather, combined with an anticyclone and windless conditions, collected airborne pollutants—mostly arising from the use of coal—to form a thick layer of smog over the city. It lasted from Friday, 5 December to Tuesday, 9 December 1952 and then dispersed quickly when the weather changed.

Wikipedia

Memorial to Quakers’ wartime service

This link was originally posted to /r/Quakers. See more things from Dan's Reddit account.

The original link was: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-stoke-staffordshire-22220232

A memorial recognising the wartime work done by Quakers has been unveiled at the National Memorial Arboretum in Staffordshire.

Quaker beliefs, among them pacifism, meant that many were unable to serve in the armed forces during wartime.

Many volunteered to serve in warzones in the Friends Ambulance Unit (FAU).

Leslie Steed, 94, from Birmingham, who served with the FAU during World War II, said: “I would rather have been killed than kill somebody.”

BBC News

TIL that microcomputer pioneer and inventor Clive Sinclair avoids the Internet because it “blurs the mind”

This link was originally posted to /r/todayilearned. See more things from Dan's Reddit account.

The original link was: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7481940.stm

Personal flying machines will be a reality, home computer and electric car pioneer Sir Clive Sinclair has said.

He told BBC Radio 4’s iPM programme that soon it would be “economically and technically possible” to create flying cars for individuals.

Sir Clive is best-known for the Spectrum computer and his failed electric car effort, the C5.

“I’m sure it will happen and I am sure it will change the world dramatically,” he predicted.

Despite his pioneering work in the field of computers, Sir Clive told BBC Radio 4 he was not an internet user.

“I don’t use it myself directly,” he said, explaining that as an inventor he tried to avoid “mechanical and technical things around me so they don’t blur the mind”.

BBC News

TIL that in 2004, a book was published that suggested that TV series Buffy the Vampire Slayer was valuable as a guide to spirituality

This link was originally posted to /r/todayilearned. See more things from Dan's Reddit account.

The original link was: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/What_Would_Buffy_Do%3F

What Would Buffy Do?: The Vampire Slayer as Spiritual Guide is a book relating to the fictional Buffyverse established by TV series, Buffy and Angel.

Wikipedia