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93

TIL that the Geneva Convention prohibits the use of modified weather as a weapon in war

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ky57 TIL Tuberculosis was so romanticized during the Victorian era that fashion trends emerged to highlight and emulate the symptoms of the disease. This fashion movement is referred to as “Consumptive Chic”.
R7QO4 TIL that Jews were fined the equivalent of $7 billion for the events of Kristallnacht, and billed an additional $25M to repair the windows.
v1eO8 TIL Empress Irene of the Byzantine Empire, among other things, became empress by winning a beauty contest, after her husband died became the first empress to rule in her own right in Byzantine History, and blinded her own son in order to retain power.
PkjE TIL that cicada song is loud enough to cause permanent hearing loss in humans should the cicada sing just outside the listener’s ear. Males disable their own tympana while calling, thereby preventing damage to their hearing.
N7b5N TIL that Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys got an F in his high school Music class for writing what would become their breakout hit "Surfin'". The grade was later changed to an A in 2018 when Wilson was 75.