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TIL in 2019 the US government ran "Crimson Contagion", an exercise simulating the outbreak of a respiratory virus, resulting in 110 million cases, 7.7 million hospitalizations, and 586,000 deaths

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5Wkn TIL that Festivus is a real parody holiday invented by a man in the 1960’s and celebrated by his family. His son went on to become a screenwriter for Seinfeld and incorporated it into the script, popularizing the holiday.
MAn8 TIL the only U.S. President depicted with a tobacco product in his official White House oil painting is Gerald R. Ford, who is holding his pipe.
PYExn TIL that Annie Oakley was such a great shooter that she could repeatedly split a playing card, edge-on, and put several more holes in it before it could touch the ground, while using a .22 caliber rifle, at 90 feet.
Z8eKp TIL that, as a vice presidential nominee in the 1824 election, John C. Calhoun was the running mate of both noted rivals John Quincy Adams & Andrew Jackson.
WQ5B TIL Piers Morgan forged evidence on the Iraqi torture scandal, which he never apologized for, and ended up getting fired from the Mirror which led him to join CNN