› added 5 years ago

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TIL that workers can get desensitized to the odor added to natural gas - mercaptan - which can lead to catastrophic industrial accidents. This applies mostly to purging those gases indoors and workers relying on sense of smell rather than monitors, without realizing they can't smell it anymore.

pYoKe TIL the amount of days in a week varied in ancient civilizations. In Ancient Egypt there were ten days in a week. In Ancient Rome they originally had eight days in a week, and then switched to seven.
X09Zr TIL that The Piltdown man, found by Charles Dawson in England from 1910–1912 and thought to be a key human-ape link, was revealed in 1953–54 as a hoax made from a modern human skull, an orangutan jaw, and a chimpanzee tooth, deliberately faked to trick scientists.
NXMgQ TIL that in November 1954, a woman in Alabama survived being struck by a meteorite that hit the roof of her house, bounced off a radio and hit her in upper thigh and hand. She was left with a large bruise on her side but was otherwise not seriously injured.
epZvb TIL Cavity Sam is the name of the patient in the game Operation (the guy who suffers from writer’s cramp, water on the knee, butterflies in the stomach, wrenched knee, broken heart, etc.)
VMv4k TIL that the Justice Commandos of the Armenian Genocide, a militant organisation active from 1975 to 1987, attacked Turkish representatives and interests in Europe, North America and Australia, killing more than 30 people, among them more than 10 Turkish diplomats and attachés