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TIL Three cleanup volunteers at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant voluntarily suited up in scuba gear and swam into the radioactive water, knowing that they would die as a result, to open a gate valve allowing containmented water to drain out preventing a catastrophic thermal explosion.

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d895d TIL the Kinabalu giant red leech (Mimobdella buettikoferi) is a large bright orange-red colored leech that is endemic to Borneo. It can grow to a length of over 50 cm (20 in). In the comments, this huge flesh-eating leech can be seen ingesting a giant earthworm like spaghetti.
RNA4 TIL the CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure makes nearly $700K a year, about 25% more than other non-profits of comparible size, while only spending about 20% of its yearly funds on research for a cure for breast cancer.
KeN6 TIL Jules Verne wrote the novel “Paris in the Twentieth Century” back in 1863 and described a world of glass skyscrapers, high-speed trains, cities of elevator-equipped, gas-fuelled cars, subways, and a worldwide communications network.
WEXo TIL that the two ethnic groups, the Hutus and the Tutsis, in the Rwandan Genocide were designated by European colonists somewhat arbitrarily. A Hutu could become a Tutsi by acquiring ten cows.
QojX TIL Dustin Hoffman’s infamous “I’m walkin’ here” line in Midnight Cowboy was unscripted, he reacted in character to almost being hit by a cab.