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TIL The United States Military runs a psychological warfare program called Sockpuppet that is tasked with manipulating social media for propaganda purposes. It includes creating fake profiles and distributing fake user created material.

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via reddit.com

OWXg TIL of David Johnson, volcanologist. Successfully fought a Chief Brody-like fight to keep the summit Mt St Helens & Spirit Lake visitor-free for 2 months before the cataclysm. Instead of 1000 deaths there was 53; him among them, radioing “…Vancouver, this is it” seconds before he was incinerated.
X9RE TIL when Mel Blanc (voice of Bugs Bunny) was trapped in a coma, he was unresponsive until a doctor tried asking, “Can you hear me, Bugs?” Blanc responded weakly, “Myeeeeh. What’s up doc?”
nWnmY TIL a study on cocaine use challenged the belief that the drug induces weight loss by suppressing appetite. Cocaine users ate way more food than non-users yet this didn't increase their fat mass and they didn't gain weight. Researchers concluded that cocaine reduces the body’s ability to store fat.
kmne TIL that Big Bertha, a gun used during WW1, was so powerful that troops had to move 300 yards away and put cotton wads in their ears, eyes, and nose, as well as open their mouths, so that their eardrums weren’t burst by the blast presure
nW8kb TIL that Estelle Getty, who played Sophia in TV show Golden Girls, was actually one year younger than Bea Arthur who played her daughter in the same show