› added 4 years ago

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TIL Ukrainian Ivan Kharchenko personally defused more than 1500 bombs weighing more than 500 kilograms each and 25,000 other explosive objects during the battles of Stalingrad and Kiev. After WW2, he disarmed 16,000 more unexploded bombs

l75JK TIL that a museum in a tiny Western Canadian town has one of only 17 remaining Avro Lancaster aircraft in the world, and its Lancaster is one of only 4 in the world which can taxi under its own power
OomO6 TIL it’s a myth that humans swallow an average of 8 spiders per year while they’re asleep. It was a made up by a columnist named Lisa Holst who wanted to show how quickly misinformation can spread.
xGkB TIL that the Rasberry crazy ant produces and covers itself with formic acid, an antidote to fire ant venom. It is the first known example of an insect being able to neutralize another insect’s venom.
mx8Qo TIL Bed Bugs almost went extinct. Before governments started banning it, DDT insecticide was the best bed bug killer available. It drove their numbers down to near extinction. Over time, populations of Bed Bugs began developing DDT resistance. Even if we started using DDT again, they're now immune.
Y7nP7 TIL Mormon leader Brigham Young chose the city name Fillmore in Millard County to be the capital of Utah Territory. It was in appreciation of President Millard Fillmore naming Young the Territorial Governor. When Fillmore didn’t get his party’s nomination, Young moved the capital to Salt Lake City.