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TIL that there is a period in the history of Medieval Rome that is known as the Pornocracy or the Rule of the Harlots

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MPpm TIL that soldiers use Silly String in Iraq for bomb detection. It travels far enough where a soldier can shoot it across most rooms, and it’s light enough such that if some Silly String lands on the tripwire, it won’t cause the bomb to explode.
KOXWQ TIL there is a festival in Ireland where they marry a local schoolgirl to a wild goat for 3 days
7ld7 TIL the reason Old World disease killed so many natives in the New World upon colonization was because of the disease’s roots in domesticated animals; while Europeans had centuries of exposure to countless livestock pathogens, natives kept virtually no livestock, so were defenseless against them.
jNYMv TIL: During an average lifetime of driving, we face about a one-in-three chance of being seriously injured or killed in a motor vehicle crash.
bG6a TIL that a NASA astronaut waited 19 years to fly in space. Don Lind was selected in 1966 but was chosen for canceled missions, or as backup for missions; he said, “I was backing up two of the most depressingly healthy people you can imagine.” Lind finally flew on the space shuttle in 1985.