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TIL For 60 years preceding the black death epidemic of 1347, Italy and Florence in particular were struck with repeated famines, partially because of a series extreme weather events, such as unprecedented floods and cold snaps which killed crops, each of them killing thousands of people.

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p6wA TIL - A botched circumcision removed a young boy’s penis leading to him being brought as a female as part of a study to show that children are not by nature feminine or masculine. He rejected his female reassignment and later committed suicide.
5YLpk TIL the CNN world headquarters building used to house an indoor amusement park called The World of Sid and Marty Krofft
j61lN TIL in WW 2, an allied oil tanker & corvette were attacked by 2 Japanese commerce raiders in the Indian Ocean. The Japanese had over 8 to 1 gun edge + torpedoes. The tanker took 2 torpedo hits and many shell hits. Surprisingly, 1 Japanese raider was sunk and the allied ships made it safely to port.
KOZm9 TIL According to secret service agents, Ronald Reagan carried a pistol in his briefcase when he was president, "just in case you guys can’t do the job, I can help out". Reagan acquired a pocket sized pistol after college in the 1930s "and kept it lovingly the rest of his life”.
nP7o TIL that at the behest of the military, the FDA did a study determining that most drugs are still safe and effective many years past the expiration date stamped on the package.