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TIL from 1887 to 1950, meteorologists in the US were forbidden from using the word “tornado” in their forecasts. Experts at the time thought doing so would create mass panic.

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neDwG TIL that Michigan is bigger than Idaho and Utah, and is comparable to states like Oregon, Colorado, and even Nevada.
6EYR7 TIL that cold sores are a symptom of herpes, 90% of the world's adults have HSV-1 (Herpes Simplex Virus) that is closely related to the one that causes genital herpes HSV-2. Cold sores can be contagious even if no sores are visible.
Qer6 TIL In 1974, two phone hackers stood on a California beach and from two public phone booths intercepted every incoming call to Santa Barbara, and told the dialers the city had been wiped out in a nuclear explosion, causing a widespread panic.
8QmZ TIL a hacker in the UK hacked into NASA files and discovered a document entitled “Non-Terrestrial Officers Initiative”, referring to a fleet of manmade spaceships.
QNE5a TIL there's a species of caterpillar, belonging to the Nematocampa genus of moths, that responds to loud noise (e.g. shouting) by enlarging long appendages on its body until fully erect