› added 4 years ago

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TIL that today, August 22, is the feast day of St. Guinefort, the Dog Venerated as a Saint

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gm5L TIL tuberculosis wiped out 50% of the males in a troop of savanna baboons after they consumed tainted meat. The more aggressive males died, leaving their less aggressive peers to create and pass down a uniquely unaggressive culture.
N7GQM TIL that, when Lisa Kudrow was cast in Friends, it was decided to make Phoebe the twin sister of Ursula, her character in Mad About You, so that TV audiences wouldn't get confused about seeing the same actress in back-to-back shows.
XJNk TIL that a “safer cigarette” (The XA Project) was developed in the 70s but tobacco companies pressured the inventor to bury it because it implied their cigarettes were unsafe.
PYnkL TIL about Ans van Dijk, a Jewish Dutch woman who was the only woman executed after WWII in the Netherlands. She was found guilty of treason by working for the nazis and betraying the hiding places of at least 145 other Jewish people including her own brother.
QJjv6 TIL Mae Jemison, the first woman of colour to go into space, suffered from a fear of heights before embarking on the astronaut training that eventually led her to the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992