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TIL that red-haired people were considered poisonous in the middle ages. People planned to melt the fat from them and use it as poison.

Read more themythsandhistoryofredhair.co.uk

via reddit.com

JYdZm TIL the sled dog, Togo, was responsible for leading his team through the most dangerous and longest stretch of the 1925 Serum Run by 200 miles. Balto and his team led the last 55 mile stretch into the town of Nome getting most of the credit and media attention.
QWjd TIL That a robotic chess machine called ‘The Turk’ toured the world in the 1700s, easily defeating prominent statesmen such as Benjamin Franklin and Napoleon Bonaparte. A human chess master was long suspected to have been hidden inside, but wasn’t exposed for 84 years.
R7Rw6 TIL that in 1799 Aaron Burr raised $2mil to provide drinking water to Manhattan. He used $1.9mil of that to found a bank instead, and the water he did provide was often contaminated. NYC did not have a clean water source until 1842. The bank he founded is now known as JPMorgan Chase
Zp46v TIL that Heinrich Himmler had been negotiating with the Allies behind Hitler's back beginning at least as early as 1939
wL0V6 TIL that for 20 years, the nuclear launch code at silos across the US was 0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0 in order to ensure rapid response.