› added 4 years ago

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TIL that the dangerous strains of E-Coli Bacteria only came into existence in the early 70s, when, by a freak event of DNA sharing, a E-Coli Bacterium gained the gene to produce kidney and intestine destroying Shiga Toxins from a Shigella Bacterium, the bacteria that causes Dysentery.

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a8NKN TIL that Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River.
4XbnJ TIL in 1979, the movie "The China Syndrome" - about a nuclear reactor failure in Pennsylvania - premiered 12 days before an actual nuclear reactor failure in Pennsylvania called the Three Mile Island accident.
1aPyW TIL that the Apollo 11 landing site was chosen purely for technical and safety reasons, which is why the famous footage takes place on a mostly featureless plain. Later Apollo missions landed in valleys, next to canyons, and at the foot of mountains.
R0Dj TIL the US has been using the same poverty guideline since 1965. It assumes we spend 1/3 of our income on food, & sets the federal poverty level at 3x the estimated cost of a family’s food. However, we now spend only ~1/6 of our income on food, while other necessities have become far more expensive
p8JJA TIL of a man who retired at 61 and becames a perpetual hiker. Over 15 years he walked over 34,000 miles (55,000 KM). He became the first known person to hike the entire Appalachian Range in North America, from Newfoundland to the Keys and more and more.