› added 3 years ago

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TIL that word boondock come from Tagalog bundok ‘mountain.’ American soldiers stationed in the Philippines adopted the word in the early 1900s, shifting the meaning to refer to "an isolated or wild region."

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L1Yr TIL: In 1995, St. Jude’s Hospital received an anonymous letter with a $1 million winning McDonald’s Monopoly game piece. Although it was against the rules to transfer prizes, McDonald’s honored it even after learning that the piece was sent by an individual involved in an embezzlement scheme.
v1Wj8 TIL that breaches of safety procedures at one of Beijing's top virology laboratories were the probable cause of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) in the early 2000s, according to the World Health Organization.
OojM6 TIL a Nuclear Ballistic Missile was almost launched from McConnell Air Force Base in 1980 because a technician loaded the wrong data into a computer. The crew was able to avoid the launch after switching off the main power to the building.
MeGDb TIL that spiders can fly through still air for miles using earth's electric fields. The process is initiated by "Trichobothria", a particular kind of hair growing amidst many others on spider's bodies.
Gml7 TIL that Marlon Wayans was going to play Robin in Batman Returns (1991). He still earns money for his 2-movie deal, despite never actually appearing as Robin.