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TIL that in 1985, Wong-Staal became the first person to clone HIV and to generate a genetic mapping of the virus which would be used for the research and design of treatments for AIDS.

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opAA TIL that the rabbit used in Monty Python and the Holy Grail was a real rabbit. Also, the crew used a red dye which they thought was washable, but then had to halt shooting while they desperately attempted to wash the dye off before the owner arrived.
OGxna Today I learned that in 2012, a contest was held online for Taylor Swift to perform a concert at your local school. Online trolls mass voted for Boston's Horace Mann School for the Deaf. Swift declined to go, and instead donated $50,000 to.the school.
epWDE TIL that when Blake Lively was offered a role on CW show 'Gossip Girl', she only agreed after being told that she could go to college part-time. Lively later said "This is advice to anyone: when they say, 'We promise, but we can't put it in writing,' there's a reason they can't put it in writing".
VM59Z TIL about Operation Hidden Mitten, a US law enforcement operation with the main purpose of keeping mitten crabs out of the country. This species of crab is extremely invasive, preys on local wildlife and carry parasites that affect human lungs.
ZpYQv TIL that between the 9th and 12th centuries Dublin was a major centre for slave trading by the Vikings. Slaves were taken from places such as Ireland, Scotland, England and Spain. They were sold as far away as Iceland and Anatolia.