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TIL Byzantine emperors hired Vikings as guards. One of whom, Halfdan, left runic graffiti on the Hagia Sophia.

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rRaOd TIL the popularity of cats as pets was largely influenced by one man in Edwardian England, and he was clinically insane.
DQvyj TIL of Brent Hershman, a second-assistant cameraman on the 1997 movie “Pleasantville” - who died in a car accident after working 19 hours on the film’s set. His death sparked industry-wide demands for shorter workdays and inspired a 2006 documentary by filmmaker Haskell Wexler.
XjAX TIL that Switzerland has enough fallout shelters to cover 114% of its population, including the largest fallout shelter in the world, the Sonnenberg Tunnel, designed to house 20 000 civilians, though reassessed for 10 000 to 17 000
9wLNX TIL Blue Whales' heart beats have been recorded as low as one beat every two minutes - the lowest for any mammal
g5Yy TIL Orson Welles’ radio adaptation of “War of the Worlds” never actually caused a mass panic in 1938. This rumor was created by newspaper journalists in an attempt to discredit radio as a medium because they felt threatened by it.