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TIL That Medieval Pope Gregory IX considered cats to be the ‘incarnation of Satan’. Leading to a mass killing of cats, causing the rat population to swell, quickening the spread of the Black Death (fifth paragraph)

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QbJL TIL that in 1372, the architect Yi Kaizhan was hired to build a fort along the Great Wall of China, and he ordered the exact number of bricks he needed. When his judgement was questioned, he ordered one more brick. The extra brick was never used.
Lk8pP TIL that Ireland has the oldest average age at first marriage of any country. The average Irish citizen gets married for the first time at age 35.
xVnA7 TIL an ancestor of mine John Balmer was the first man to be killed by a shark in New Zealand.
6Edyl TIL that George Washington conducted a mass inoculation of the Continental Army against smallpox.
KORrG TIL there was a period in French history where the country actually was represented by a plain white flag.