› added 9 months ago

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TIL that subacute sclerosing panencephalitis or Dawson disease is a rare presentation of the measles virus that can survive in the body long term without provoking an immune response. Once symptoms develop (an average of 7 years after primary measles infection), the outcome is invariably fatal.

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yQ5MM TIL “Blazing Saddles” was the first movie to have a fart joke.
N5lN TIL that after FIJI Water ran an ad joking that it “wasn’t bottled in Cleveland,” the Cleveland Water Department proved that Fiji Water contained the highest levels of arsenic and other contaminants when compared to Cleveland tap water and other bottled brands
QN4wL TIL that from 1925 to 1939, a group of corporations called the Phoebus cartel, including General Electric and Philips, coordinated competition among lightbulb manufacturers. To drive repeat sales, they fined companies which produced lightbulbs with an average lifespan exceeding 1,000 hours.
WkejB TIL that Danish 1, 2 and 5 kröner coins have holes in them to help blind people differentiate between coins.
xVBBw TIL that naturally occurring magnets (lodestones) are only formed when lightning strikes magnetite, an iron ore.