› added 1 year ago

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TIL that at least one malaria strain has evolved to make infected mosquitoes feed more frequently. This is because mosquitoes’ immune systems eventually kill most diseases they consume, requiring them to feed again quickly to spread a disease.

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1R1r TIL That an UK double agent knew about the attack on Pearl Harbor months before the attack. And that FBI was told about this but ignored the facts.
6EjjY TIL the explosion that led to the Chernobyl nuclear accident was chemical, driven by gases and steam generated by the core runaway, not by nuclear reactions. No commercial nuclear reactor contains a high enough concentration of U-235 or plutonium to cause a nuclear explosion.
e0AQ4 TIL Halle Berry hated the movie Catwoman so much she showed up in person to accept her Razzie award. In her acceptance speech she said "I want to thank Warner Brothers. Thank you for putting me in a piece of shit god-awful movie." (Speech starts at 2:25)
rNmZx TIL that in 1889, the Brazilian military, alongside slave-owning elites, organized a coup to overthrow emperor Pedro II for abolishing slavery. In response, a group of freed slaves organized themselves into a militia known as the Black Guard in order to guarantee the safety of the Imperial Family.
LJLV TIL A Japanese farmer discovered a gold seal while repairing an irrigation ditch in 1784. The seal turned out to be 95% pure gold and was a gift from the Chinese Emperor to a Japanese envoy from 54 CE, the earliest recorded date of contact between the two countries.