› added 4 years ago

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TIL that Marek's disease affects chickens and was once rarely fatal. The introduction of a leaky vaccine (still get/spread virus, don't get sick) caused it to become 100% fatal. Because it is so fatal, and the vaccine doesn't stop the spread of the virus, Marek's can only spread in vaccinated flocks

Read more the-scientist.com

via reddit.com

EkPo TIL that after the sinking a british U-boat during WWII, Herbert Schultze sent radio message “cq - cq- cq - transmit to Winston Churchill. I have sunk the British steamer Firby. Posit 59.40 North and 13.50 West. Save the crew, if you please. German U-boat”. This made Schultze famous in Germany & UK.
NXdKQ TIL that in 2009, a 52 year old man used forged papers to enroll as a high school student at Waterford High School.
oBLvL TIL Rugby peaked in popularity in Germany shortly before WW2 with them beating France twice and with the Nazi Minister of War, Albert Speer being a big proponent of the sport. It was decimated after WW2 when a majority of the German players had died
ye9J TIL A ‘Republic’ places sovereignty in each individual person, whereas a 'Democracy’ is essentially a dictatorship of the Majority.
yREw TIL when composer Frédéric Chopin was on his death bed he asked that when he died his body be cut open and the heart removed to be buried in his homeland of Poland. Upon his death, his sister smuggled the heart out of France, delivering it to the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw.