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TIL chili peppers evolved their spiciness to ward off harmful fungi and microbes. Their antimicrobial properties meant chilies were among the first crops to be domesticated in the New World.

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yQN5w TIL when the first concrete bridge in Asia was opened in Muvattupuzha(India) in 1914, the chief engineer W H Emrald and his wife sat beneath the bridge in a boat while 15 elephants walked over it to convince the public that the bridge is strong & stable
Edx7 TIL Meth was created in Japan in 1893. During WW2, Meth was prescribed for Tank and Bomber crews to help keep them awake. Hitler took meth via IV on a regular basis.
woAyo TIL Levi Strauss made his fortune initially by making pants out of tent canvas for miners during the 1850s Gold Rush
neZ99 TIL that the cone snail, one of the most venomous animals on earth, releases a cloud of insulin when a fish swims by, causing it to go into hypoglycemic shock, immobilizing it so it can inject the fish with a cocktail of up to 200 toxins
EJRx TIL A girl was kidnapped from cape town hospital in 1997 but her parents never gave up searching for her. She was discovered by chance when she became friends with her younger biological sister when attending the same school.