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TIL In 1988, a government-led drug, money laundering, and nationwide child abuse ring was exposed in Nebraska. In the aftermath, the case’s chief investigator died violently, the abused minors were jailed for accusing their abusers, and a documentary on the topic was banned.

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R7Mb4 TIL that we have had the ability to turn Lead and Mercury into Gold since the 50's. It's just cheaper to mine so we don't do it on a commercial scale.
b6k14 TIL: 1963 San Diego Chargers were required to take anabolic steroids 3x per day during training camp. They led the league in nearly every offensive and defensive category and won the AFL championship 51-10.
Me7bK TIL that arguably the person credited with saving the most lives in human history is WWI chemical weapons scientist, Fritz Haber. His work directly lead to the deaths of hundreds of thousands during the war, while accidentally saving billions from starvation by developing a way to convert N2 to NH3.
WkZ0o TIL that, in 2009, the National Academy of Sciences found only DNA analysis could rigorously and consistently match evidence to a single person/source with high confidence. Other methods, especially pattern matching (fingerprints, handwriting, bite marks, footprints, hair, fibers, etc.), could not.
M7EV7 TIL One of the early Spanish explorers of the American Southwest met a man who they called "the Turk", who told them stories of rich lands to the east. He would later reveal that he made it up to draw them away from Pueblo civilizations so they would die of starvation in the plains.