› added 7 years ago

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TIL Molotov cocktail was coined by the Finns. Soviet foreign minister Vyacheslav Molotov claimed that bombs used on the Finnish was humanitarian aid, so Finns started calling them "Molotov bread baskets". When using incendiaries to counter Soviet tanks, they called them "a drink to go with the food"

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GAmB7 TIL that Svante Pääbo mapped the DNA of Neanderthals and won the Nobel price. During his attempts, the first DNA sequences obtained came from himself. This helped him understand that contamination was a major problem and allowed him to refine the process and succeed
e0QoE TIL in the event of a nuclear attack, the United States will not engage in MAD, but will try to prevent and deal with the effects of a strike, then decide if it wants to retaliate with a nuclear attack of its own
W7Nw9 TIL of miasma theory, an abandoned medical theory, that held that that diseases such as cholera were caused by “bad air”. Some academics suggested the theory extended to other conditions as well, such as becoming obese by inhaling the odor of food.
AN64l TIL Kathleen Caronna was in a month-long coma after a Thanksgiving Day parade float knocked a lamppost onto her head in 1997. She bought a nice apartment with the settlement money and 9 years later, Yankees pitcher Cory Lidle crashed his plane into her high rise and the engine landed in her bedroom.
pYNZ8 TIL accidental poisoning by Ratol paste, a highly toxic rodenticide containing yellow phosphorus which can cause organ failure and death, is very common in India because people mistake it for toothpaste.