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TIL How a Worm Gave the South a Bad Name, between 1865 and 1910, 40 percent of the South's population suffered from hookworms. Thousands of worms could live in a person at one time. These parasites and the constant bloodsucking made an infected person pale, tired and slow, leading to stunted growth.

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DYke TIL that tofu is just “cheese” made from soy milk (whereas regular cheese is made from animal milk)
0dOWv TIL that restaurateur Guy Fieri was born with the last name “Ferry” - but later changed it to “Fieri” in memory of his paternal grandfather, Giuseppe Fieri, an Italian immigrant who had anglicized his surname to Ferry upon arriving in the United States.
VMlxB TIL that 90% of the coal we use today only exists because 300 million years ago, microbes that could ingest wood, did not exist, so trees would fall on top of each other, and the weight of all that heavy wood, over millions of years, would compress those trees into peat and then, into coal.
D1P0D TIL Iron Man was considered such a minor character when Marvel Studios began developing the 2008 movie that about 30 writers passed on writing the script, and Marvel produced three animated "advertorials" to introduce the character and show audiences that he wasn't simply a robot.
KKl4 TIL Liechtenstein, one of the smallest countries in the world, has one of the lowest business and corporate tax rates, highest GDP per capita, zero external debt, and more registered businesses than people.