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TIL 14 people in NYC died in a flash flood in 2021, with 11 drowning in basement apartments

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6JVJ TIL The first ever Windows Computer Virus was created by two Pakistani Brothers to fight against software piracy. The virus destroyed memory, slowed the hard drive and hid a short copyright message in the boot sector.
pYN44 TIL The second longest-lived British head of state after Elizabeth II is Richard Cromwell (son of Oliver) whose "reign" lasted 9 months but lived to be 85
9YwPM TIL When Half-Life 2 had its source code hacked and leaked, Valve offered the hacker a job interview so the FBI could trap him into admitting his responsibility for the hack and arrest him.
QQRk TIL Americans consume 80% of the world’s pain pills.
BrXgk TIL in WWI, German, French, and British forces used fake, hollow trees to spy on their enemies' movement. To do this, combat artists would duplicate a bombed out tree nearby, and under the cover of darkness, engineers would uproot the original tree and replace it with the fake one.