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TIL on September 11th 2001, after both towers fell, the cricket like chirping heard around ground zero each represented the PASS device of a fallen firefighter.

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pYRKO TIL that a component of the immune system is defensins ('defense' + '-in', which is the suffix for anything protein related). They are proteins with antimicrobial properties and can kill microbes directly, which can be an alternative for antibiotics.
a80BM TIL Ayn Rand based her protagonists on kidnapper, murderer William Edward Hickman.
pOYb TIL atop a hill near Columbine HS, memorial crosses were erected for Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold along with those for the people they killed. The father of Daniel Rohrbough (the 2nd student to be killed) cut them down, saying that murderers should not be memorialized in the same place as victims.
OAj7 TIL In 2004 a police officer pulled over a woman in California and masterbated on her. Despite DNA evidence he was found not guilty after his attorney was able to successfully argue the woman was asking for it because she worked as stripper.
LkpJv TIL during the filming of Interview with the Vampire, a shallow trench was dug for Brad Pitt to walk alongside Tom Cruise so that their significant height disparity wouldn't be apparent on camera.