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TIL that it was a physician named John Snow who deduced that the cause of spread of Cholera in London in mid-nineteenth century, was contaminated water. His evidence included the 70 workers in the local brewery who only drank beer and all survived.

6EAVm TIL that tobacco is third in the list in terms of "Dependence potential" (loosely how addictive the substance is) with Heroin and Cocaine being first and second respectively. Others worth mentioning: alcohol (fifth) and cannabis/marijuana (eighth).
Lpd9 TIL that a volcano trapped some salt water sardines, sharks and sea snakes in a lake. Over centuries the animals adapted and evolved to form new species, the world’s only fresh water sardines, sharks and sea snakes.
kJgmm TIL about Eddie Eagan, the only person to win gold at a summer and winter olympics in different events (in boxing and the bobsled), and who also studied at Yale, Harvard and Oxford, practised as an attorney and served in both WW1 and WW2
owg8 TIL that Nikola Tesla used to feed pigeons, bringing injured ones into his hotel room to nurse back to health and one time spending over $2,000 to fix a pigeon’s broken wing and leg, including building a device that comfortably supported her, so her bones could heal.
nxr9 TIL that even if they are cleaned and released, less than 1% of birds covered in oil during crude spills survive. Many experts – including the World Wildlife Fund – believe it would be more humane to kill oiled birds than to try to clean them.