› added 11 years ago

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TIL that an Australian man named James Harrison was found to have an unusual plasma composition in his blood that has been used to make a treatment for Rhesus disease. He has made over 1000 donations throughout his lifetime, and these donations are estimated to have saved over two million lives.

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LkDEm TIL human procrastination is considered a complex psychological behavior because of the wide variety of reasons people do it. Although often attributed to "laziness", research shows it is more likely to be caused by anxiety, depression, a fear of failure, or a reliance on abstract goals.
Yp6m7 TIL that during the cold war, the CIA considered air dropping over the USSR XL sized condoms labeled as medium. This was made in an attempt to make the soviets think americans where anatomically superior to them to demoralize them.
9wwWM TIL that researchers believe the area around two cemeteries in Kyrgyzstan is the origin of the plague
OGnWe TIL that after WW1, Americans dubbed sauerkraut “Liberty Lettuce” as a dig at German culture & Germans in general. In addition, the United States also banned German from being taught in schools, bars & saloons stopped selling pretzels, Dachshunds became “Liberty Pups, & German composers were banned.
5YWZP TIL 500 members of French 17th of infantery regiment mutinied during the 1907 revolt of the Languedoc winegrowers, and joined the demonstrators. As a retaliation: during WW1 the regiment was harshly sent to multiple death traps with no support, before being dissolved in 1921.