› added 6 years ago

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TIL that Alexander Fleming, discoverer of the miracle drug, Penicillin, almost gave up on it entirely because it was very hard to extract. It was only with the help of Sir Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, whom developed a method of mass production, could penicillin be made available to millions.

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dDal9 TIL Mel Gibson is actually American and moved to Australia as a young boy and eventually decided to stay in Australia for good. I always asummed he was an Australian that did an amazing "American accent"
7X7b TIL that an encyclopedia company gave away tracts of wasteland to buyers of their whole set. This backfired when the lots at Huntington Beach were found to contain large oil reserves.
NXXOP TIL: The Superman curse refers to a series of supposedly related misfortunes that have plagued creative people involved in adaptations of the DC Comics character Superman in various media, particularly actors who have played the role of Superman on film and television.
1J7r TIL that S.E. Hinton, the author of The Outsiders, received a D in creative writing during the school year that she penned her classic novel.
XEmnD TIL about a tiny Australian marsupial that is literally sexing itself into extinction. During a 3-week sex marathon session males have so much sex their bodies produce fatal levels of testosterone, causing immune system failure that result in internal bleeding, fur loss, ulcerations and gangrene.