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TIL about the Haber–Bosch process which allows for the creation of ammonia easily. Which is one of the key factors in the massively increased agriculture ability of the modern era as the ammonia is often used in fertiliser.

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eJ6E TIL that Penn Jillette from Penn and Teller painted his finger nails red as a joke in response to his mother telling him him to get a manicure because people would be looking at his hands, but always keeps one finger nail painted red in memory of his mother.
d8Jmj TIL that the average workweek for a manufacturing employee in the 1890s was 100 hours. The five day, 40-hour workweek didn't become standard until 1940 thanks to the passing of the Fair Labor Standards Act, which required employers to pay overtime to anyone working more than 40 hours.
Eo57 TIL Michael Diamond of the Beastie Boys interviewed “Weird Al” in 1996 and had Spike Jonze (in a neck brace) repeatedly interrupt the interview posing as a crazed fan, and arranged for Yoko Ono to walk by just as Al was talking about being denied permission to parody Beatles songs.
XEpJD TIL the Leningrad siege in WW2 has been classified as an genocide by some historians. American estimates the death toll was higher than combined american and British losses in the war, "The Siege of Leningrad killed more civilians than bombing of Hamburg, Dresden, Hiroshima and Nagasaki combined."
5YQVP TIL mosquitoes fill no significant ecological niche, and if they went extinct there would be few, if any ill effects.