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TIL In 1986, 3 volunteers dove into radioactive water to prevent a second explosion at Chernobyl that could have spread fallout across half of Europe. The members of the "suicide squad" were Alexei Ananenko, Valeri Bezpalov, and, Boris Baranov. Ananenko and Bezpalov are still alive today.

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yVrRa TIL that during Napoleon's 1798 Egyptian campaign, he brought along 167 scholars, scientists, and artists to study ancient Egypt. This "Scientific Expedition" led to significant discoveries, including the Rosetta Stone, which was key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs.
VM9gQ TIL Bhangmeter is the device used to measure yield of nuclear weapon.It is named after the hindi word for cannabis as a joke that only a person on drugs would believe the bhangmeter to work properly.
e096D TIL The Golden State Killer was found after one of his cousins took a DNA test similar to 23 and Me
Z8WKQ TIL khat is so popular in Yemen that about 40% of the country's water supply goes towards irrigating it, and families spend about 17% of their income on khat.
ANQVx TIL that Rowan Atkinson, who plays Mr. Bean, has an IQ of 178, which is considered as a super genius and in top 0.1% of the population in the world.