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TIL of Kevin Mitnick, a hacker believed to be so dangerous that he was placed in solitary confinement for fear of being able to “start a thermonuclear war by whistling into a payphone.”

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9YPND TIL Jim Becker, a Packers fan hall-of-famer, routinely sold his blood to buy season tickets, which inadvertently saved his life when he was found to have Hemochromatosis, a genetic disorder that leads to toxic iron deposition in the body, and an early death. The only treatment is bloodletting.
OoGrL TIL of Saint Wilgefortis. She prayed to God to save her from an unwanted wedding by becoming ugly and God gave her a beard. Then she was crucified by her angered father. Now she is a patron of women seeking refuge from abusive attention.
pYRRN TIL that nature often follows the Fibonacci sequence, AKA the golden ratio. Flowers follow this sequence is several ways, including the number of petals a flower has (Lily 3, Buttercups 5, daisies 34) and the distribution of seeds, such as the sunflower, who’s seeds form a perfect spiraling pattern.
l7neN TIL that not all spiders that spin webs make them sticky. One of many strategies includes spinning a fine silky lattice that entangles their prey instead.
mxvZR TIL in Germany in 1938, while searching for a water source for a town, workers found an ancient spring feed line to a Roman aqueduct which had supplied Cologne 60 miles away. The feed was simply connected into the modern water network. To avoid damage to the spring no archaeological work was done.