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TIL The nuclear disaster at Chernobyl was actually caused by a drill meant to solve another severe safety issue. The explosion occurred when the reactor was mistakenly almost allowed to shut off, then pulling out the control rods completely to try to stop the mistaken shutdown.

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9oNX TIL The Codex Leicester, a collection of famous scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci, was sold to Bill Gates in 1994 for $30.8M. After Gates acquired the Codex, he had its pages scanned and distributed as screen savers and wallpapers for Windows 95.
gxyL TIL It is against law in Switzerland to keep pet guinea pigs alone. A service even exists that provides a guinea pig companion to keep a lonely guinea pig company if its partner dies.
WkN9L TIL The idea for the Red Cross came about in 1859, when a Swiss man, Henry Dunant saw the aftermath of a battle in Italy and witnessed 40,000 men dying with no medical care. 5 years later,12 governments adopted the first Geneva convention; defining medical services as “Neutral” in wartime.
mxEOv TIL cilantro and coriander are from the same plant. Cilantro refers to the leaves and coriander comes from the dried seeds of the plant
KY0bJ TIL "Bastille" is a name for a form of fortification. "The" Bastille's full name was "Bastille Saint-Antoine"