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8

TIL after smallpox was declared eradicated, the sole (official) remaining specimens of the virus were preserved in two designated laboratories globally, one at the CDC in Atlanta and the other at VECTOR in Koltsovo

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Wk898 TIL Radar was developed as a consequence of the urgent need to counter Nazi bomber attacks. The British Radio Research Station was asked to investigate a radio-based "death ray", but found it was more practical to use radio to detect enemy aircraft
a5E9 TIL NASA was hesitant to send women into space because they weren’t sure how their periods would affect their performance - “it was theorized that a woman could be bleed to death in micro gravity”
4kLgN TIL that classically trained actor Christopher Lee released a heavy metal album based on the life of 7th century Emperor Charlemagne and released a follow-up album three years later.
b6YD4 TIL that much of modern-day Texas was called "New Philippines" under Spanish colonial rule
wL7aY TIL wath the Siberian Corridor was. It was a strip of steppe from Mongolia to the east of Europe, used by nomadic population in their movements from east to west. Huns, Turks and Mongols all went through there. The corridor was closed by the Russian Empire expansion toward Siberia.