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TIL: Chicago, “The Windy City”, got that nickname not because of its weather, but because of its politicians bragging about the city to win the 1893 World’s Fair. Its average wind speed of 10.3 mph is not even exceptional relative to other American cities: Boston- 12.4mph, and NYC- 9.3mph.

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epre6 TIL that the iconic birdlike mask of plague doctors in the 17th century was designed to hold herbs and perfumes, which kept away bad smells, such as the smell of decaying bodies. Doctors believed the herbs would counter the "evil" smells of the plague and prevent them from becoming infected.
9w65p TIL that when the Arctic ground squirrel hibernates it's body temperature can reach -2.9 degrees. It can prevent it's blood from freezing by cleansing it's body of ice nucleators which enable the development of ice crystals. This is being studied to help preserve human organs for transplant.
P1abV TIL that dire wolves lived 9,500 years ago and were the size of large modern gray wolves, but with larger teeth and stronger biting ability. Their extinction is believed to have been caused by their reliance on megaherbivores as prey, climatic change, and competition from other species.
8WLX TIL of Scott E. Parazynski, the only person to have flown in space and summited Mount Everest. Parazynski flew five times in the Space Shuttle and conducted seven spacewalks. In 2008, he failed to summit Everest due to a severe back injury, but succeeded on his second try the next year.
EgEA0 TIL while chemical weapons were produced by the Nazis, they were not widely deployed. Other than fear of retaliation, factors which influenced this decision may have been that Adolf Hitler was gassed by British troops in 1918, and that the Nazis never developed effective gas masks for horses