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TIL that 45 years ago today, on October 29, 1969, at what can justifiably be called “The Birth of the Internet”, a UCLA computer connected for the first time via phone line to a Stanford one, sending the first host-to-host message, logging on with the two letters: “LO” at 2230 PST, before crashing.

n8Y9 TIL There is a Non-Fictional Book About Ebola Zaire, a Deadlier Form of Ebola So Terrifying, Stephen King Was Quoted As Saying “The first chapter of The Hot Zone is one of the most horrifying things I’ve read in my whole life–and then it gets worse"
JYnJ8 TIL that jazz legend Dave Brubeck was nearly expelled from college because he could not read music. The college was afraid it would cause a scandal, and agreed to let Brubeck graduate only after he had promised to never teach piano.
Lk0jd TIL The cleaning up of WW1 battlefields is still ongoing and some estimate it will take 300-700 more years to complete. However there are also some areas which are so toxic 99% of animals and plant life cannot survive.
kOkM4 TIL a Magnetar Starquake occured on Dec.27, 2004 that would have probably registered Mag.23 on the Richter scale, blinding satellites and ionizing Earth's upper atmosphere. Coincidentally a day earlier, Dec. 26, saw the worst tsunami in modern history
Jnj8 TIL that the original script for Good Will Hunting contained a scene in which Robin Williams gives Stellan Skarsgård a blowjob. This was because Damon and Affleck knew studio execs never read scripts and the scene wasn’t mentioned until Harvey Weinstein read it thinking it was hilarious