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TIL There were 999 cases of Black Death reported in the United States between 1900 and 2010.

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5VxYD TIL that an Illinois high school English teacher told two students, "Neither one of you will ever learn to write". Robert St. John, one of the students, became a famous journalist with many news scoops, including the Japanese surrender in WW2. The other student was Ernest Hemingway.
O7ee TIL that in 1779, Thomas Jefferson submitted an anti-sodomy law to Virginia that would castrate men caught having gay sex. This law didn’t pass, and the state kept their anti-sodomy law in which death was the maximum penalty.
NX05J TIL in 2002 the Pentagon ran a war game to simulate war with Iran. Marines general Paul Van Riper, playing the defender, sank 19 U.S. ships in 5-10 minutes, including a carrier, several cruisers, and five amphibious ships. He quit the game in disgust after he was ordered to play fair
gMK7y TIL there are over 7000 spoken languages in the world.
aBlL TIL Black Sabbath guitarist Tony Iommi lost the tips of two fingers in an industrial accident and was convinced by his factory foreman to continue playing by listening to recordings of famous jazz guitarist Django Reinhardt who only played with two fingers on his fretboard hand.