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TIL that a janitor from Chicago wrote over six years a 15,145-page fantasy manuscript with over 300 watercolor illustrations called “In the Realms of the Unreal”, which was only discovered after his death.

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WkQ98 TIL that Alexander Fleming, discoverer of the miracle drug, Penicillin, almost gave up on it entirely because it was very hard to extract. It was only with the help of Sir Howard Florey and Ernst Chain, whom developed a method of mass production, could penicillin be made available to millions.
ZM7Y TIL the letters “ough” can be pronounced 9 different ways as shown in this sentence: A rough-coated, dough-faced, thoughtful ploughman strode through the streets of Scarborough; after falling into a slough, he coughed and hiccoughed.
R5WA9 TIL Illinois holds about 1/8 of all nuclear waste in the USA, by far the most for a state, about 10k tons.
MeyVB TIL a shark at a New Zealand aquarium was discovered to be pregnant when another shark attacked her and 4 baby sharks emerged from the open wound. Staff were surprised and found 4 more babies in her. If she’d given birth at night, then her babies would have been eaten alive by other sharks.
8aLjG TIL of the Heaven's Gate cult who believed an alien space ship was trailing a comet. Several dozen people joined the "Heaven's Gate Away Team" and committed a series of ritual suicides. Among the victims, Thomas Nichols, brother of actress Nichelle Nichols who played Uhura in the original Star Trek.