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TIL that in WW2 the Japanese had a secret bio-warfare research unit called Unit 731 that performed lethal human experimentation, including infecting captives with the plague, STDs, performing vivisections without anesthesia and more. An estimated 200k - 300k people were brutally murdered.

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1apb8 TIL that Nikola Tesla predicted the modern cell phone in 1926: ¨we shall be able to communicate with one another instantly, irrespective of distance. Not only this, but... we shall see and hear one another as though we were face to face... a man will be able to carry one in his pocket¨
NVnQ TIL Gmail first launched on April 1st, 2004. It was widely assumed the service was an April Fools Day joke!
9Z8p TIL kangaroo rats are so adapted to desert life that they can go their whole lives without a single drink of water.
ROVa TIL that linguists have studied the weird accent you hear in a lot of early aughts pop-punk and concluded that it’s actually a heightened version of the SoCal accent with random Chicano and British elements.
GAe9g TIL that in Japanese, Genghis Khan ("ジンギスカン" or "成吉思汗") refers to a grilled mutton dish, while the founder and first Khan of the Mongol Empire is taught in textbooks by his regnal name, Chinggis Khan ("チンギス・ハーン"), rather than as Genghis Khan.