› added 6 years ago

220

TIL over 90% of the world's natural rubber is grown in Southeast Asia and a fast spreading disease called "Rubber Tree Blight" that once wiped out 90% of the world's supply of rubber in Brazil, could do the same in SEA, collapsing the entire world's economy, backtracking quality of life 130 years.

x97D TIL that the US government rejected several mobile hospitals, water treatment plants, 1 million barrels of oil, canned food, bottled water, 1500 doctors and 26.4 metric tons of medicine from Cuba and Venezuela for the people of New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina
4kkE5 TIL William Wallace's co-commander, Andrew Moray, was mainly responsible for the Scottish victory in the Battle of Stirling Bridge, but died of his wounds. William Wallace was subsequently defeated in the Battle of Falkirk, when he let his men stand still in a hail of longbow fire.
e0Gyb TIL that Kim Pyong-il, Kim Jong-il's brother, was assigned as an ambassador for 40 years to ensure he couldn't influence North Korean politics: he was sent to Yugoslavia in 1979, then to Hungary, Bulgaria, Finland, Poland and the Czech Republic, and didn't return to his home country until 2019.
RLn7 TIL In 2005, after a controversial eminent domain law was passed, allowing corporations to seize private land for their own use, an entrepreneur cited the new law in an attempt to confiscate the home of the judge who ruled in favor of it, generating wide support.
vPBLx TIL that in 2012 a researcher called Teresa Gonzalo created a vaginal gel that inhibits the transmission of HIV by 80%