› added 11 years ago

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TIL that in response to bioterrorism threats, the US has stockpiled enough smallpox vaccine to vaccinate its population

Read more emergency.cdc.gov

via reddit.com

LQM8Q TIL that the Indian mathematician and astronomer Baudhayana, who lived around 800 BCE, wrote the Baudhayana Sulba Sutra, which describes the construction of various geometric shapes using a rope known as a "sulba” with precise geometric measurements, the Pythagorean theorem, area of a circle.
VMZ7p TIL Agriculture is the leading cause of deforestation, with 24% of converted land going to farming. Palm oil however plays an approximately 2.4% part.
9Yg1B TIL Rifles like the AK-47 have curved magazines because their bullet cases are conical (a.k.a "tapered") rather than cylindrical. Thus, they stack in a curve. Tapered cases have less friction with the chamber when they feed or extract.
Y7PMx TIL Marlon Wayans was originally supposed to play Robin in Batman 3 and still receives royalty checks even though he was swapped for Chris O'Donnell in Batman Forever.
rjJ1 TIL Costco doesn’t make money selling products - it makes all profits from membership fees