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TIL: You are less likely to die during an economic depression. This is mostly attributed to cleaner air, reduced traffic, and fewer dollars spent on vices like tobacco and alcohol.

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0droM TIL studies have found that many haunted houses contain dangerous amounts of carbon monoxide or other toxins, which can lead to illusions. This is why haunted houses are often old, which increases the likelihood of having outdated and faulty appliances.
lo1AN TIL of Katalin Karády a Hungarian actress in the '40s who was jailed, tortured and nearly beaten to death for allegedly spying and her movies and songs got banned. Later she emigrated to New York and opened a hat salon. When she was invited back to Hungary she didn't go but sent them a hat instead.
rk4M TIL that in 1258 the Mongols destroyed Baghdad. Survivors said that “the waters of the Tigris ran black with ink from the enormous quantities of books flung into the river and red from the blood of the scientists and philosophers killed.” The siege marked the end of the Islamic Golden Age.
6EWP8 TIL Zebra stripes are actually white, not black. It was thought previously that zebras were white animals with black stripes since some zebras have white underbellies. Embryological evidence, however, shows that the animal's background color is black and the white stripes and bellies are additions.
9w4Qm TIL the Bureau of Land Management uses trigger activated sodium cyanide traps to kill coyotes on public lands which inadvertently kill thousands of pets and endangered species every year.