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TIL that in 1803, King Charles IV treated smallpox in the Spanish colonies by using orphan children to transmit the treatment via their ulcerated skin.

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PeQn TIL North Carolina had a Eugenics Board from 1933-1977 which forcibly sterilized over 7,600 mostly poor, minority women (some of whom were rape victims) and then refused a proposal this year to compensate the living victims.
yV8Ea TIL that Technicolor movies were filmed on three rolls of film with the image split using a prism into three color images. Each film roll was then developed and dyed a complimentary primary color and then the three rolls were laminated together to create a full color roll of film
l7no7 TIL it takes roughly 500,000 gallons of water (≈2000 tons) to produce 1 ton of lithium
j6g4j TIL The survival rate in serious aviation accidents is about as high as 95%. Serious accidents are events where the aircraft suffers significant damage, or where people on board are severely injured or killed
kJ4EW TIL: Bill Medley is one of the original members of The Righteous Brothers (famous for their definitive 1965 cover of "Unchained Melody"), but he also sang on the duet "(I've Had) The Time of My Life", from the 1987 sound track of Dirty Dancing.