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TIL Red Delicious apples, now widely regarded as the worst variety of apples, used to actually be both red and delicious. Growers were paid based on an apple's color and level of bruising, so Red Delicious was artificially selected for tougher, redder skin, at the sacrifice of taste and texture.

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pYxdN TIL that the Super Mario Bros. team initially found it illogical that Mario was hurt by stomping on turtles, leading them to design future games where Mario could safely jump on them. Also, Bowser was originally envisioned as an ox, but was redesigned as a turtle after Osamu Tezuka's suggestion.
Z86VD TIL a single dose of the antibiotic azithromycin, taken orally, can cure yaws, a horrific tropical disease that causes disfiguring, ulcerating wounds and usually occurs in children. There’s hope that the disease can be completely eradicated, like smallpox has been.
rRKWy TIL "Pall Mall" cigarettes are named after Pall Mall street in London, which is named for the game Pall Mall played on that street, which is named after the French game of "Jeu de mail", which is named after the Italian game of "pallamaglio", which means "ball mallet".
P1eMG TIL that one of the major factors that made Valentina Tereshkova, the first woman in space, as the choice for piloting Vostok 6 in June 1963, was that she proved lucky in the timing of her menstrual cycles earlier that month.
v149B TIL The State of Israel is widely believed to possess nuclear weapons. Nuclear technician and whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu revealed details of Israel's nuclear weapons program to the British press in 1986. Later he was drugged, abducted and secretly transported to Israel and ultimately convicted.