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TIL that J.R.R. Tolkien and Hitler fought against each other in the Battle of Somme (WWI)

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VMDVZ TIL of Alice Bradley Sheldon, an author who wrote under different names to hide her gender and identity. Best known as James Tiptree Jr. and Raccoona Sheldon, she was not very successful getting published under the psuedonym Raccoona until her other alter, Tiptree, wrote to publishers to intervene.
V5P4 TIL The National Weather Service’s chief meteorologist suspected Hurricane Sandy would be a devastating storm 6 days before it struck the east coast, and included his personal phone number in the warning for anyone to call and complain if he was wrong. It was the 2nd costliest storm in US history.
e9j6 TIL Kidney beans are toxic and possibly deadly if not pre-soaked and boiled for at least 10 minutes. Poisoning can be induced from as few as five raw beans.
R7wYl TIL India is more densely populated than Japan.
9wB67 TIL that Americans often abbreviate electrocardiogram as “EKG” because German physicians were early pioneers in the field, and the German word for the procedure is Elektrokardiogramm.