› added 7 years ago

92

TIL that Eugene Debs ran for the presidency in 1920 while in prison and received more than 900,000 votes

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PY1Kn TIL that after the U.S. Army Chemical Corps exposed over 11,000 guinea pigs to the bacterium Brucella suis via air-dropped M33s, one Chemical Corps general remarked, "Now we know what to do if we ever go to war against guinea pigs"
nWVGY TIL of ‘Operation Cat Drop’ when 14,000 cats were parachuted into Borneo to combat a plague of rats
1a7Rd TIL that after the Unabomber demanded his manifesto be published in a major newspaper in order to cease his attacks, Penthouse offered to publish it. His response was that he hoped for a more "respectable" outlet, but if no one else agreed, he would let them publish but he would bomb one more time.
BGDd TIL The Roman Colosseum had 28 lifts which hoisted animals 24 ft up, then cage lids and trap doors in the arena floor opened simultaneously, unleashing beasts to fight each other or men. A lift was remade last June, ridden by a wolf who received a biscuit when released into the Colosseum.
N74PP Until the 21st century, birds were largely dismissed as simpletons. How smart can you be with a brain the size of a nut? And yet the more we study bird intelligence, the more those assumptions are breaking down. Studies have shown, for instance, that crows make tools, ravens solve puzzles, and parrots boast a diverse vocabulary. Their brains may be tiny, but birds have been known to outsmart children and apes.