› added 4 years ago

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TIL that San Francisco had an outbreak of BUBONIC PLAGUE in 1900–1904 that killed 119. While city officials acted quickly to contain it, California Gov. Henry Gage covered it up to protect the powerful railroads and other businesses. Some newspapers helped by defaming the city health commissioner.

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oDkW TIL elephants console one another when they are upset with trunk strokes and touches
J1PwQ Today I learned of Momofuku Ando, the inventor of instant noodles (ramen noodles) and the creator of the brands Top Ramen and Cup Noodles.
7rjQx TIL that the residents of Glasgow, Scotland, donated more money to the UK's WW1 tank program than any other city. A year later, tanks were sent into Glasgow to help suppress a strike of workers demanding higher post-war wages. (The photo in this article is from the fundraising, not the strike)
16rQd TIL in 1963 a 16 year old sent a 4 question survey to 150 well-known authors (75 of which replied) in order to prove to his English tutor that writers don't intentionally add symbolic content to their books.
ANQVx TIL that Rowan Atkinson, who plays Mr. Bean, has an IQ of 178, which is considered as a super genius and in top 0.1% of the population in the world.