› added 6 years ago

95

TIL that on 5 May 2000 two young Filipino programmers created the Iloveyou virus that attacked tens of millions of Windows personal computers causing US$5.5–8.7 billion in damages worldwide. Since there were no laws in the Phils. against writing malware at the time the two were released.

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9YeAp TIL Henry Cavendish, noted for his discovery of hydrogen, was a "notoriously shy man". He communicated with his female servants only by notes. By one account, Cavendish had a back staircase added to his house to avoid encountering his housekeeper.
JYLdQ TIL Saladin (of crusader-era fame) ordered an elaborate pulpit to be installed in the Al-Aqsa Mosque (Jerusalem) during the 12th century. Over 900 years later, it was destroyed in an arson attack by an Australian man who then spent 5 years in an Israeli mental institution before being deported.
QJVp TIL in the United Kingdom, if an election has resulted in a tie in which candidates receive exactly the same number of votes after three recounts, the winner can be decided either by drawing straws/lots, coin flipping, or drawing the high card in a pack of cards.
e0EQb TIL that the British town of Berwick Upon Tweed has changed between being part of Scotland and England 14 times. At one point its status was so ambiguous that declarations of war had to specify that nations were at war with "Scotland, England, and Berwick Upon Tweed."
PY99Z TIL all alcoholic drinks sold in the United States are required to be mildly radioactive. If alcohol is made in a lab it won't have any radioactive signature but alcohol made from plants will always be slightly radioactive due to the background radiation in the air and ground.