› added 5 years ago

67

TIL that In Switzerland rabies was virtually eliminated after scientists placed chicken heads laced with live attenuated vaccine in the Swiss Alps, which the foxes (the main carriers of the virus) ate and therefore immunized themselves.

Read more wikipedia.org

via reddit.com

epx56 TIL a blood-filled sandfly was described in 2004 from Early Cretaceous amber in Myanmar. The insect had reptilian blood cells in its gut, along with evidence of a prehistoric leishmania-like parasite.
9Yo8r TIL that One Ton of air conditioning is the amount of heat needed to melt 2000 pounds of ice in 24 hours. Before 1902, Ice Delivery companies measured the amount of cooling a space needed in “Tons of Ice”, and this terminology has carried through to today
W7wgB TIL in 1795, the French Revolutionary Army captured the 14 warships of the Dutch fleet anchored at the Zuiderzee bay next to Den Helder with a regiment of hussar light cavalry. "A capture of ships by horsemen is an extremely rare feat in military history."
M74kb TIL that US troops using flash card apps accidentally revealed classified information about nuclear weapons in Europe, such as vault locations, surveillance camera positions, signs/countersigns, and duress words.
YpAjd TIL in 1965, a Swedish student was told by his fiancée in East Germany that she would never be able to leave the country to live with him in Sweden. Undeterred, he took flying lessons for a year, illegally flew a Cessna from Austria into Czechoslovakia, smuggled her out, and married her in Sweden