› added 11 years ago

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TIL that “with no special skill or expertise, Greg Packer has been quoted by media outlets nearly a thousand times… Greg’s campaign to be the most quoted man in news has been so successful that the Associated Press sent its staff a memo that essentially banned interviews with him”

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GGpQ TIL that a tick bite can cause a lifetime allergy to red meat. The Lone Star tick injects a type of sugar found in red meat into the blood, and causes antibodies to be made that cause an allergic reaction when the person later ingests meat with the sugar.
e0e94 TIL that at the start of the AIDS epidemic, CDC epidemiologists has a plan to combat the disease, but were told by the Regan administration "No, we're not going to fund it, and we want you to look pretty and do as little as you can."
QNyok TIL Taiwan has won more Little League World Series than any team, with 60. Second-most is SoCal with only 19.
wL8VP TIL Hawaii's public education system began in 1841 and is the oldest in the U.S. west of the Mississippi. When the kingdom was overthrown it became illegal to teach the Hawaiian language, teachers were punished for speaking Hawaiian at school. It wasn't until 1978 that the state made it mandatory.
jNYOj TIL Captain Cook's return to Hawaii coincided with the Makahiki, a Hawaiian harvest festival of worship for the god Lono. Coincidentally the form of Cook's ship resembled certain artifacts that formed part of the season of worship. He was flayed a month later after trying to kidnap the king.