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TIL in the early 20th century, in order to prevent smells and occasional explosions, the United Kingdom installed "Sewer Gas Destructor Lamps." The street lamps, connected to sewer vents, generated heat which would draw up gases to the lanterns. The odors and bacteria would burn off in the flames.

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awlm9 TIL that the Samaritans from the Bible are still around. They number around 800 and are descendants of the ancient Israelites who remained in the land of Israel during the Babylonian captivity. They view mainstream Judaism as altered and only accept the Samaritan Pentateuch from before the captivity
j67Zn TIL Of the 4,776 Union soldiers buried at Antietam National Cemetery, approximately 1,836, or 38%, are unknown, with their graves marked by small square stones. Antietam was the bloodiest single day in American history with 22,700 casualties.
EggAo TIL that a single engineer in the control room of NASA prevented the astronauts of Apollo 12 from aborting the mission seconds after launch. "Set SCE to AUX", said John Aaron which saved the entire mission.
1arjP TIL that Brazilian prisons offer to reduce the sentences of their prisoners by 4 days (up to 48 days/year) for every book they read and write a report on.
aw7EN TIL in the 1940s, Marshall of the Soviet Union Georgy Zhukov was reluctant to be seen drinking Coca-Cola, which was often regarded as a symbol of American imperialism, so he had Coca-Cola produce a special "White Coke" that was colorless and resembled vodka