› added 6 years ago

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TIL The Japanese military used plague-infected fleas and flies, covered in cholera, to infect the population of China. They were spread using low-flying planes and with bombs containing mixtures of insects and disease. 440,000 people died as a result.

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LaBv TIL in 1996 the NBA fined Denver Nugget Mahmoud Abdul-Rauf over $30k per game for refusing to stand during the playing of the national anthem due to his personal religious beliefs
ANkN4 TIL That, until recently, people who spent more than six months in Britain from 1980 to 1997 were unable to donate blood because of an outbreak of "mad cow disease" in the area at that time
Egd0w TIL The smallest waist ever recorded was 33 cm (12.99″) set by Ethel Granger of England in the early 1920’s.
KYrp6 TIL that rather confusingly “lime tree” can refer to two very different and unrelated trees, at least in the UK. A lime tree is one that produces citrus fruit, or one of the genus Tilia (in North America often called Linden not to confuse with the citrus one)
Al9l TIL the US government can legally destroy (food) wheat on farms that produce in excess in order to “stabilize the market,” even if the excess is for personal consumption only.