› added 4 years ago

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TIL Squirrels are responsible for many of the power outages in the United States. The American Public Power Association has collected data on the issue for years and has come to one clear conclusion - "expect a higher incidence of squirrel-related outages in the spring and fall."

Read more publicpower.org

via reddit.com

kO0Bd TIL I learned that the first effective syphilis cure, called Salvarsan, was created in 1909. An arsenic based drug, it operated on the same principle as chemotherapy: it poisoned the syphilis before it poisoned you. Like chemo it was very unpleasant, but a literal lifesaver.
wLyg1 TIL there is government run service near me which will analyze drug samples anonymously sent to them and publish the results on their webpage
N7mpJ TIL of a play called the "Haunting of Lin-Manuel Miranda." "It critiques acclaimed musical Hamilton through a depiction of a fictionalized version of Lin-Manuel Miranda, who is visited by several historical figures missing from the musical in a style similar to Dickens' A Christmas Carol."
R78l9 TIL that many PBS stations across the US switched to all children's programming after the September 11th attacks in order to "provide children a safe harbor from continuous news coverage of the attacks."
9wNXm TIL that the rare and ancient coelacanth fish give birth to live offspring called "pups"