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TIL APOPO, a Tanzanian wildlife agency trained African Pouch rats to sniff out landmines and diagnose tuberculosis by smelling sputum samples. The rats were so effective that the US Fish and Wildlife Department spent $100,000 on a program where Pouch rats were trained to combat wildlife trafficking.

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VB5lQ TIL that the Pu Pu Platter was originally Hawaiian. The large plate of Hawaiian appetizers reached mainland US by 1934, and it was popularized during the Tiki bar craze of the '50s/'60s. The earliest known example of an American-Chinese restaurant serving a Pu Pu Platter wasn't until 1969.
Ampx TIL due to centuries of inbreeding Charles II of Spain was physically and mentally disabled and infertile. Due to the deaths of his half brothers, he was the last member of the male Spanish Habsburg line. He didn’t learn to walk until eight. His jaw was deformed, he could barely speak or chew.
R5BL4 TIL that Leonardo da Vinci was a strong 15th Century animal rights activist and a devout vegetarian way before it was hip to be so.
OGk8Y TIL the Romans had a goddess of door hinges, who had the role of protecting people from evil spirits that would try to go into homes.
EgxnV TIL of the Noble Train of Artillery. During the Revolutionary War, Henry Knox managed to transport 60 tons of artillery 300 miles in three months during the dead of winter. "This stupendous feat of logistics" was widely credited as a catalyst which broke the British siege of Boston.