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TIL when your immune system fights an infection, it cranks up the mutation rate during antibody production by a factor of 1,000,000, and then has them compete with each other. This natural selection process creates highly specific antibodies for the virus.

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GAXb4 TIL that an assassination attempt made on James Bond in Casino Royale (1953), was based on a real such failed bomb attack on Franz Von Papen the Vice Chancellor of Germany. Papen survived because the trees he was around, took the blast impact.
D18yg TIL that the words "ton" and "tonne" refer to different units of weight. A British ton, or "gross ton" is 2,240 pounds or 1,016.047 kg. A US ton, or "net ton" is equal to 2,000 pounds or 907.1847 kg. A tonne, or "metric ton" is equal to 1,000 kg.
Z87mo TIL: In 1919, Henry Ford Announced His Retirement from the Company. The Share Price of Ford Motors Subsequently Collapsed. Shortly After, Ford Purchased Every Single Share for Pennies on the Dollar.
neV0o TIL in 1962 a single missing hyphen in it's code caused the Mariner 1's backup guiding system to fail, leading to the destruction of the spacecraft. This one missing piece of code caused over $130 million dollars in damages.
XEZ66 TIL of Stephen Blumberg, a book thief who stole more than 23,600 books worth $5.3 million. He took them from more than 268 universities and museums. It was the largest book theft in the states, and Blumberg has been recognised as the most successful book thief in US history.