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TIL Blood donors in Sweden get a text message whenever their blood saves someone's life

Read more independent.co.uk

via reddit.com

5YY1k TIL that the local transport in Locarno, Switzerland, is called «Ferrovie Autolinee Regionali Ticinesi», making for an interesting acronym.
mp4Y TIL that a pregnant single mom was investigated for welfare fraud after a DNA test showed she wasn’t the mother of her own children. When she went in for follow-up tests, doctors realized she was a chimera.
VBgg8 TIL the Ringling Bros circus had a secret spy agency that utilized dirty tactics to sabotage animal rights groups and others. In one instance, they created a fake literary agency to trick a biographer into publishing her critical book on the founders family so they could file a copyright claim.
e0nbE TIL it is believed that one of the reasons for the paranoia and bizarre behavior that led to the Salem Witch Trials was caused because of a fungus, Ergot, which grows on rye plants and is a close cousin of LSD. Mistaking it for large rye grain, Salem villagers ground it into their bread and ate it.
VG8p TIL That right before Christopher Reeve’s surgery to reattach his skull to his spine Robin Williams ran in saying he was a proctologist and going to give him a rectal exam causing him to laugh for the first time since his accident.