› added 1 year ago

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TIL: Scientists discovered that the venom of the Latrodectus mactans variety of black widow spiders killed children and the elderly, but among young men it caused prolonged erections and involuntary ejaculations. Researchers have been studying the venom for use in male virility pills.

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nWx8r TIL three Germans had been infected with rabies after an organ donation, as the donor was bitten by a dog and was undiagnosed
Bxmy TIL Michael Jackson’s father, talent mogul Joe Jackson, attempted to use the press conference marking his son’s death to promote his new hip hop recording project
R7DM4 TIL that within the animal kingdom, only higher primates (including humans) and guinea pigs are unable to synthesize Vitamin C in their own bodies, thus putting them at risk of scurvy
mvEY TIL that in a US military exercise named Millenium Challenge 2002 - the most expensive war games in history - the general commanding the anti-U.S. team used low-tech methods to ‘kill’ over 20,000 simulated U.S. troops. After this, the military made him stick to a script where the U.S. forces 'won’.
GYWQE TIL that Edsger W. Dijkstra, the famous Dutch computer science pioneer, when asked about his job during his marriage rite in 1957, answered as "programmer" but the municipal authorities did not accept it on the grounds that there was no such profession