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TIL: the population of mountain gorillas currently is a little less than 1000.

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xVXVk TIL the expression “turn a blind eye” comes from Admiral Nelson, who was blind in one eye; when he was signaled to stop attacking a fleet of ships, Nelson raised the telescope to his blind eye and said: “I have only one eye, and I have a right to be blind sometimes… I really do not see the signal!”
neQo7 TIL in the Middle Ages there was a belief animals understood the concept of morality and possessed rationality. They were summoned to court, put on trial for a variety of offenses, and given the same punishments as humans. Lawyers defended pigs, rats, and sheep. Even flies and slugs faced judgement.
VBpm TIL that US soldiers in WWII were promised a quart of icecream if they refrained from killing Japanese POWs.
6eAQ TIL Jews fought side-by-side with Muslim soldiers to defend Jerusalem against the Crusaders.
rRGM4 TIL of Dennis H. Klatt, a computer scientist who programmed Stephen Hawking's voice box. He tirelessly worked on the code while undergoing treatment for cancer, which eventually took his own voice, and his life. Hawking never changed his voice program, saying, "My friend Dennis' voice is my voice"