› added 2 years ago

90

TIL of telluric iron, iron that is found in a metallic form rather than as an ore.

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DQe0P TIL that in 2012 scientists genetically modified a bird flu virus, which had a 60% human mortality rate, to aerosolize it in order to 'more effectively manage the trajectory of pandemic viruses'. It scared them so badly that they paused all research for months
Wgg4 TIL that in 1999, Australian businessman, Dick Smith created a matchstick brand called ‘DICKHEADS’ as a protest against the foreign ownership of vegemite.
loMKr TIL we call people with red hair "red heads" as opposed to "orange heads" because the phrase has been around longer than the colour orange. The colour orange was described as red up until the 1500's when the first reference of orange in the English language can be found.
LkwkQ TIL India has used 3 time zones in the past - Bombay, Madras and Calcutta, with Madras time zone (being in between the other two) used by the railways all around the country. Neither of them had the arbitrary UTC+X(.5) time offset. The present day IST is closest to the Madras time.
kOkv1 TIL of Gavel, a K-9 Cadet who was fired from the Police Academy for being too friendly after months of training; he then got a new job as Vice-Regal Dog for the Office of the Governor in Queensland where he greets visitors, attends official functions, sits in on Governor's briefings