› added 4 years ago

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TIL During the Great Plague of London, the City Corporation ordered the killing of all cats and dogs, in an effort to prevent the spread of the disease. It's estimated that 40,000 dogs and 200,000 cats were killed, however it was the rats spreading the virus, not cats or dogs.

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Me8KW TIL that elephants are naturally afraid of bees and that farmers in Africa and India are using beehive fences as a safe and humane way to keep the elephants away, while at the same time pollinating their crops.
dVKE TIL that a Congolese Mbuti pygmy, Ota Benga, was ‘exhibited’ at the Bronx Zoo in the monkey house as an example of “earlier stages of human evolution” in 1906.
loNEV TIL 20% of 'meat' in the UK was found to contain the DNA of 'unspecified animals.' 41% of mince meat; 31% of kebabs; 23% of curries and 20% of sausages were found to actually contain DNA from animals not on the official label.
D1rpD TIL that Petra, the Blue Peter dog for 15 years, who was so loved there is even a statue of her at BBC television centre, was actually a replacement. The original Petra died two days after her debut and the show makers hastily found a lookalike to avoid upsetting the viewers.
QJ8Wk TIL there has been a fire burning since 1962 underneath the borough of Centralia, Pennsylvania causing residents to evacuate and has turned the town into a "near-ghost town" with only 7 residents left.