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TIL the Black Death was originally spread to Europe in the 14th century by Mongols catapulting infected corpses into an Italian trading outpost in Crimea, who fled and unwittingly carried the disease back to Sicily where it proceeded to wipe out up to 60% of Europe's population in four years

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ANL57 TIL that in 1976, 3 men kidnapped a bus full of schoolchildren with the goal of ransoming them back for 5 million dollars. They tried to place the ransom call, but the line was busy, and they ended up falling asleep. By the time they woke up, the children had freed themselves and made it to safety.
VM4wG TIL in 1590 there was a Hungarian noblewoman named Elizabeth Báthory, aka Countess Dracula. She has the Guinness World Records as the most prolific female murderer of all time. The highest number of victims cited during her trial was 650, most of them servant girls aged 10 to 14 years
lo4RG TIL English words with Arabic origin include: alcohol, algorithm, assassin, average, candy, chemistry, coffee, cotton, lemon, orange, magazine, mattress, sofa, traffic, and zero
nWdKB TIL in 2013 a man taking shelter under a tree during a storm was struck by lightning, which knocked him off his feet. But before he hit ground, he was struck by a second bolt of lightning. However he never lost consciousness & escaped with only minor injuries. His doctors told him he was "a miracle"
wYlJ TIL Geffen Records expected Nirvana’s ‘Nevermind’ to sell around 250,000 copies. It was released in September 1991 and by 1992 it was already selling around 300,000 units a week. It has since sold over 30 million copies.