› added 5 years ago

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TIL that in July 2014, six sealed glass vials of smallpox dated 1954 were discovered by chance in a storage room in an FDA laboratory at the NIH in Maryland. Upon transfer to the CDC in Atlanta, two of the vials had virus which proved to be viable in culture. They were destroyed 7 months later.

r0y0 TIL: In olden times, homes had thatched roofs in which domestic animals such as cats and dogs would like to hide. In heavy rain, the animals would either be washed out of the thatch, or rapidly abandon it for better shelter, so it would seem to be raining cats and dogs
5YJ4r TIL that the containment structure built during the Chernobyl disaster to prevent further release of radioactive material was the largest civil engineering feat in history, involving a quarter of a million construction workers who all reached their official lifetime limits for radiation.
J11dB TIL Vikings served as the personal bodyguard of the Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. They were known as the Varangians - Men of Oath
mm7y TIL that Yubitsume is the Yakuza ritual of chopping off part of one’s pinky as either punishment or an apology. Reason: Amputation of the little finger makes a proper grip on a samurai sword impossible, weakening him in battle and forcing the person to be more reliant on his boss for protection.
m1Xpp TIL the bull shark, an aggressive species which can grow up to 13 feet long, has been found as far inland as Alton, Illinois, upstream from St. Louis, Missouri.