› added 6 years ago

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TIL born in 1779 into a family plagued by severe mental illness, Peter Roget's childhood was dominated by the depression and misery of those around him. In an effort to cope, he developed a compulsion for making lists. His lifelong passion culminated in the publication of Roget's Thesaurus in 1852.

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E4mW TIL NASA’s Curiosity rover is powered by a nuclear generator that outputs 110 watts, barely enough to power a ceiling fan.
dDaoB TIL Bed bugs have to feed on human blood about once a week and can live several months without a "blood meal". They aggregate usually within about eight feet of where a person sleeps and can travel more than 100 feet in a single night
WlXY TIL Eminem once held a top 30 world record score in Donkey Kong
EaO0 TIL U.S. high schools used to have gun clubs. There was even a riflery championship where students competed on a national level.
69o7W TIL: Thomas Midgley, the inventor, played an important role in introducing two environmentally disastrous products - leaded gasoline & chloro flouro carbons. At 51 he contracted polio and 4 yrs later he was strangled to death by the device he devised to allow him to get out of bed unassisted