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TIL that Charles Darwin was invited on the voyage of HMS Beagle not as a biologist but for his interest in geology. The ship’s primary mission wasn’t even on zoology, it was to conduct hydrographic surveys and test new chronometers

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jmWR TIL that the human race almost went extinct in 70,000 BCE when the Homo Sapien population dipped as low as 40 breeding pairs in the wake of the Toba volcanic explosion.
XEpnQ TIL a 71 year old man from Palm Beach, Florida tied a gun to a weather balloon, inflated it, then shot himself to death... successfully faking his own murder
6Edom TIL it is illegal to own just one guinea pig in Switzerland. These animals need social interaction and can die of loneliness so an animal rights bill in 2008 required owners to have more than one. There are also rent-a-guinea-pig services for those who want to rent a friend for their pet.
eKaL TIL the Soviet Union under Lenin and Trotsky was the world’s first country that decriminalized homosexuality and abortion
WVkA TIL Archaeologists unearth 5,000-year-old ‘third-gender’ caveman,