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TIL that in Mongolia, scientists discovered a fossil of a prehistoric creature known as a "Murder Swan," which had a bill with teeth, claws on its feet and additional claws on flipper-like arms.

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epkA5 TIL in 1811, Frances Burney wrote a first-hand account of her mastectomy performed without anesthesia. “When the dreadful steel was plunged into my breast…cutting through veins, arteries, flesh, nerves…I needed no injunctions not to restrain my cries.”
9wlEm TIL that back in the day, small-time gunmakers would repurpose punt guns into single-shot elephant guns for cheap, for ivory hunters that couldn't afford the expensive, purpose-built double rifles
4XlWa TIL after author James Frey was caught fabricating parts of his memoir A Million Little Pieces, Random House offered purchasers of the book a refund. To get this refund, they had to send in page 163 of their book & a sworn statement that they purchased it under the assumption that it was a memoir.
6lDm TIL a 10-year-old saved his great-grandmother’s life in a speeding vehicle after she fell unconscious while driving. As they veered into oncoming traffic, the boy grabbed the wheel and guided the car to a halt in a mud filled ditch. Hailed as a hero, he credited his skills to playing Mario Kart.
6EvvZ TIL Sacha Baron Cohen Sent Cut ‘Who Is America?’ Interview to FBI Over Fears of Las Vegas Pedophile Ring (FBI decided not to pursue it)