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TIL in 1903 Japan operated "human zoos" of their colonies. These lasted until they mistakenly put a schoolteacher on exhibit who confused spectators by making eloquent speeches & fundraising for his school while wearing traditional dress, embarrassing the organizers

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R7ZY1 TIL the USSR tried to blackmail a gay US journalist with photos of him having sex with a Soviet spy, but he refused to cooperate and reported the incident to the CIA. When the Soviets sent the photos to prominent journalists, they all refused to out him.
M7yJV TIL in Ancient Rome, the Rex Nemorensis was a priest of Diana Nemorensis. An escaped slave became Rex Nemorensis by breaking a branch of a tree to engage the current priest in mortal combat
wAoY TIL that a DNA test where you poop in a bucket has been shown to accurately find colorectal cancer 92% of the time. This was developed as a potential alternative to screening colonoscopies.
16AeO TIL in the 1940s in Idaho they parachuted beavers into remote areas to help restore wetlands
ADAGl TIL Before dinosaurs roamed the Earth, the region we now know as North Carolina was ruled by a fearsome, bipedal, 9-foot-long crocodile ancestor known as Carnufex carolinensis, or the “Carolina Butcher.”