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TIL of holoprosencephaly - a disorder in which forebrain of the embryo fails to develop into two hemispheres, caused by mutations in the gene encoding the Sonic Hedgehog (SHH) protein

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MemP8 TIL Female mummies in Ancient Egypt were always more decomposed than their male counterparts. They discovered that this was because male bodies were embalmed a lot sooner than female bodies. Female bodies were kept at the family home until they started to decompose in order to avoid necrophilia.
QLGL TIL: One or more members of a firing squad may be issued a weapon containing a blank cartridge. This is called the “conscience round” and allows each member to believe that they did not personally fire the fatal shot.
Mdlb TIL that in 2002 a fake sequel to Harry Potter appeared in China with the title “Harry Potter and Bao Zuolong.” The book consists of the text of JRR Tolkien’s The Hobbit with names changed to those of Harry Potter characters.
b98p9 TIL about Grammy winning musician Janis Ian. At 16, while on tour & after performing late at night on a tv show, she fell asleep on her chaperone's (a female family friend) lap. Bill Cosby saw this, pronounced her a "lesbian", and actively attempted to blacklist her from all television.
oBAxr TIL John Romero's (co-creator of Wolfenstein/Doom/Quake) great-grandmother was a crime boss in the 1920's. Starting in Sonora, Mexico, she ran brothels and had an entire empire, controlling it well past the age of 60 (but didn't like to discuss age) and expanded it as far as Tucson, Arizona,