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TIL that the country with the tallest average height is Bosnia and Herzegovina (183.9 cm/6' 0" for men, 171.8 cm/5' 7" for women), and the countries with the shortest average height are Indonesia for men (158.0 cm/5' 2") and Bolivia for women (142.2 cm/4' 8")

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4XWGb TIL about Maximilian I, the younger brother of Franz- Josef, the only Hapsburg monarch of Mexico. During the Franco-Mexican war, Napoleon III gave Maximilian a huge chunk of Mexico in 1864 and Maximilian made a lot of liberal reforms at the time. He was executed 3 years later.
gMmRL TIL on July 17, 1914, New York Giants outfielder Red Murray caught a fly ball to end a 21 inning marathon game. As he caught the ball, he was struck by lightning and knocked unconscious.
mxjgP TIL the real MASH surgeon Hawkeye Pierce was based on was a hawkish conservative who hated Alan Alda's portrayal.
WkEmB Today I learned of Hurdy-Gurdy, a medieval stringed instrument that produces sound by a hand crank-turned, rosined wheel rubbing against the strings.
kOAYe TIL Ancient DNA shows how recent adult lactose tolerance is, in evolutionary terms. 20,000 years ago, it was non-existent. Today, about 1/3 of all adults have tolerance. That lightning-fast evolutionary change suggests that direct milk consumption must have provided a serious survival advantage