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17

TIL about Ichthyosis

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6Ebwm TIL about the presocratic philosopher Empedocles. He claimed to have magical powers and a divine status, and would walk around Sicily in a large purple robe. Apparently, he died when he jumped into Etna, an active volcano, to prove to his followers that he really was a god.
J1RO1 TIL about the Torino Scale, a tool used to determine the likelihood of an asteroid impact with Earth.
nRNB TIL Whoopi Goldberg’s first name came from a whoopee cushion because she farted so much.
YQrG TIL At the 1992 Olympic Games in Barcelona Zhang Shan became the first and only woman to win a gold medal in a mixed gender event; Skeet Shooting. She was unable to defend her title at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta because the Skeet Shooting event was only open to men.
xVam1 TIL that George Washington illegally rotated his enslaved personal chef, Hercules, between the Capitol and Mount Vernon to avoid laws that would free him. Hercules eventually escaped to freedom.