› added 13 years ago

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TIL this guy is legally allowed to wear a crown in his passport photo and carry around a sword because of European religious freedom laws. He claims to be a reincarnated King Arthur and leader of the ancient druids.

pYO8Z TIL in 1962 Brendon Grimshaw bought Moyenne Island in Seychelles for £8k. He planted 16k trees on the island and bred giant Aldabra tortoises. He was the sole inhabitant of the island until his death in 2012. Instead of selling it for $50m, it was declared a national park is the world's smallest.
E1MVV TIL researchers made a 3-D virtual chest reconstruction of a 60,000-yr-old male Neanderthal skeleton called "Kebara 2" or “Moshe”. They found that he didn't have a hunched posture but would stand upright with a straight spine; he had a similar-size chest to humans today but greater lung capacity.
6ZlJ TIL there are still people who speak ancient Egyptian, as it is the language of the Coptic Church. Notable Egyptian contributions to English include the words “sack” and “ebony” and the name Susan.
wLPP6 TIL that a 6 year old boy acknowledged by the Dalai Lama as the next "Panchen Lama", the 2nd highest Tibetan spiritual leader, was kidnapped by China in March 1995. He was replaced by the son of members of the Chinese Communist Party. China has not mentioned the boy since May 1995.
1YeW TIL despite critical acclaim, “The Wire” received poor ratings, which the creator attributed to the complexity of the plot, a poor time slot, heavy use of esoteric slang, and a predominantly black cast.