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TIL that medical examiners and coroners determine the cause of death. Medical examiners are medically trained but coroners aren't required to be medically trained. In many states, you only have to be of legal age and have no felony convictions to be elected coroner.

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QJOpE TIL peat is the most effective carbon sink on the planet, covering just 3% of the land’s surface, but storing 42% of the Earth’s soil carbon.
Mejxa TIL The only Oscar won by "2001 A space Odyssey" was for special visual effects. Awarded to Stanley Kubrick it was his sole win from 13 nominations. The technicians involved felt it wrong for him to receive the sole credit. Following this controversy, the Academy changed its eligibility rule
4XJNJ TIL around 1800 BC, a king in Mesopotamia appointed a palace worker king for a short period of time to avoid a disaster that he was told was coming by an oracle. Near the end of the time, he died while eating soup and the worker ruled for 24 years.
ep7Q6 TIL Sumer was the first known civilization in southern Mesopotamia. It was there between 6,000 and 5,000 BC. Its writing goes back to around 3000 BC. The oldest texts come from the cities of Uruk and Jemdet Nasr.
ne9lY TIL that the small city of Jericho in the West Bank holds two records: It's the oldest continuously populated city known to date (settled 9000 BC, according to archaeologists). Located near the Dead Sea, Jericho is also the city with the lowest altitude on the planet, "rising" to −258 m (−846 ft).