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TIL that dogs will sometimes fake being sick to get attention

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GYVbE TIL Ulysses S. Grant, 18th president, was penniless in old age and wrote a book of memoirs so his wife could live off of the royalties. Mark Twain heard the best offer was 10% and immediately offered the former president 75%. The book was a success, giving Grant's widow about $450,000 in royalties.
kkwB TIL traces of nicotine and cocaine were found in Egyptian mummies. This finding is almost unbelievable considering nicotine and cocaine are indigenous to the Americas.
X0X9P TIL the last Communist leader of East Germany, Egon Krenz, is still alive. He spent 4 years in prison for crimes committed as a high-ranking politician in East Germany. He also still defends the former East Germany, is a Russophile, and believes that the Cold War never ended.
wpQJ TIL In 2011, people playing Foldit, an online puzzle game about protein folding, resolved the structure of an enzyme that causes an Aids-like disease in monkeys. Researchers had been working on the problem for 13 years. The gamers solved it in three weeks.
VMARG TIL about Sam Berns, a teenager who died of a rare disease called progeria that makes children age extremely quickly. He was actually a motivational speaker who gave a Ted Talk called "My philosophy for a happy life"