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TIL that the majority of modern British and Irish are descended from the people who first settled the islands after the Ice Age. All the later invasions by Celts, Romans, Saxons, Vikings and Normans did little to change the islanders’ DNA.

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x6alo TIL a book gun was made for Francesco Morozini, Duke of Venice (1619-1694). You pull the silk bookmark to shoot while the book is closed.
KJgG TIL in the early 1900s, 6-day long bicycle races were quite popular. The winner would be whoever rode the greatest distance in the 6days. They would get extremely little sleep and hallucinate on the track.
Lkaap TIL that the oldest Olympian ever was Oscar Swahn of Sweden, who won the gold medal in shooting at the 1912 Olympics at the age of 65.
obwW TIL of “muntzing”, a method for improving the design of electronic products: Remove components until it stops working, then put the last-removed part back in. It is named after Earl “Madman” Muntz, who used the method to cut manufacturing costs of his popular televisions in the 1940s and 50s.
ZaQo TIL that in 1990 the Galileo Spacecraft, in an experiment designed by Carl Sagen, passed by Earth to see if life could be detected from space. The answer? Barely, but yes.