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TIL Dirk Obbink got a MacArthur genius grant for reassembling papyrus scrolls carbonized by the eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in A.D. 79, but then got fired from Oxford Uni for allegedly fraudulently selling biblical papyri belonging to the Egypt Exploration Society as his own for millions of dollars.

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via reddit.com

galW TIL that according to a survey conducted by Expedia, Americans are actually considered the second most well-behaved tourists in the world, while British and Israeli tourists are the least well-regarded.
v1YN4 TIL Splenda, the common household sweetener, was first discovered in 1976, when a scientist at a British college accidently misheard directions. He tasted a substance instead of testing it, and from then on the sweet taste of Splenda was discovered.
6EOXX TIL that the first Thanksgiving meal included eels, shellfish, wildfowl, and deer, and there was definitely no cranberry sauce or pumpkin pie.
oBegE TIL it is not illegal to drive barefoot, and the thought that it is illegal is simply a wide-spread urban legend
E1Aap TIL of Elena Muhkina, a Soviet gymnast who broke her neck after being pressured into performing a dangerous move. She was already suffering from an under-healed break in her leg and, as she laid on the floor with her neck broken, her first thought was: “Thank god, I won’t be going to the Olympics.”