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TIL whomever retrieved the head of Gaius Gracchus would be paid its weight in gold. The reward was never paid because the man who retrieved the head emptied out the brains and replaced them with molten lead.

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LQEMm TiL that the Serge Gainsbourg/Jane Birkin song "Je t'aime... moi non plus" was so controversial that the Vatican allegedly excommunicated the record executive who released it in Italy. Birkin said this led to Gainsbourg calling the Pope "our greatest PR man".
NXV6P TIL a sultan of Morocco, Isma‘il ibn Sharif, owned a private army called "The Black Guard" comprised of West African and Haratin slave-soldiers. Considered more loyal than the locals because of their lack of tribal affiliation, Isma‘il's black soldiers formed the bulk of his army, numbering at 150k.
9YG8m TIL I learned that catfish can breathe partly through their butts -- and maybe we can too. So can loaches (a type of freshwater fish) and orb-weaving spiders, and apparently also mice, rats, and pigs. (Bonus: So can some turtles.)
aLEJ TIL The cheapest and most organic weedkiller for cracks or pathways is simple. Boiling water.
oBWEY TIL ancient Roman Philosopher Seneca chose to adopt a vegetarian diet "to challenge the decadence of his time". Seneca eventually abandoned vegetarianism, because he did not want to be associated with a particular political faction that had adopted it's practice.