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TIL that scientists diagnosed a 2250-year old Egyptian mummy with metastatic prostate cancer

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oRBPK TIL Yuri Knorozov, a Soviet Officer in the Second World War, went on to become essential in the deciphering of Maya hieroglyphics after finding a book in the German National Library during the end of the war, and taking the statement that "Maya Hieroglyphics were indecipherable" personally.
8a9l8 TIL actor Oliver Reed died during a break from shooting Gladiator after winning a drinking match with British sailors. He "drank eight pints of German lager, a dozen shots of rum, half a bottle of whiskey and a few shots of Hennessy" and beat five young sailors at arm wrestling before collapsing.
jNLEa TIL that 21st century humans grow taller, and reach sexual maturity earlier than ever before in recorded history
Ol87 TIL in 1977, the band Pink Floyd tied a giant inflatable pig to a power station as a publicity stunt. The pig broke free, and floated over Heathrow airport, where all flights had to be grounded to avoid collisions with the pig.
WkRD8 TIL birds such as the Albatross and the Frigatebird, known to fly over the open ocean for weeks on end, can sleep while flying