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TIL the Roman Emperor Vespasian wanted to see the Dead Sea for himself. Once there, he ordered certain persons who were unable to swim to be flung into the deep water with their hands tied behind them. Naturally, they rose to the surface and and floated

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OoByg TIL that Stalin's daughter caused an international furor when she defected and became a naturalized citizen of the United States.
d8eyr TIL The Emperors of Eastern Rome's personal bodyguard was made up of Vikings (as well as other groups of Western European warriors), called the Varangian Guard
1aeKr TIL there's a nerve that goes from the face all way to the groin, and is the longest cranial nerve in the body.
m11XM TIL our brain stems, inherited from amphibian ancestors, still spurt out odd signals producing hiccups that are essentially the same phenomenon as gill breathing.
DeGD TIL Carl Sagan was denied tenure at Harvard University and was unable to become a member of the National Academy of Sciences because his role as a ‘popularizer’ of science had caused other scientists to dislike him, claiming he wasn’t a 'pure’ scientist.