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The rise of Genghis Khan and the Mongolian empire was responsible for the annihilation of an estimated 40 million people, but there were clearly more than a few conquests off the battlefield as well. A 2003 study suggests that 1 in 200 men are direct descendants of Genghis Khan. Studies of Y-chromosome data found that almost 8 percent of men living in the former Mongolian empire carry nearly identical Y chromosomes. Researchers believe this is attributed to a unique set of social selection circumstances put into play by the spread of the Mongolian empire. In this week’s "Today I Learned," research scientist Albert Lin elaborates on Genghis Khan as a romantic.

LkgdZ TIL that since 2012, there has been a pickle jar that sits on the guardrail on the I-270 North in Des Peres, Missouri. Every time the jar falls, breaks, or disappears, it is always replaced, but who does it remains a mystery.
x6Xeo TIL nachos were invented in living memory and named after their creator
L8wr TIL Crocodile gender is based off the temperature of their nest. Below 31.7 degrees Celsius is a female, and above 31.7 degrees Celsius is a male.
WkgNX TIL a 42,000 year old foal was found entombed and in great condition in permafrost. It is "the best-preserved Ice Age animal ever found in the world,” according to Grigoryev, head of the Mammoth Museum in Yakutsk.
7MKO TIL Daniel Tammet, an autistic savant who speaks 10 languages and has the rare capability to explain how his brain works, says numbers have shape, color, and texture. 289 is ugly, 333 attractive, and pi is beautiful.