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TIL that in 2016, two recreational divers in Israel stumbled upon a Roman shipwreck filled with bronze statues and coins featuring Constantine the Great. Estimated to be 1,600 years old, archaeologists called the discovery ‘The Biggest Find in 30 Years’

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16vwD TIL there were various hippopotami-based deities over ancient Egyptian civilisation. Taweret protected birth and childrearing co-existed with Ipet, whose "white, dazzling, sweet milk" facilitated the afterlife. Later came Ammit to devour the unjust. All goddess hippos had pendulous human breasts
e04Z5 TIL of “The Petition of the Sharks of Africa.” An 18th Century satirical letter written to the British Parliament asking them NOT to abolish slave trading. The “sharks” were angry that slave ships would no longer sink and asked for mercy so loyal shark subjects wouldn’t starve.
J5MV TIL of the ‘American Hippo Bill’, a bill from 1910 to import and release hippos into the bayous of Louisiana so that they could eat the water hyacinth clogging the rivers and serve as food help solve the American meat crisis. It was almost passed.
X066X TIL about the Ben Franklin Effect: The psychological phenomenon where doing someone a favor makes you like them more. It's named after Benjamin Franklin, who once asked a rival legislator to lend him a rare book, leading to a friendship.
e0BBb TIL to verify the hypothesis that some Canadian drivers intentionally run over reptiles, research in 2007 found that 2.7% of drivers intentionally hit reptile decoys masquerading as snakes and turtles. Indeed, several drivers were observed speeding up and positioning their cars to hit the reptiles.