› added 4 years ago

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TIL Researchers from the University of Copenhagen have succeeded in extracting a complete human genome from a thousands-of-years old "chewing gum."

Read more healthsciences.ku.dk

via reddit.com

MeR6K TIL that, upon being appointed King of Holland by Napoleon, Louis Bonaparte arrived in Holland and exclaimed to a crowd, “I am the Rabbit of Holland” (Iek ben Konijn van Olland). He meant to say ‘lek ben Koning’ (I am the King). But the Dutch loved him anyways, and remember him as “Louis the Good.”
MeVAB TIL that Michael Phelps has more Summer Olympic gold medals than 80% of countries in history even when taking into account countries that no longer exist.
e0RD5 TIL the mile is based off a bunch of Roman guys deciding to take a thousand paces and call that a mile
LkeVd TIL Japan's average elevation is actually quite low, despite the popular perception of Japan being covered in hills and mountains.
oBxAW TIL that when you die you can have your remains turned in to a diamond. Carbon is extracted from your cremated ashes or hair and compressed to almost 900,000 PSI and subjected to temperatures of 2,500 degrees Celsius to form a bonding of the atoms.