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TIL DNA has a half-life of approximately 521 years, meaning that it would be broken down so much as to be useless after about 1 million years.

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7rgDO TIL When Sir Richard Owen (a critic of evolution by natural selection) bought a recently discovered Archaeopteryx feather, he was embarrassed to discover it was a missing link between reptiles and birds, which contradicted his belief that God had created the species by tweaking 'archetypes'.
5gOR TIL that in most elevators, the close-door button doesn’t work. It’s just a placebo. Press away, friends.
GAnBJ TIL Indian King Tipu Sultan made a life sized model of a Tiger mauling a British soldier called 'Tipu's Tiger' to intimidate the British.
neOeo TIL about The Roaring Lion, a famous photograph of Winston Churchill in which the photographer intentionally got Churchill to scowl by snatching his cigar right out of his hand.
4ZPg TIL in 1990 an unemployed Frenchman, André Gardes, attempted to annex the tiny British island of Sark with a semi-automatic rifle. When a member of the local constabulary complimented his weapon Gardes showed him the rifle, the constable took it and arrested him.