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TIL that the number 17 (XVII) was deemed ‘unlucky’ by the Romans and Italians because the Roman numeral was an anagram for VIXI, meaning 'I lived,’ a reference to one’s own death. Thus, Italian buildings do not have a 17th floor and so forth.

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6EvN7 TIL that in 1978, Reinhold Messner reached the summit of Mt Everest without using supplementary oxygen, a task which had previously been considered impossible. Two years later, he did it again by himself, completing the first solo ascent of the mountain
jN76Q TIL of the once upper class Black community of Sugar Hill, Jacksonville, Florida. Chosen by city officials to be levelled - to build a multi-lane expressway through it during the 1950s and '60s - the community, once known for its elegance, sits devastated, largely boarded up and overgrown today.
RxZw TIL Alexandra David-Neel disguised herself as a beggar and crossed a frozen, 19,000ft mtn pass in winter to get into Lhasa, witnessed murders and battles, had to barter for passage with warlords, crossed Mongolia and the Gobi desert, became incredibly ill, and boiled her boots to avoid starvation
Me1OV TIL of the Gag Law, passed in Puerto Rico on 1948. The act made it a crime to own a Puerto Rican flag, to sing a patriotic tune, to speak or write of independence, or to meet with anyone in favor of Puertorican independence. Signed into law on by Jesús T. Piñero, the United States-appointed governor
E18eW TIL in ancient Rome, famous gladiators endorsed products just like modern athletes do. Some of these endorsements have survived in ancient frescoes. The makers of the film Gladiator downplayed this historical angle on the assumption that modern audiences would not believe it.