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TIL crinoid fossils (a relative of starfish) were found in the rock of the summit pyramid of Everest in 1924, the first proof the mountaintop is marine limestone formed on the ocean bed.

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dDyY7 TIL in the years 1950-1951, the A. C. Gilbert Company distributed the Gilbert U-238 Atomic Energy Lab, a toy kit allowing kids to make nuclear reactions at home using actual radioactive material.
4X646 TIL that Ursula The Sea Witch is inspired, in both appearance and demeanor, by drag legend and John Waters muse Divine.
W7GeX TIL that only the Gospel of Matthew claims Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Luke and John suggest he was possessed by Satan, while Mark gives no motive. Mark is also the only book to claim he committed suicide, with Acts suggesting he felt no remorse and died accidentally.
XE56Q TIL actor John Banner, famous for his iconic role as Master Sergeant Hans Georg Schultz in CBS' Hogan's Heroes, was an Austrian-born Jew. He emigrated to the United States in 1938, and sadly, lost many of his family in the Holocaust.
6EAAQ TIL 60 tonnes of ivory trade per year comes from mammoths frozen between 10,000 and 50,000 years ago.