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As Albert Einstein famously said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” But that’s no reason to stop your education. In fact, that’s all the more reason to keep learning as much as you possibly can!
If you’re dedicated to being a lifelong learner, we’ve got the perfect list for you down below, pandas. We gathered some of the best posts of all time from the Today I Learned subreddit, so you can find out plenty of new fun facts that you’ve probably never heard before. So enjoy scrolling through this wealth of information, and keep reading to find a conversation with Dan Lewis, creator of the popular trivia newsletter Now I Know!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL: A park bench in Bristol was given an official postal address so doctors could register the homeless as patients.
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
San Francisco did a similar thing in the 1980s so homeless people could register to vote until the state changed the requirements. Sadly, our present mayor wants them to be criminally charged.
Dan Holden 1 year ago
Or here's an idea. Don't require an address to register patients. Or allow a patient to register under "no fixed address" where you would normally enter an address. Why do we make simple things so complicated.
Tyranamar Seuss 1 year ago
Or give them housing! How about all these stupid offices that are trying to make return to work happen just because they've leased office space stop. They can have smaller office spaces for the infrequent times when a team actually does need to meet up. Like meeting rooms they rent. Maybe not even everyday. Maybe they share meeting rooms. Then, with the office buildings that are freed up we provide housing for the homeless. Each unit has a social worker on-site 9-5. And a doctor who comes by weekly. There are no crazy rules that make people not want to live there. Like you can't have pets or be on d***s. Those that cause trouble are offered things, like rehab, or conservatorships with mental health care. Those who refuse are all placed in their own building which is still a lot nicer than a homeless camp. It has doors that lock, beds, bathrooms, etc. That's my plan. It's way cheaper than prison, the hospital or a public health crisis.
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Jitka Polakova 1 year ago (edited)
Or they can be registered and pick up letters at the townhall…common practice in our country.
Draga Millani 1 year ago
Meanwhile in NYC and Chicago they're putting dividers on the benches to perpetuate hostile architecture... :(
RELATED:
#2
TIL Judith Love Cohen, who helped create the Abort-Guidance System which rescued the Apollo 13 astronauts, went to work on the day she was in labor. She took a printout of a problem she was working on to the hospital. She called her boss and said she finished the problem and gave birth to Jack Black.
Kangaroo 1 year ago (edited)
The last sentence gave me a hilarious mental image of the scene. *ring ring* “Hey Boss? I’ve finished that problem I was working on, oh and I also gave birth to Jack Black.” “Outstanding, Judith!”
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Karl der Große 1 year ago
What's more amazing is that - to this day - she is the only woman EVER to have given birth to Jack Black.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
As I was reading this, I was thinking, wow, awesome woman. and then I saw the last two words. Dang, way to end a story!
#3
TIL that March 12th, 1990, over 60 disability rights activists abandoned their mobility aids and climbed, crawled, and edged up the 83 stone steps of the U.S Capitol, demanding the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which had been stalled in Congress. It was called the 'Capitol Crawl'.
David 1 year ago
Before most of the developed world had any basic disabled protections at all, in fact the ADA is still considered the first ever comprehensive civil rights law for people with disabilities in the entire world (the first US Disabled Civil Rights law was 1973 by Nixon, but only hiring and firing protections). In the US today there is better disabled protected and access than nearly every European country. If you look just north of us in Canada in 2005 Ontario became the first Canadian province to pass such an act, Canada as a country did not pass such an act until 2019. Japan was only in 2011, and most of Europe wasnt until the 2000s (Italy was early with 1992 and then 1999 expansions). So 1990 was one of the earliest Disabled rights in the world, and first ever comprehensive in the world. USA took the lead on that one
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Nimitz 1 year ago
After moving to Montreal the lack of accessibility remains a constant shock to me. 90% of stores are inaccessible to wheelchairs. Most shops have at least one stair outside and if you want wheelchair access to malls/office buildings you have to find a small ramp tucked somewhere inconvenient. It's truly astonishing that one of our largest cities, and most popular tourist attractions, is completely inaccessible to disabled people
Lyoness 1 year ago
Same in Toronto, Mississauga, Brampton, many many cities in the GTA of "progressive" Canada.
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Martin Kaine 1 year ago
Part of this was addressed in "Crip Camp," on Netflix. It's worth a watch.
Bisha Moten 1 year ago
Misleading "TIL." Prior to 1990, there had been a number of various laws passed in the states which defended the rights of disable people. However there was no over reaching federal law. The reason the act had stalled in congress at the time, was there was some question as to whether or not the law was even needed, as there were already multiple laws on the books. Democrat senators such as then Congressman Joe Biden, opposed its passage, as they felt it was a moot question which had already been answered by the states and their own law passages.
Ąåřţđęşịɠŋȿ 1 year ago
shamefully amazing. Good job protesters. So sorry it took that extreme and that long.
To find out more about why it’s so important to be a lifelong learner, we reached out to Dan Lewis, creator of the popular newsletter Now I Know, which brings fun facts to readers' inboxes every day.
First, we wanted to know what inspired Dan to start this newsletter. “I'm a digital native who built my first website in the late 1990s, and I've always been decent at building online audiences,” he told Bored Panda. “While between jobs a decade or so ago, I consulted with an email newsletter startup – they were looking for help building their subscriber base. And I figured hey, I've done this for websites and blogs, how different could email be? But I realized that no, it's a lot different, and I failed miserably.”
#4
TIL of Elouise Cobell (“Yellow Bird Woman”) who founded the first Native American owned bank. As treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation she tried to resolve accounting discrepancies regarding leases on Indian Land which led to a $3.4 Billion dollar class action settlement against the US government.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
I think the u.s.a. owes a lot more to all indigenous peoples, having stolen their land, among other things.
PrettyJoyBird 1 year ago
Probably but werent all the migrants from Europe? So tech they would be liable or at least a joint effort btwn ALL of North Americas and Europeans.
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Edison Lima 1 year ago
Now, that definitely sound worthy of a movie. One *without* Scarlet Johansson.
#5
TIL of an Australian diver who befriended a baby shark. For years afterwards, whenever the shark would see him, she would swim up to him and demand cuddles.
Ren Karlej 1 year ago
Scent? No idea, but just wondered if that was a possibility!
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FrogMan 1 year ago
Years later, the was swimming in the same area and saw a shark. He put his arms out for some cuddles and the shark bit him in half. Turns out it wasn’t his shark friend from before.
#6
TIL of Bessie Coleman, the first African American and Native American female pilot who would only perform if the crowds were desegregated and entered thru the same gates.
CaptainDinosaur 1 year ago
At the time, no flight school in the US would accept a black person, American Indian, OR a woman, so she went to France to get her license. She was nicknamed "Queen Bess" and she was a f*****g real one.
Lupita Nyong'heaux 1 year ago
there is a wonderful "Drunk History" episode about her, starring Gabrielle Dennis.
nottheactualphoto 1 year ago
I love Drunk History. Now I have to go look this one up.
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“A few months later, that failure was still bugging me, so I decided to give it another go, this time on my own,” Dan continued. “I've always loved random trivia, so I went that route.”
“I started Now I Know in June 2010, sending it to 20 friends/family, and just kept at it, growing it slowly over the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. This Monday's went to more than 50,000 readers!”
#7
TIL Hours after being adopted from an animal shelter, 21-pound cat Pudding saved her owner's life. While suffering a diabetic seizure, Amy Jung's newly acquired cat pounced his weight on her chest and began swatting her face and biting her nose until she gained consciousness.
XenoMurph 1 year ago
They could be misinterpreting the "biting her nose", how do they know the cat was trying to wake her up? Maybe just hungry
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whineygingercat 1 year ago
That cat was like, 'NO, I am NOT going back to the shelter! I chose YOU as my human, you will not do this to me. Now, WAKE UP!'
Marsha Hultberg 1 year ago
ANIMALS are saints! Let's everyone treat them as such. We don't deserve them. 🥰 🙏🏼😎
Hetal Vyas 1 year ago
My cat does this, if I'm having a hypo (low sugar) episode, she'll climb on me and meow till I wake up
#8
TIL there is a group of wolves in British Columbia known as "sea wolves" and 90% of their food comes from the sea. They have distinct DNA that sets them apart from interior wolves and they're entirely dedicated to the sea swimming several miles everyday in search of food.
Karma Black 1 year ago
Yet, our huskies scream like you're killing them if you give them a bath.
CD Mills 1 year ago
But, don't Huskies scream like you're killing them if you do anything though?
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Dorothy Reiser 1 year ago
I knew they were real! (S.U.N.Y. Stony Brook's mascot is the seawolf)
Francesca Annoni 1 year ago
My mother's dog , he's a mixed race that look like a jack Russel loves tò bath.. once he felt asleep while She was washing him...
#9
TIL US Airways kicked a blind and his dog off a plane in 2013 after the Dog repositioned itself during a two hour delay. They cancelled the flight after passengers disembarked in protest saying the flight attendant responsible be kicked off instead of the man and his service dog.
HTakeover 1 year ago
After which the airline tried to spin the story to make him seem like a crazy activist trying to stir the pot. After all of the passengers demanded the F.A. be removed, the pilot canceled the flight (which was the right call on his part). The passengers were then bussed to the next airport over. Multiple passengers refuted the airline's claims. Guy took them to court and they settled. He started a non-profit with that money which seems to be doing well.
justagirl 1 year ago
wait—so the dog shifted into a more comfortable position and they kicked him/her and owner off the plane?!
HTakeover 1 year ago
He was at the very back of the plane and had no room under his specific seat. F.A. required that the dog go under the seat, which he didn't have (space that is), and made a big stink about it until nearby passengers allowed the dog to sit under theirs. After 2 hours on the tarmac (I forget the reason), the dog got tired of being there and went & sat at the man's feet. F.A. made a stink about that too, which escalated.
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Evolbeky 1 year ago
I'm going to assume it was a typo. But that stood out to me too
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Anne Roberts 1 year ago
Didn't people have to reposition themselves? I couldn't sit in the same position for 2 hours!
Never Snarky 1 year ago
Having traveled with a blind man and his guide dog, I assure that the dog was better behaved than many of the passengers.
As far as why we should keep learning our entire lives, Dan says, “I think it's important to be curious about the world around us and open minded about what we think we know. Learning should be lifelong and fun facts are a great entry point – it keeps you humble and keeps you growing, intellectually.”
#10
TIL that during WW1, the MI5 used Girl Guides to deliver secret messages. They used Girl Guides instead of Boy Scouts because they found out that Boy Scouts weren't efficient enough, boisterous and talkative.
Mimi La Souris 1 year ago
I worked in either female-only or male-only teams. nobody believes me when I say that it is the men who are the most talkative and the most chit chatting :D
Karina 1 year ago
I love it when men tell me women are gossips. I have stats.
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Chewie Baron 1 year ago
This is similar to how the first telephone exchanges started. They used young teenage boys initially, but they were rude, would swear and insult the callers, refuse to connect callers, drink, smoke and fight each other. Then they employed women and shít got done!
#11
TIL that Muhammad Ali went to Iraq in 1990 against the then president George H.W. Bush's wishes and secured the release of 15 american citizen hostages held in Iraqi prisons, and brought them home.
Adrienne FWB 1 year ago
It would be nice if someone did the same to secure the release of the American and Israeli hostages being held in underground tunnels by terrorists in Gaza
Elle Roque 1 year ago
https://nypost.com/2015/11/29/the-tale-of-muhammad-alis-goodwill-trip-to-iraq-that-freed-us-hostages/
#12
TIL that even though Edward Bannister won 1st prize for painting at the 1876 Philadelphia centennial international exhibition, after discovering Bannister's identity, the judge wanted to rescind his award because he was black. However this wasn't possible due to protests from the other competitors.
Ephemera Image 1 year ago
How ridiculous that you are an award-winning artist that suddenly is no good because you are ...black! Even the concept is ridiculous! Glad he kept the award, thanks to the other artists that realised his talent!
Carol Lock 1 year ago
Let's hear it for the other competitors! "The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing" - Edmund Burke
Karina 1 year ago
What do you mean? ... implyes there is a reach made, and unless you specify, we will have to asume its you who are reaching.
Load More Replies...We also wanted to know if the trivia expert had any fun facts that he’s partial to. “My favorite fun fact is one I haven't learned yet,” Dan shared. “I titled the newsletter ‘Now I Know’ (instead of ‘Now You Know’) for a reason – it's my effort to learn more and share more.”
“For me, the joy of the fun fact comes from the discovery of something new that I didn't think possible or realistic,” he added. “I really liked most of the ones I've shared before for the same reason!”
#13
TIL after a chance encounter, Charles-Michel de l'Épée was taught to sign by the deaf. Believing the deaf should be able to receive the sacraments, he founded a school in 1760 to teach sign language. His public advocacy enabled deaf people to legally defend themselves in court for the first time.
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
Wait… sacraments? Does that mean that deaf people were not allowed in church before that?
Mary Peace 1 year ago
Probably they were allowed in Church but not to receive the bread and wine. Anna's comment below is very interesting.
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Libstak 1 year ago (edited)
This is excellent BUT why could they not defend themselves by the use of writing prior to this? You need an interpreter for sign language and you need to learn it yourself to use it, so learning to write seems a no brainer and no one can misrepresent what you have said as it is in writing.
Binny Tutera 1 year ago
In the 1700's a lot of people were illiterate. Being able to read and write was not universal.
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#14
TIL that a cow escaped from a Polish farm and was spotted months later living with a herd of wild bison.
Salty_Sasquatch 1 year ago
I just read about a donkey who escaped from a family farm (previously feral). People spotted him months later hundreds of miles away running with a herd of elk. The owners were told and were glad that he was alive but realized (thankfully) that there was no way they could get him back and rehabilitate him. Thank goodness.
Sand Ers 1 year ago
Not so much “couldn’t”, but saw that he was living a good life and knew that they shouldn’t.
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
They are wood-bisons, so less bulky (but still very big) than the American Bison.
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Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
There is a stag who, during deer-mating-season lives among a herd of cattle and tries to mate with the cows. The bulls are very upset and they usually win. But he is persistent ;-)
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 1 year ago
The bulls usually win?? So do you little cowdeers running around, near you? That can't be good if the deer actually mates with the cows right?
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My little froggy 1 year ago
hi guys in this video we are going to see how long it takes a herd of wild bison to realise i am not one of them
#15
TIL Agatha Christie has outsold Stephen King and J.K Rowling combined by about 2 billion books.
Chicken Nugget 1 year ago
she's my favorite author and poirot is my second favorite detective (you can guess who my favorite is)
Vera Diblikova 1 year ago
Mine is Miss Marple. I learned English by reading Christieˇs novel. I can write (bad) English, but not to speak a word - it is other language, if you understqnd me.
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Chewie Baron 1 year ago
In terms of sales, she's only been outsold by the bible, and the Guinness World Records books.
Zena 1 year ago
I thought it was Shakespeare, not the Guiness books. Although the Guinness folks would say that.
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Dragon mama 1 year ago
There's been some very interesting research using her books to study how there may be indicators of cognitive decline that can be identified through use of language than can help provide an earlier diagnosis and therefore better outcomes. (Wish I had the link on hand. I'll add it when I find it)
Sand Ers 1 year ago
Here’s a short interview with a neurolinguist that talks about this type of research…………. https://www.cogneurosociety.org/linguistics_authors_vanvelzen/
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Michael Largey 1 year ago
Not surprising, since there were fifty years of her books being sold before either King or Rowling got into print for the first time.
keyboardtek 1 year ago
I recently discovered author Carola Dunn. I prefer her to Christie. Her mysteries are extremely well written, plots one can actually follow, and the clues are there so you follow the logic of the detective. Christie's detectives all kept the clues to themselves until the reveal at the end. I found that infuriating. And Poirot was such a jerk to Hastings.
Edison Lima 1 year ago
Not sure what you are on, mate, the vast majority of Christie's novels had all the clues shown to the reader before the reveal.
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And if you’re looking to start learning something new every day, Dan recommends subscribing to Now I Know. “It's easy,” he says. “Next time you learn something new, if it brings you joy, figure out how you found that out – and do that again, and again, and again.”
#16
TIL that ravens and wolves have formed a mutually beneficial relationship out in the wild. Ravens have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals so that the wolves will then open up the carcass and leave the scraps for the ravens once they're finished.
Karina 1 year ago
Sonetimes, they befriend a moose and gives warning against predators. So ravens are more complex than that.
LizzieBoredom 1 year ago
Sometimes moose and squirrel form relationship to foil Russian spies.
Carol Lock 1 year ago
Went to the NWT (Yellowknife) camping. Two ravens at the campsite teamed up to steal my dog's food. One would drop to the ground and pretend to have a grand mal seizure to distract the dog, while the other one would quietly grab three or four pieces of dog food ... and fly juuuuuuuust out of range. The dog never really caught on ... he couldn't resist chasing after "Seizure Bird". The two birds traded off after a while. Lather, rinse, repeat. Dog looked much more svelte after a week of hard chasing and less food!
sturmwesen 1 year ago
We have crows stalking our dog waiting for dog treats that the dog misses. If the dog looks above his shoulder they freeze. Sneaky little dudes
Danish Susanne 1 year ago (edited)
I have been told that the raven is the most intelligent bird, but the kea might be a contender. I once visited a man who had several aviaries with different kinds of parrots. I couldn't help noticing, that while the others were closed with a simple latch the one with the keas was closed with a padlock.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
Ravens, crows, all corvids are very intelligent birds. It is amazing what they can do. I've seen television programs that have shown them solving all manner of puzzles and tasks.
#17
TIL that Fermilab used to clean its particle accelerators with a ferret named Felicia, who would run through the tubes with cleaning supplies attached and be rewarded with hamburger meat.
DaisyBee 1 year ago
I’m about to turn my dog into a Dyson level cleaning device
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Joe Reaves 1 year ago
They used to be used in aircraft manufacture too for getting cables through small spaces.
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 1 year ago
Yay, finally something with my name, that did something pretty awesome.
#18
TIL that all beaches in Mexico are property of the federal government. There are no privately owned beaches in the whole country, all of them are open to public use.
Abdullah Abd Rahman 1 year ago
Same thing in Malaysia. All beaches are property of the government and every member of the public has a right to use them.There are no private beaches, restricted to some people only.
SkyBlueandBlack 1 year ago
California, too. That recent viral video got that woman a C&D letter from the Coastal Commission -- she has until September 2 to clean up her act. After that, it'll cost her $11k/day.
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ॐBoyGanesh 1 year ago
In Hawaii private land owners cannot obstruct or prevent access to beaches. Many resorts will create separate parking area with a public access entrance if accessibility requires traversing their property.
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Bryn 1 year ago
I live in Indiana, and some years back this was a big deal when it changed from private owned to public owned. There were many angry homeowners.
Robin Roper 1 year ago
There are no private beaches in North Carolina, USA. Even the "private" islands that are accessible by private toll bridge or private ticket only ferry are open and free to use if you get there by boat. Some people move here from other states buy homes on the ocean and think they own the beach; some have put up fences. The local authorities tear them down - our beautiful beaches are all public.
Trophy Husband 1 year ago
It's the same in America... Well sort of. The government owns all beaches up to the high tide line. And there is a federal law that protects access to beaches. If you walk down the beach to another spot without crossing the high tide line, that's always legal. And all cities are required to provide access points to their beaches. There have been a lot of court cases about rich people trying to stop others from going on the beach that is near their property, some have even put up fake signs of fences and gotten in trouble for it. But their biggest weapon is being annoying, there's no law saying they can't stand over you saying that they don't want you there, and that often works. Incidentally, I think this applies only to Ocean beaches, I don't know about the ones around the great lakes...
Bisha Moten 1 year ago
In mexico, it is illegal for any foreign born person to own property within 20km of beaches, and 50km from historic sites.
David Paterson 1 year ago
TIL all beaches in Australia are public, too. The only country where I've encountered private beaches is Jamaica.
#19
TIL the clearest lake in the world is the Blue Lake located in Nelson, New Zealand. Visibility in the lake is up to 80 metres meaning the water is considered almost as optically clear as distilled water.
TMMITW 1 year ago
Many lakes and rivers in NZ are so clear you can't tell how deep the water is.
AndThenICommented 1 year ago
There is something completely magical about NZ’s waterways, something I miss so much. For me, it was the driving home every day and once over a hill, seeing the ocean and Rangitoto.
Load More Replies... justagirl 1 year ago
i remember going down there when i was super little and petting a lama. oh, also living in a campervan. which got stuck in mud. and i was jerked off the bed when it was pushed out. good times.
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Spittnimage 1 year ago
Oh no! Now they know about it the uncaring tourists known as influencers will ruin it.
#20
TIL a woman quit her job to search for her border collie who escaped from a hotel room during a thunderstorm while on vacation in Kalispell, Montana. After 57 days of searching and posting hundreds of flyers around town, she finally found ‘Katie’ who was starving, but otherwise OK.
#21
TIL Japanese doctor Tetsu Nakamura devoted his life revitalising deserts in Afghanistan, making forests and wheat farmland and contributing to peace. Nakamura was decorated with the Japanese Order of the Rising Sun and Afghan National Medal.
redplannet 1 year ago
His murder is unsolved. The two men originally arrested were released. Taliban denies any involvement, that he was helping their country. Some suspected Pakistani nationals or ISIS.
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#22
TIL In 1802, Napoleon added a Polish legion to fight off the slave rebellion in Haiti. However, the Polish army joined the Haitian slaves in the fight for independence. Haiti's first head of state called Polish people "the White Negroes of Europe", which was then regarded as a great honour.
Stimpy 1 year ago
well they were involuntarily shipped there, told to fight and just decided "nope"
Load More Replies... Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
A similar thing happened when the US tried drafting Irishmen to fight in Mexico. They refused to fight other Catholics and switched sides, forming the Batallon de San Patricio and helping to defend Chapultepec against the American invaders. Batallon-d...832ba6.jpg 
Michael Largey 1 year ago
European history tells us that Catholics do not hesitate to fight other Catholics. These soldiers switched because the non-Catholic US troops were systematically desecrating Catholic churches in Mexico. Anti-Catholicism was particularly virulent and open at the time in American society.
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Veronica Jean 1 year ago
This needs to be a movie. I'd watch the hell out of a bunch of angry polish people killing their bosses
Saint_Zipcodus 1 year ago
The history (and of course the current situation) of Haiti is heartbreaking.
arthbach 1 year ago
This reminds me of the San Patricios. They were a battalion in Mexico's army during the Mexico-American War of 1846-48. It was based around a group of Irish men who had fled Ireland during the Great Famine. They found the conditions for Catholic Irishmen in the USA weren't that different from in the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland. So, they fought for Mexico. https://www.latimes.com/delos/story/2024-03-17/san-patricios-st-patricks-day-batallion-mexico-ireland-mexican-american-war
Major Harris 1 year ago
the name of the leader of this rebellion was toussaint louverture. he was eventually captured and deported to france where he died in captivity due to tuberculosis at age 59.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Haiti's current leader is a gang banger named "Barbecue". He forced the president to resign and flee.
#23
TIL juice company dumped 12,000 tonnes of orange peels on virtually lifeless soil, 16 years later, it turned into a lush forest.
Mimi La Souris 1 year ago (edited)
i have mixes feelings about it, because if the soil has been ruined, it is because they have been operating in the area for a long time Edit : as an answer to negative comments, there is not enough info there to know where it takes place, my comment was about a land in indonesia (yes Beth D, too lazy to look after a ref right now) a orange juice company tried to sell a ruined field and the justice forced it to make it fertile again. for not paying the fertilizer, they had used their waste
Giles McArdell 1 year ago
The land was in a national park, cannot find why it was degraded in the first place but nothing to do with the juice co. The peels were not dumped with the intention of improving the land but as part of an agreement where the Juice co. gave up some of it's land to be park land in exchange for dumping rights. The soil improvement was an unexpected side effect and a bit ironic as at the time another company successfully sued the juice co. for dumping on park land.
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Papa 1 year ago (edited)
If anyone is interested in what really happened, instead of jumping to conclusions and assuming the worst on the part of the orange juice company, copy and paste this site address: https://www.sciencealert.com/how-12-000-tonnes-of-dumped-orange-peel-produced-something-nobody-imagined
Chicken Nugget 1 year ago
see mom, throwing my orange peels on the ground instead of in the trash can is good for the environment!
ॐBoyGanesh 1 year ago
This post links to Reddit post that links to a BP post of another Reddit post. Click the link under the picture. Here’s the original BP post from 2019 - https://www.boredpanda.com/12000-tonne-orange-peel-forest-costa-rica/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic&fbclid=IwAR3XUhZQ5nZs7EKCe6k0K0ul7ZrOlyqrc7efkjkLhc0CcXcvxSXZG4NSFQk
Dane Smith 1 year ago
the peel deposited on the 3-hectare (7-acre) site led to a 176 percent increase in above-ground biomass. https://www.sciencealert.com/how-12-000-tonnes-of-dumped-orange-peel-produced-something-nobody-imagined
Martin König 1 year ago
On the BEFORE picture I am able to quite clearly see the trees. Virtually lifeless, as you say. Doesn't move.
Vampiresscrow 1 year ago
Even if the outcome wasn't really intended, awesome that it did. I wonder how long it was an eyesore before nature started showing her beautiful face...?
#24
TIL alpacas are being used as bodyguards in some turkey farms, since they instinctively accept the birds into their herd and scare off foxes.
Evolbeky 1 year ago
I'd be more scared of all those turkeys. But I'm not a fox lol
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Veronica Jean 1 year ago
Fun fact! Llamas are excellent guard animals. My sister-in-law's family has alpacas and they use llamas to guard them. They are quite effective!
Jen Schurman 1 year ago
We have a llama guarding sheep and goats! Fry takes his job very seriously!
Danish Susanne 1 year ago
Because alpacas dislike strange animals, and can kick really hard.
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#25
Nas listed his then 7-year-old daughter, Destiny Jones, as an executive producer on his fifth studio album Stillmatic to ensure she would always receive royalty checks from the album.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
George Michael did a similar thing for Andrew Ridgley. He listed him as a co-writer of his song 'Careless Whisper'.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Is this classified as accounting fraud, or tax evasion? Therecare strict laws about hiding income by diverting it to minors.
#26
TIL that in 2009 Icelandic engineers accidentally drilled into a magma chamber with temperatures up to 1000C (1832F). Instead of abandoning the well like a previous project in Hawaii, they decided to pump water down and became the most powerful geothermal well ever created.
InfamousBerry34 1 year ago
They don't make mistakes, just happy accidents
Load More Replies... ॐBoyGanesh 1 year ago (edited)
In Hawaii they capped the inadvertent drill and purposefully found a more appropriate location that was easily accessible to tap into. Everyone here knows of the location in Lower Puna. It’s about 5 miles from my home. Hawaii also capitalized on it, but for a much smaller island with a vastly smaller population. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puna_Geothermal_Venture
Rich Black 1 year ago
Solar seems safer than messing with the earhs core. I'm just saying . . .
#27
TIL in the anatomy building at Dalian Medical University, where medical student can practice on cadavers, there's a sign with a quote from a donor that reads "I’d rather let students try something 20 times on me than see them make one mistake on a future patient.”
Igor914624 1 year ago
If my death can help one person live, my life will not have been wasted. That's why I am an organ donor.
Still Going 1 year ago
Not many of my organs can still be used to help anyone, but if doctors find something - anything! - in good enough shape, they are welcome to it!
#28
TIL the King's doctor Johann Struensee seized power for over a year in 18th century Denmark. He managed to abolish slavery, abolish censorship of the press, and have an affair with the Queen before being ousted and executed in 1772.
Nikolaj Christensen 1 year ago
Already done: https://m.imdb.com/title/tt1276419/
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David 1 year ago
Slavery did not end in Denmark until 1847, they did end slave importing to their colonies in 1792 (https://en.natmus.dk/historical-knowledge/historical-themes/danish-colonies/the-danish-west-indies/the-abolition-of-slavery). This guy had a failed coup, and during his failed coup (the king was kept cloistered during this period) he issues lots of declarations (over 1600), few of them ever binding. He was a foreigner, brought in as a political advisor, and siezed power. He was so hated, the commoners revolted and overthrew him. Ironically his abolition of censorship of the press led to thousands of independent pamphlets calling for his ousting that he actually tried to censor the press again. The people overthrew him. He was corrupt and threw out all the career people and staffed the offices with his cronies, looted the treasury, etc.
Edison Lima 1 year ago
Abolishing censorship of the press has, historically, *always* destroyed the ruler who issued it. What a shock, being allowed to criticize the ruler results in criticisms towards the ruler.
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Anne Roberts 1 year ago
He had a good run and did some good things. No good deed goes unpunished.
#29
TIL the self-absorption paradox asserts that the more self-aware we are, the less likely we are to make social mistakes, but the more likely we are to torture ourselves over past mistakes. High self-awareness leads to more psychological distress.
keyboardtek 1 year ago
As does a more active imagination and a great capacity for creativity. We imagine the worst case scenario will happen.
Jenna Kay 1 year ago
Well, if I don't imagine the worst case scenario, how will I be prepared!!
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D. Pitbull 1 year ago
BALANCE - again... BALANCE... we humans are terrible at this!!! We take a thing (usually, objectively seen as a 'good thing') then SWING waaaaay over to one side or the other... and f**k it all up. Drink water? Good! Drink water until you poison yourself - bad! Help others? Good! Help others until you neglect yourself and have no life? Bad! .... and I suddenly feel like that old skit "Good idea Bad idea".
Tyranamar Seuss 1 year ago
Someone once told me, "It's not what you do. It's what you do next." I often think of this when I've made terrible mistakes. Helps me let go of the mistake and figure out what I need to do next to correct the error. Don't know if that helps.
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Saphyre Fyre 1 year ago (edited)
One needs to realize past mistakes weren't one's fault if one wasn't mentally/emotionally equipped to do better.
#30
TIL the chemical reaction in glow sticks was discovered by Dr. Edwin Chandross in 1962, but he had no idea the "chemiluminescent" objects were popular at music shows until a Vice interview in 2013. "Is that so?" he said. "Maybe my granddaughter will think I'm cool now."
LittleWombat 1 year ago
Crazy he didn't realize how much happiness his discovery was spreading to people out there! I love it!
Philly Bob Squires 1 year ago
First ones I ever saw / had were "Cyalume Nightsticks" if I recall the name correctly. It was in the 70's.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Did he forget to patent them? The royalty checks should have been his clue . . .
#31
TIL British Parliament had an official discussion where they condemned the historical inaccuracies of the film U-571 and the rewriting of history to paint the Americans as heroes in an event they never even took part in. They felt it was unfair on the British sailors that lost their lives.
Rachel Ratty 1 year ago
yes - with loads of money you can simply re-write history for entertainment....
D. Pitbull 1 year ago
Yep... we Canadians (and the people who had participated in the actual operation) were not terribly pleased with how the movie "Argo" ended up.
Load More Replies... Spencer's slave no longer 1 year ago
U571 was sunk by an Australian crewed Sunderland bomber from 461 Squadron RAAF out west Ireland. The U Boat was sunk by depth charges with the loss of all hands. The movie U571 is very loosely based around the capture of the Enigma machine from an entirely different U Boat.
Mariotevez 1 year ago
I don't think the British empire should go into a debate on re-writing history. just saying...
Pollywog 1 year ago
Kind of a people living in glass houses shouldn't throw stones type of thing.
Load More Replies... Major Harris 1 year ago
it IS true that it was the british who were the first to capture a german u boat in 1941 and her VERY valuable enigma device, used for encrypting messages, the americans also captured a german u boat later on during the war in 1944.
Richienotsorich 1 year ago
The irony that the Enigma Machine was captured in May 1941 and the Americans didn't enter the war until November of that year!
Nitka Tsar 1 year ago
And there are others. Part of why some Americans think they singlehandedly “saved” Europe/ the world and are the ultimate hero or whatever
Craig Neale 1 year ago
The trouble is that the US audience is now so completely indoctrinated by US propaganda that they cannot distinguish fact from fiction. They see a movie like this and assume it's the truth. All other nations, except USA and probably china, North Korea and Russia have a sense of wonder about the world and seek out the facts.
Richienotsorich 1 year ago
Ironic that a lot of Americans thought the film Titanic was fiction based!
Load More Replies... #32
TIL that even though Henry Heimlich demonstrated his signature maneuver thousands of times throughout his life he never got the chance to use it in an actual emergency until he was 96 when he saved a woman in his nursing home from choking on a burger.
Phoebe Bean 1 year ago
I used the Heimlich maneuver to save my puppy from choking as well. Many thanks, Dr Heimlich!!
John Nelson 1 year ago
Was eating at a restaurant with my wife and a few friends, when one began to choke. Before we could react, the owner casually walked up, performed the Heimlich, and casually walked away. He did it so smoothly that none of the other patrons in the restaurant even noticed. Very thankful for our friend being rescued, of course but also pretty impressed by how he did it! :)
#33
TIL of Eric Moussambani, who had never seen an olympic sized swimming pool before the 2000 olympics. He recorded the slowest time in 100m freestyle history at 1:52.72, however won his heat as all other competitors false started. He is now a national hero the head swimming coach of Equatorial Guinea.
Mimi La Souris 1 year ago (edited)
oh, i remember him ! He could barely swim and had learned a few minutes before diving how to do a half turn under water, not very successful, by the way. But he show so much good energy the whole audience encouraged him, and I also in front of my TV. a very good memory https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r2ow6vXafLo
Beth D 1 year ago
Thank you for the youtube link! What fun to watch. Even though it was recorded I was excited to see him compete!
Load More Replies... Agamemnon O'Neill 1 year ago
There's an Olympic initiative that lets developing countries send athletes that don't meet the standard, to encourage sports in those countries.
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Jane 1 year ago
Close it was Eric the Eel. You were thinking of Eddie the Eagle a ski jumper
Load More Replies... #34
TIL, The Netherlands gives Canada 20,000 tulips every year as a thank you for protecting the Dutch royal family in WW2.
Pretty Pink Sky Photography 1 year ago
You also gave us stroopwafels so thank you!
Load More Replies... Chewie Baron 1 year ago
When the Royal Family was there, the Queen was pregnant. The Canadian Government passed a law making her hospital room Dutch territory to enable the child be eligible for the Dutch crown.
Elaine Harley 1 year ago
"Her family had been in the country since June 1940 following the Nazi occupation of the Netherlands. Famously, the maternity ward of the Ottawa Civic Hospital was declared extraterritorial so Margriet would not become a Canadian citizen." May 5, 2020 https://canadiangeographic.ca/articles/interview-princess-margriet-of-the-netherlands-on-her-countrys-enduring-bond-with-canada/#:~:text=19%2C%201943).,not%20become%20a%20Canadian%20citizen.
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Marilyn Holt 1 year ago
Yes and there's a spectacular Tulip Festival in Ottawa Canada every spring.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Hey netherlands. Tulips are no longer insanekybvaluable like they were 400 years ago. Cananda might appreciate cash
Vampiresscrow 1 year ago
I need to go to the Tulip Festival in Ottawa one year. I think it would be amazing. Plus, I have family there. It would be nice to see them, too.
BarBeeGirl 1 year ago
I live in Ottawa and we have an enormous tulip festival every year. It has to be seen to get the full impact
#35
TIL about the Great Green Wall, an effort to plant trees to stop desertification in the Sahara that began in 2007. Ethiopia has planted over 5.5 billion seedling since.
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
Yes. The average ambient temperature in the Sahel has decreased steadily and the rainfall has increased.
Load More Replies... Scott Rackley 1 year ago
Technically they're trying to prevent the Sahara from encroaching on the Sahel. The line of battle is the Senegal river.
David Paterson 1 year ago
The other Great Green Wall, the one in China, is much more impressive. The program in China started in the year 1978 and is planned to be completed around 2050. As of 2009, China's planted forest covered more than 500,000 square kilometers.
catastrophegirl 1 year ago (edited)
i've watched some videos on this and how they sculpt the land to maximize the effectiveness of the little rain that does fall there fascinates me. https://youtu.be/WCli0gyNwL0?si=O5fQhqzTujqStKrr&t=343
The Darkest Timeline 1 year ago
It isn’t enough to counteract the massive damage we’re doing
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#36
TIL that in India, there is a species of giant squirrel that have multicoloured fur, with with varying shades of orange, maroon and purple. Their bodies measure 36in from head to tail – double the size of their grey relatives – and they can leap 20ft between trees.
Denise Melek 1 year ago (edited)
I saw a documentary, where apes use them to detect ripe fruits and then steel them from the squirrels by slapping them.
Richienotsorich 1 year ago
Hopefully they can team up with the red squirrels to fight off the greys in the UK!
#37
TIL A director made a ten hour movie that's just about paint on a wall drying, lasting for ten hours and seven minutes. The film was created by Charlie Lyne in order to troll the British Board of Film Classification (B.B.F.C.) who were forced to sit through the whole thing.
Stephanie A Mutti 1 year ago
I read the plot on Wikipedia. Spoiler alert: the paint stayed there the whole time.
#38
TIL that anatomically dogs have two arms and two legs - not four legs; the front legs (arms) have wrist joints and are connected to the skeleton by muscle and the back legs have hip joints and knee caps.
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 1 year ago
People don't know that? Huh, I thought that was pretty clear, at least to those who have a dog and pet them often. BTW, did you all know that bats' wings are spanned between their fingers?
Phil Green 1 year ago
Most mammals are anatomically like that. My cat has hands, elbows and wrists. Even elephants. A lot of people think elephants have four knees, this is incorrect; they are the same as any other mammal.
Daya Meyer 1 year ago
You just have to look at a dogs' skeleton to see the same shapes and joints as in every mammal. Including humans.
#39
TIL In 1911 The Rigby family included their cat Tom in their census form. 'Tom Cat' was listed as being an 8-year old, married Mouse-Catcher, Soloist and Thief with 16 children. His birthplace was listed as Cheshire and he was described as being 'speechless' in the infirmity section of the form.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
Ha! Good for the soft can-opener! We're not speechless, though. We're very good at communicating, even with a ridiculous species that communicates primarily through sound. I mean, really! Sniff noses, and you're good.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Thos sounds like a scam to get a tax break. Homer simpsin tried this with his cat too.
#40
TIL the medals in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games were made from metals recovered from recycled cell phones collected since 2017.
Peppy 1 year ago
They’re much nicer than the Paris Olympic medals, which remind me of the old foil ashtrays they had in McDonald’s
Carrie B 1 year ago
But they have a piece of the Eiffle Tower! I like them :)
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#41
TIL of eagle hunters in Mongolia. Known as the Burkitshi, this nomadic tribe hunts with eagles (only female eagles as they are larger and believed to be fiercer). While eagles can live for decades, theirs are captured at the age of four and released after 10 years to live out their life in the wild.
TribbleThinking 1 year ago
I read an interview a few years ago with a girl who was being trained to do this by her dad.
Xenia Harley 1 year ago
I think people release birds in falconry too. I knew someone who got into raising a red tailed hawk and other birds. The birds were released back into the wild after a few years too. He was being trained by someone how to do this.
D. Pitbull 1 year ago
omg. "How to be a bada$$ and still the-good-guy: train to be a Burkitshi"
Rich Black 1 year ago
What do they hunt? Do the people eat what the eagles kill, or is this just a hobby?
Edgar Rops 1 year ago
Burkutshi (berkutchi) means falconer, it is not a tribe, it's a profession.
#42
TIL Sir Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web in 1989. He was frustrated with the fact that he had to go and ask his coworkers what data was on their computer so he can add it to his computer which led to him creating an application that became the world wide Web.
Bill Swallow 1 year ago
Yes. Before 'journalists' got done misquoting him, Gore said that he was one of the primary people who took the lead in commercializing the internet. That didn't make a good headline, so it got printed as 'Gore claims he invented the internet'. In point of fact, the internet had begun as a DARPA (military) project, 'DARPAnet'; the experiment had completed and was due to be shut down, despite the fact that colleges, universities, and corporations were finding it useful. Gore was a huge help in creating and spearheading the legislation to keep it running and convert it from DARPAnet into the Internet we know now.
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SCamp 1 year ago
Am I right in saying he gave the intel to the world for free? Didn’t patent it?
ucp 1 year ago
You are. The belief was that it should be available to everyone
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Brian Droste 1 year ago (edited)
If I believe right and read that he called it that but didn't like the name. He left it there until he could come up with a better name. Apparently he never did so we have the World Wide Web.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Al gore says he invented the internet. He made this claim when he ran for president.
#43
TIL that in 1995, a man received a "check" for $95,000 as junk mail. Jokingly, he deposited it into his account. The "check" met all of the legal criteria for a check and was cashed.
Science Nerd 1 year ago
Because you, like most everybody else, never open your junk mail.
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Becca not Becky 1 year ago
Is this real or is it a lie from scam mail senders to make us deposit their fake checks?
#44
TIL Two guys honored their dead friend's dying wish by using his ashes as fish bait and caught an enormous 180lb Carp in his memory.
TribbleThinking 1 year ago
I agree. The people advocating should try being randomly dunked and held down for a surprise photo session underwater.
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HTakeover 1 year ago
You try pulling a 180lb fish to shore! lol I'm sure they released it back.
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#45
TIL of Vince Coleman, a train dispatcher who sacrificed his life to save hundreds, warning of a massive boat explosion nearby. The message: "Hold up the train. Ammunition ship afire in harbour making for Pier 6 and will explode. Guess this will be my last message. Good-bye, boys."
General Anaesthesia 1 year ago
Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, December 6, 1917. 1800 people died.
KT 1 year ago
My late next door neighbour was 4 at the time and she remembered her windows rattling from the force all the way over to Dartmouth.
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Linus Bourque 1 year ago
More info about the Halifax Explosion: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Halifax_Explosion The explosion and following harsh winter was devastating for the city. It remains an import part of Halifax history. You can see a little video (Canada Vinette) the depicts the above historical event: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rw-FbwmzPKo
Sinnsyk Jakte 1 year ago
The Longest Johns have a song about this--'Fire & Flame.' That was the first I heard about the Halifax explosion. Every time I hear it, I get chills, despite some discrepancies. I also think of Vince.
#46
TIL Richard Simmons would wake up at 4AM to call up to 40 people who are isolated, alone, or needed empathy. Some credited Richard Simmons for saving their lives.
FrogMan 1 year ago
Saw a post the other day that said “The fact that Richard Simmons died before Keith Richards has me questioning this whole exercise and healthy lifestyle thing.”
Michael Largey 1 year ago
If someone regularly called me up at 4am, I would need a lot of empathy.
Beary Nice 1 year ago
we have a service here called friendly call,more aimed at the elderly but it's the same idea...the volunteers give them regular calls or visit them,have social clubs,events,give them advice and advocate for them and help them access other services or get what they need and make sure they aren't isolated...every Country could use this...
Colleen Glim 1 year ago
My mum is usually up by 5:30. An hour and a half to wake up, breakfast, COFFEE, before staring to make phone calls works for me
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#47
TIL in Rwanda people go to milk bars to socialise and drink milk.
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
I came here to drink milk, and kick àss. And I've just finished my milk.
SCamp 1 year ago
We have Milk Bars in Melbourne Australia. Less common now than my childhood it’s where you’d go to get milk (clearly) but also bread, chips, lollies (candy), smokes for dad 😉 etc.
Dumb teenager 1 year ago
Yeah, we’ve got one in murwillumbah as well (nsw/qld border), sounds like they used to be a pretty big thing
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#48
TIL that the Ginkgo Tree is unique, not obviously related to any living plant; a “living fossil,”unchanged in 200 million years.
Kay Sohn 1 year ago
We had a gingko tree in our yard growing up. The fruit of the ginkgo smells horrible, like...well...dog poo. No joke! Why would such a beautiful tree be designed to have such bad fruit?
Pandemonium 1 year ago
It probably evolved that way because the stink attracted consumers who spread the seeds in the fruit
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Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Thus towns plant only male specimens, which release huge clouds of pollen and cause miserable allergies for millions of people.
Load More Replies... Robin Roper 1 year ago
I love Ginkgo trees. We have one in our yard and I look forward to its leaves turning gold. These are marvelous trees.
Rich Black 1 year ago
Not actually true. Ginko's are reasonably closely related cycads and conifers
#49
TIL A duet sung by Freddie Mercury and Michael Jackson remained unfinished because Mercury walked out of the recording. He couldn’t tolerate Jackson bringing his pet llama into the studio.
Dan Holden 1 year ago
From what I recall there was also the fact that Michael didn't approve of Freddie's cocaine use in the studio.
Load More Replies... Major Harris 1 year ago
freddie and elton john were good friends. always wondered why those two never recorded together.
FaceTime Audio 1 year ago
"Lionel! He wants to hear you sing, Lionel!" - Michael Jackson to Lionel Ritchie, about his pet snake showing interest in Ritchie's voice, according to Ritchie in "The Greatest Night in Pop". Jackson was an oddball.
#50
TIL the ancient Egyptians developed the first recorded early pregnancy test, whereby a woman would urinate on a bag of wheat or barley and, if the bag started sprouting, it indicated a pregnancy. In 1963, researchers measured the test as being 70% accurate.
Nimitz 1 year ago
I wonder if people just kept a little bean bag of grain around as a pregnancy test?
Mary Peace 1 year ago
I was just going to ask why they needed a whole sack of grain, surely a small amount would do!
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Khall Khall 1 year ago
This means mathematically there's a way to get almost 100% accuracy. If they do it a certain number of times the math will work out to being incredibly accurate. I don't remember how it works well enough to explain it but it's something I learned about in college. If you have a test with above 50% accuracy you can keep repeating it, count the successes and eventually get in the high 90%'s accurate.
Léopoldine Mineo 1 year ago
I read somewhere that to check if they were pregnant, Egyptian women would put garlic in their vaginas. If the next day their breath was smelling garlic, they were pregnant
#51
TIL of the Ovitz family, not only the largest family of dwarfs ever recorded but also the largest family (12 people ranging from a 15-month-old baby to a 58-year-old woman) to enter Auschwitz and survive intact.
Lil Miss Hobbit 1 year ago
Yeah. Why are we getting rom-coms when we could have this?
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PattyK 1 year ago
Some people think that only Jews were sent to the concentration camps, but only about half of the people in those camps were Jews. The rest were anybody Hitler consudered “degenarate,” including artists, musicians, writers, and — yes — dwarfs.
Richard Graham 1 year ago (edited)
Interesting and upsetting fact: The original "W1lly Wonka & the Chocolate Factory" (with Gene Wilder) was shot in Munich, Germany. The producers had to go outside Germany to recruit enough little people to play the Oompa Loompas. Hitler did such an efficient job of murdering little people that, 25 years after WWII, little people were still very rare in Germany.
LNB87 1 year ago
It's his 1/2 cousin... *badum tssss* *crickets* I'll see myself out.
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Bryn 1 year ago (edited)
Actually they did (by intact, meaning the family survived)! Read Giants: The Dwarfs of Auschwitz by Eilat Negev but in short all but Arie (who died in 1944) survived Auschwitz because of Mengele. They suffered horrible at his hands but Mengele's obsessiveness with dwarfism kept them alive
Load More Replies... #52
TIL That elephants stay cancer free as they have 20 copies of a key tumor-fighting gene; humans have just one.
Kathy Sinclair 1 month ago
So are scientists experimenting on copies of this "key tumor-fighting gene"?
#53
TIL Friends Thomas Cook and Joseph Feeney shook hands in 1992, swearing if either one won the Powerball jackpot, they would split the winnings. Well the power of friendship and a handshake has paid off: 28 years later Tom won €22 million and split the winnings with his friend.
Beary Nice 1 year ago
As is clearly shown on the giant cheque ,it's still over 20 million in Euros,it's not Irania rials being converted to Euros or USD
Load More Replies... Data1001 1 year ago
I wonder how they handled that legally. Because a gift of more than a certain amount (I'm thinking something like $10,000/year) is highly taxed. But I suppose they could afford to hire a great group of lawyers and accountants who could create a trust or LLC or something like that. First thing you do when you win the lottery: Hire a good tax lawyer.
ROSESARERED 1 year ago
The would put both if yheir names on the winning ticket yo collect the prize, just like when a group does a tatts pool.
Load More Replies... #54
TIL that some hikers and researchers have spotted wild birds swearing. It is believed that birds that escaped from captivity teach other wild birds how to speak and swear in English.
Abdullah Abd Rahman 1 year ago
The words of a foreign language that most people learn from a friend who speaks it are ,inadvertently, swear words. So it is with wild birds, learning from an escapee friend.
Vera Diblikova 1 year ago
Probably their ancestors were fugitives or castaways from English pirate ships.
#55
TIL The Godfather's famous cat-in-lap scene was entirely unscripted. A stray cat randomly wandered onto the set, so Coppola grabbed it and put it in Marlin Brando's lap without a word.
#56
TIL inventor of the Murphy-Bed, William Lawrence Murphy (1856-1957), created his first hide-away bed as means to convert his one-room apartment into a parlour, specifically to host the company of his future wife. It was considered inappropriate at the time to for a woman to enter a man's bedroom.
Arlene Harris 1 year ago
funniest sign I saw was for a company called Murphy Beds: "Now Open!"
#57
TIL two high school students found that despite advertising claims that “the blackcurrants in Ribena have four times the vitamin C of oranges,” the drink contained almost no trace of vitamin C and one orange juice brand had over three times more. The company were taken to court and fined NZ$217,500.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
*colors the currants purple and bats them under the sofa*
HTakeover 1 year ago
I mean, it's probably true that there was more than 4x the vitamin C. from blackcurrants in their blackcurrant drink than there is from the orange juice in their blackcurrant drink... that amount of orange juice being nothing.
ravn 1 year ago
I was thinking that the black currants they use may have 4x the vitamin C, but it didn't make it into the beverage itself.
Load More Replies... #58
TIL NASA's longest serving female employee since January 1958, Sue Finley, has been an engineer and programmer for space missions since Explorer 1, for missions to the Moon, Sun, all the planets and many other solar system bodies, and recipient of NASA's Exceptional Public Service Medal.
Mimi La Souris 1 year ago
she does not bend her head voluntarily, it is her brain that is too heavy :D
#59
TIL that at the age of 17, Steven Spielberg directed a sci-fi film called "Firelight". The budget was $500, and it was shown at a local cinema, with 500 people coming, and tickets costing a dollar each. However, one person paid $2, so the movie made $1, making it Spielberg's first commercial success.
#60
TIL in 2018, an electrical engineer on board the Bellingshausen Research station in Antartica stabbed a fellow coworker in the chest multiple times because the colleague had been giving away the endings of books available in the research station’s library.
TribbleThinking 1 year ago
Yes, apparently ome people are just such natural jerks they can't stop even if it means death.
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#61
TIL that the jumping spider, Nefertiti, was launched to the ISS to observe if it could catch prey in microgravity. It succeeded in catching prey by learning to walk slowly, rather than leaping, as this species usually does. It survived reentry and readjusted to full gravity before its natural death.
ShellsBells 1 year ago
I keep a controlled group in my house. They all have their own corners in certain areas. Once their webs start to get our of control, I trim it down, and if they start inviting too many friends, they are escorted outside. I don't see any bugs in the house, but I find the mass graves on the floor under the webs. It's amazing what they catch.
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Kira Okah 1 year ago (edited)
Another thing about Nefertiti and the other spider that went up with her, Cleopatra the Zebra spider - they are both female, because males of their species stop eating when fully grown. Cleopatra doesn't get mentioned as often because she died soon after touchdown, so she didn't have the opportunity to relearn Earth gravity hunting. Jumping spiders only live for about a year so Nefertiti surviving long enough to relearn to hunt in Earth gravity is amazing because of her age.
helloit'sme 1 year ago
Oh I didn't know that, thank you for sharing! Jumping spiders are the cutest
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Doozle bug 1 year ago
Spiders, spiders in space, spiders in space in experiments! What on earth could go wrong?
Science Nerd 1 year ago
What prey did they take for the spider to catch? Could the flies handle flying in zero-G?
#62
TIL In 2012 a British man named Wesley Carrington bought a metal detector and within 20 minutes found gold from the Roman Age worth £100,000.
#63
TIL Octopuses are one of the most intelligent creatures on the planet, capable of solving complex puzzles, using tools, escaping captivity, and planning ahead in the future.
Colin Matthews 1 year ago
They are almost completely separate entities on the tree of life having separated from other branches of life much earlier on in the evolutionary processes than most other living organisms.
Brian Droste 1 year ago
They can change their skin color very quickly to camouflage themselves so to hide from predator.
#64
TIL in 1998, a 10-year-old girl in Austria was dragged into a car and kidnapped. The case remained unsolved until she knocked on someone's door in 2006 saying: "I am Natascha Kampusch." She had just escaped the secret cellar of a local technician that abused her for 8 years.
Jennifer Smith 1 year ago
The kidnapper never did any time because he offed himself when he found her gone
#65
TIL James Michael Tyler, who played Gunther the barista on “Friends” was originally meant to only appear as an extra; he remained on the show as he was the only actor there who knew how to operate an espresso machine.
SheamusFanFrom1987 1 year ago
Gone at 59 after delivering so many funny instances on Friends. Taken too dang soon. God smile on your soul always T_T
MagicJacket 1 year ago
Gunther wasn't gay. He had a massive crush on Rachel.
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#66
TIL that Sea Urchins are called Sea Urchins because Hedgehogs used to be called Urchins until about the 15th century. Sea Urchins are Ocean Hedgehogs.
#67
TIL about the 71 teenage students, who were stationed to protect a South Korean HQ, despite having no experience in war or even firing a gun. The SK army didn’t think the NK army would attack that HQ, but they did. Those students, still in their school uniforms, held back the NK army for 11 hours.
Becky Samuel 1 year ago
Teenage doesn't mean pre-adolescent. A lot of armed forces accept 16 year olds.
Load More Replies... Mimi La Souris 1 year ago
for wiki : 71: Into the Fire (Korean: 포화 속으로) is a 2010 South Korean war drama film directed by John H. Lee and starring Cha Seung-won, Kwon Sang-woo, Choi Seung-hyun, and Kim Seung-woo. The film was made in commemoration of those who fought during the Korean War. The film is based on a true story of a group of 71 undertrained and underarmed, outgunned student volunteer soldiers of South Korea during the Korean War, who were mostly killed on August 11, 1950, during the Battle of P'ohang-dong. For 11 hours, they defended the local P'ohang girls' middle school, a strategic point for safeguarding the struggling Nakdong River perimeter, from an attack by overwhelming North Korean forces, specifically the feared 766th Unit.
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#68
TIL that when the Notre Dame Cathedral was on fire the some 200,000 bees that live in the roof were thought to be dead, but in fact they were still alive after the fire.
Kira Okah 1 year ago
The three hives were untouched by the fire, none of the wax melted so the heat hadn't gotten to the hives either, smoke is generally used to calm bees, they were producing young and honey. They were thriving three months after the fire. Bees are cool.
TribbleThinking 1 year ago
Yes, they literally were cool and did not burn. .... I'll get my coat.
Load More Replies... Regina Holt 1 year ago
Smoke calms them down, they would not necessarily needed to fly away. Ask a bee keeper.
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#69
TIL that England experiences large spikes in power demand during half-time at football games due to widespread use of electric kettles.
Ace 1 year ago
These power spikes for major matches like the FA cup final, and also for Wimbledon and other major sporting/TV events, are planned for at least two years in advance and are times when the power is much more expensive if you need extra and haven't pre-bought it. I worked on these forecasting systems some years ago, it was all done in half-hour segments.
arthbach 1 year ago
Not just football games. It happens when there are 'important' thing happening on television, eg the coronation of Charles, the Olympic ceremony etc. At the end of the event, or during an advert break, people get up, put the kettle on, and make tea. There are people whose job is to predict such peaks and ensure there is enough power available.
arthbach 1 year ago
Sadly, there's also a spike in domestic violence after things like Football World Cup games. "Stark figures published last year by the National Centre for Domestic Violence uncovered the shocking reality that incidents of domestic abuse increase following England games. Data showed reported incidents increased by 26 percent if England play, 38 percent if England lose, and 11 percent the next day, win or lose." https://www.cps.gov.uk/cps/news/world-cup-there-no-excuse-domestic-abuse
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#70
TIL Graça Machel was married to the President of Mozambique until he died in a plane crash, she later married Nelson Mandela while he was President of South Africa. She is the only person in modern history to be First Lady of two different countries.
#71
TIL that in 1997, a 50-pound pumpkin was speared atop a tower at Cornell University, 173 feet in the air. It stayed in place for months. Alumni are still trying to figure out who did it without being noticed -- and how.
onitsuka 1 year ago
I was a student there when this happened. The pumpkin was up there for way longer than most people thought possible. And when they went up to finally retrieve it, a gust of wind knocked the crane into the tower and the pumpkin just fell off on its own.
Upil 1 year ago
I could climb up my self, no need to help me to get down ya m******r
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Bartlet for World Domination 1 year ago
Weird that you think that, they look identical.
Load More Replies... #72
TIL when the UN's Nordic Battalion was sent to Bosnia in 1993 it disobeyed orders, broke rules of engagement, faked loss of communication to HQ, and became known as one the most trigger-happy peacekeeper units. This enabled them to achieve their mission objective: to protect civilians at all cost.
#73
TIL that Walter Breuning stopped smoking cigars at age 103 because they became too expensive. At age 108, he began smoking cigars again after receiving a lot of gifts of cigars. He ultimately ended up living to age 114.5 and was the second-last verified surviving man born in the 1800s.
justagirl 1 year ago
thus, smoking has little to do with it. Idk, that's just what this is telling me.
LB 1 year ago
That's not how it works. Risks aren't always 100%. Like, if you fall from a 6 story building and survive you can't say "guess falling from buildings has little to do with it". Just because you survived doesn't mean nobody else died from it. Same with smoking.
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#74
TIL that the Mississippi river was once five miles wide and whales swam up it from the gulf of Mexico. The remains of these whales have been found in Michigan.
Jess Smith 1 year ago
According to Mark Twain, a million years ago it jutted into the gulf of Mexico, and 601 years from now, Cairo, Illinois, and New Orleans will have joined together, as the Mississippi has been shortening over time. It's in Life on the Mississippi and ends with a brilliant quote: "There is something fascinating about science. One gets such wholesale returns of conjecture out of such a trifling investment of fact."
Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
The remains are prehistoric whales - https://www.clickondetroit.com/all-about-ann-arbor/2021/04/06/new-virtual-exhibit-on-prehistoric-whales-opens-at-university-of-michigans-museum-of-natural-history/#//
#75
TIL early-20th-century actress, Maude Adams, wanted to do a film version of Peter Pan, but was against doing it in black-and-white. She began working with experts on those obstacles, i.e. lack of color film and inadequate lighting. She earned several electric-light patents in the 1930s.
Tabitha Osika 1 year ago
This is a story I'd love to learn more about. I've always been curious about the people who wanted to see the world as it is, in full color even on the silver screen.
#76
TIL Los Angeles is the first major city in the world to synchronize all its traffic lights. Nearly 4,400 lights across 469 miles receive real-time updates about traffic flow to make second-by-second adjustments. The system limits congestion by up to 16% while also dramatically reducing idling time.
SkyBlueandBlack 1 year ago
Just remember: when the city bus puts its blinker on, it's merging whether you're there or not.
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#77
TIL that Charles D. B. King holds the record for the most fraudulent election in history. In 1927 he was elected President of Liberia with 234,000 votes in a country that only had 15,000 registered voters at the time.
#78
TIL when Steve Buscemi was 4-years-old he was hit by a bus and managed to survive with a fractured skull. He received a $6,000 settlement from the city that was to be collected from a trust fund when he turned 18. When Buscemi turned 18, he used part of the money to pay for full-time acting classes.
DaisyBee 1 year ago
He also returned to his post as a firefighter to assist in the post 9/11 efforts
Igor914624 1 year ago
Kudos to him. He was one of many NYFD alumni and retirees that reported to their former firehouses to assist on 9/11. All of them deserve honor and respect.
Load More Replies... #79
TIL that the world's rarest tree, Kaikōmako native to New Zealand, has been rescued from extinction after 40 years of trying to get the very last female tree in the world to fruit again.
Karina 1 year ago
Please, we need to to keep rare things a secret these days, or else someone will destroy it for clout.
John L 1 year ago
Yep, someone will somehow manage to crash a truck into it....
Load More Replies... ROSESARERED 1 year ago
Pistachio nut trees are male and female. The male can pollinate 9- 11 females...wind pollination...the female produces flowers every 2 years. One of the reasons why they can cost more than other nuts
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#80
TIL although Wayne’s World (1992) was released after Freddie Mercury died, he got to see the car headbanging scene featuring Bohemian Rhapsody shortly before he passed away on November 24, 1991. He loved it and foresaw how the use of the song would ignite a comeback for Queen in the United States.
Peet 1 year ago
Mike Myers wanted Bohemian Rhapsody but some other dude (can't remember who) said he should choose Guns'n Roses because they where better known back then...Mike refused and we got an unforgetable scene in movie history, so party on 🤟
Sand Ers 1 year ago
IIRC, Meyers threatened to walk if the song wasn’t used.
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#81
TIL that tigers are nearly invisible to their prey, who see orange as green. Tigers are orange because mammals can’t produce green fur, and orange was the next best thing.
Science Nerd 1 year ago
They could have used the sloth as a role model and grown green algae in their fur.
Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
That's also why baby bison are such a bright orange colour - camouflage!
Brian Droste 1 year ago
That what always confused me about tigers. What can't the prey see the tigers with the orange fur? But a whole ago on another BP post I learned it was be cause the prey can't see orange, so the tigers are camouflage,
#82
TIL after an earthquake shattered the Colossi of Memnon in Egypt, the damaged statue began to "sing" during sunrise which modern scientists attribute to early morning heat causing dew trapped within the statue’s crack to evaporate creating vibrations that echoed through the desert air.
Mimi La Souris 1 year ago
agree ! they annoy me, all his scientists, with their good reasons to anything ! :D
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VOTE if you live in the USA 1 year ago
I was there in March and the tour guide said it was the sound of the wind as it blew through the statue. I don't see how evaporation could make a "singing" sound. Also that field behind them? Totally an entire temple complex that was recently unearthed.
#83
TIL research found that 94% of British people said they had conversed about the weather in the past six hours, and 38% said they had in the past 60 minutes. This means at any moment in the UK, a third of the population is either talking about the weather, has already done so or are about to do so.
Abdullah Abd Rahman 1 year ago
Can't blame the Brits. The weather is horrible and unpredictable, even in summer.
martin734 1 year ago
Yep, yesterday was 24 degrees and sunny, today is 16 degrees and heavy rain. No idea about tomorrow yet.
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TribbleThinking 1 year ago
Yup. I was just looking at the rain and waiting for a phone call whereupon we'd compare the weather in Kent and Surrey before reading this snippet.
Regina Holt 1 year ago
Yet TV programs don't show the crappy weather all of the time. There must be plenty of good weather.
#84
TIL Goku from DBZ in Japan is voiced by an 84 year old woman, who holds world records for her long-running voice acting career.
KittyGaming 1 year ago
Fun fact, in many animes with little boys those boys will be voiced by girls bc men have too deep of a voice
Chewie Baron 1 year ago
One voice over that amuses me is the Cadbury Bunny used in the UK to advertise Cadbury's Caramel bar. She was always shown to be sultry, had obvious bumps indicating breasts. Her catchline was "take it easy with Cadbury's Caramel". The voice over? Miriam Margoyles.
#85
TIL a legend goes that during the Thirty Years' War, a Catholic army wanted to destroy Rothenburg ob der Tauber in Germany for resisting the Count of Tilly. Tilly declared that if anyone could drink a 3.25 L drink of wine in one go, he would spare the town. The local mayor saved the town that day.
#86
TIL about FBI agent Robert Hanssen. He was tasked to find a mole within the FBI after the FBI's moles in the KGB were caught. Robert Hanssen was the mole and had been working with the KGB since 1979.
Colin Matthews 1 year ago
He was a total douchebag , willing to sacrifice others for a few bucks
Regina Holt 1 year ago
I remember when this hit the news. That was such a huge scandal. He was sentenced to 15 life terms with no possibility for parole. This dude had balls.
#87
TIL David Bowie considered becoming a Buddhist monk, & studied for a few months in 1967 before a Lama told him he should follow music instead. His ashes were scattered in Bali in accordance with Buddhist rituals.
30ninjazinmybag 1 year ago
Are we being factual and including the baby groupies who were underage and he had sex with ???
Load More Replies... CD Mills 1 year ago
Did anyone else notice the world went straight into the toilet after he passed? A few of us have a theory that David Bowie was a vital lynchpin in the Universe and when he left things started coming apart.
#88
TIL, that Crazy Little Thing Called Love, Queen's tribute for Elvis, took Freddie Mercury 10 minutes to write while taking a bath.
Michael Largey 1 year ago
Crazy Little Thing Called Love always sounded more Buddy Holly to me.
#89
TIL that the details of the Manhattan Project were so secret that many workers had no idea why they did their jobs. A laundrywoman had a dedicated duty to "hold up an instrument and listen for a clicking noise" without knowing why. It was a Geiger counter testing the radiation levels of uniforms.
#90
TIL Hippos sleep underwater even though they breathe air. They automatically close their nostrils and surface to breathe every 3-5 minutes. This all happens unconsciously, even in their sleep.
El Cucuy 1 year ago
This image looks suspiciously like one of the animatronic hippos at Disnelyand...
shay baranowski 1 year ago
They also don't swim. They run so fast they look like they are swimming
#91
TIL the big orange fuel tank attached to the space shuttles was originally white, but they stopped painting it to save 600lbs.
#92
TIL of Charlie Walker, the first non-government individual to fly into space. After NASA deemed him unqualified and rejected his 1978 application for astronaut, he co-developed a space bound device which required him to accompany it. Walker flew into space three times with the device he co-patented.
FoxEcoLimaIndiaCharlieIndiAlfa 1 year ago
I agree and think that they created the Howard Wolowitz character based off of the real life of Charlie Walker. They even resemble one another.
Load More Replies... #93
TIL that Mesopotamians figured out that the Earth orbited the sun about 1,700 years before Copernicus and Newton. They also figured out that the moon causes the tides and that the Earth rotates around its axis.
Kira Okah 1 year ago
Greek. Seleucus was ethnically Greek. Heliocentrism and the theory of the tides were theories known to the Greeks 200 years before he was born. Though Hellenistic astronomy has its origins in Babylonian astronomy, the theories have no Mesopotamian origin. There are even earlier posits of these theories from India.
Don Golosso 1 year ago
Try reading it again. It doesn't say that earth orbited the sun since 1700 years before Copernicus and Newton
Load More Replies... #94
TIL about a New Jersey history professor who was telling a story to his class about how a ranger saved his life in a canyon at night in Texas in 1940. The ranger had managed to track him down and coincidentally walked in to the classroom right as the professor was telling the story.
Shelby Moonheart 1 year ago
My dad was in a boating accident off the Oregon coast. He was pulled from the water with hypothermia by a Coast Guard person before my next older brother and I were born. When I was in high school we were at a yacht club meeting near Portland. A Coast Guard Captian was there and told a story of pulling 5 people out of the ocean in a river bar. After the talk, my dad took my brother and me up to greet the man. He (my dad) said, "I was one of the guys you pulled out of the water in your story. If you hadn't, these kids wouldn't be here now. " I got to meet the man who saved my dad's life.
HolyDiver 1 year ago
He was there to talk to him about his cars extended warranty
Load More Replies... #95
TIL astronauts need to sleep near air vents or risk carbon dioxide from their own lungs forming a bubble around their head due to weightlessness.
Ace 1 year ago
Fortunately it's the body's reaction to excess CO2 that triggers heavy breathing, leading to panting and eventually waking up. Unlike carbon monoxide poisoning it's very difficult for C02 to kill someone in their sleep.
Load More Replies... #96
TIL that Apples are not ‘true to seed’, so the seeds from any particular variety apple will not grow to be the same variety as the apple tree they came from. E.g. If you planted seeds of Granny Smith it likely will produce a wide variety of different and unknown apple tree types.
Giles McArdell 1 year ago
All apples (and lot's of other tree grown fruit) are grown on grafted root stock as they cannot be grown from seeds (you'll usually get a "wild" fruit tree with smaller, harder, less sweet fruit). Grafting also helps with disease resistance and vigour. Most eating apples would originally have come from a "sport" - a branch of a wild tree that has developed a mutation and is growing larger fruit.
SkyBlueandBlack 1 year ago
For example: navel oranges. They're seedless, so you can only get them by grafting.
Load More Replies... Kira Okah 1 year ago
No, much weirder. Apples are what is termed "extreme heterozygotes"; the seeds are completely different from each other and their mother.
Load More Replies... #97
TIL that in his acceptance speech for the 1976 Best Album Grammy, Paul Simon jokingly thanked Stevie Wonder for not releasing an album that year. Stevie Wonder had won Best Album in the previous two years and would go on to win again in 1977 for Songs in the Key of Life.
Science Nerd 1 year ago
Stephen Sondheim was once thanked at the Tony awards by a winner for letting someone else win for a change.
#98
TIL that in 1982, Queen Elizabeth the Queen Mother was rushed to hospital when a fish bone became stuck in her throat, and she ended up having an operation to remove it. Being a keen fisher, she calmly joked when it was done: "The salmon have got their own back".
#99
TIL Switzerland has 7 simultaneous "presidents", each with equal power. Every year they rotate control of 7 federal depts & who acts as "head of state" (e.g. when dealing with other countries). They come from various parties — right now it's 2 conservatives, 2 liberals, 2 socialists, and a centrist.
Kira Okah 1 year ago
Switzerland is a confederation, so they have a Federal Council rather than a single head of state.
Ace 1 year ago
Yes, but what the post says is broadly correct. The seven members of the council do assume the head of state role on an annually rotating basis, but no, its not quite that there are seven presidents per se.
Load More Replies... Science Nerd 1 year ago
I would have nightmares if the U.S. tried to elect seven different Presidents. One every four years is bad enough.
#100
TIL there is a herd of wild zebras in central California that can be seen off of Route 1 near San Simeon.
PattyK 1 year ago (edited)
William Randolph Hearst kept a menagerie in his property around Hearst Castle, near San Simeon; these zebra probably escaped from there.
Judy Reynolds 1 year ago
Likely their descendants, as opposed to the zebra who actually escaped.
Load More Replies... Beak Hookage 1 year ago
Which might explain why you see zebras wandering around in the most recent Planet of the Apes movie, which is set in and around California (or what's left of it). At the time I assumed they were the descendants of zoo escapees! Well heck, maybe it's both.
Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
Descendants of WR Hearst's menagerie near is compound in San Simeon.
Sue Ellen Jensen 1 year ago
I don't think they escaped. Hearst owned a lot of land around his "castle".
#101
TIL: The aircraft carrier HMS Queen Elizabeth has a reverse osmosis system capable of producing more than 500 tonnes of fresh, drinkable water from sea water per day.
David Paterson 1 year ago
Most large ones do. Reverse osmosis units are also available for yachts, one kept a yachtsman alive for days after his boat capsized.
Load More Replies... ShellsBells 1 year ago (edited)
I was on an aircraft carrier, worked in the reactor department, and operated the distilling unit. We had a 6 stage, flash type distilling unit capable of making 50k gallons of water per day per unit, with two in each plant, and having two plants. So we could make 200k gallons per day. Edit:spelling.
#102
TIL that in the 70s, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, tried creating its own artificial coral reef by dumping some 2 million used tires into the ocean. It became an environmental disaster, naturally, but also a military training exercise when divers had to retrieve the tires (almost one by one).
Arlene Harris 1 year ago
In Florida, "how stupid can you be?" is taken as a "hold my beer" challenge
Load More Replies... Ace 1 year ago
I don't know why anyone thinks it should have been obvious. Very many artificial reefs made from various waste materials, notably ships, have been created across the world with great success. This idea did not seem crazy at the time.
Cathy Jo Baker 1 year ago
Exactly! It's amazing how the wildlife will take hold of almost any old thing and thrive on it.
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Dave In MD 1 year ago
OMG tires????? So, exactly how are the tires worse than what ever else we dump to be an artificial reef?
#103
TIL Tag brothers are a group of 10 men who had been playing the game of tag since 1990, chasing each other around the country, traveling by plane, car etc. As of 2018, the game is still ongoing.
justagirl 1 year ago (edited)
awesome! so who's it? Edit: i remember when me and my friend would play tag and we'd just shout, "who's it?!" randomly and then someone would say "me!" and the people near them would scream in abject terror and run. Anyone else have that memory?
Janice 1 year ago
Almost, we would shout "your it." What a great memory. Summer nights, playing tag, riding bikes home.
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#104
TIL I learned the first American soldier to land on the beach durning the invasion of Normandy was shot twice and not only survived, but lived to be 90 years old.
Major Harris 1 year ago
my dad was a 1st lt., infantry. his company was one of the first that hit the beaches that day. fortunately, for me, he was seriously injured during training for this and was medically discharged.
#105
TIL the band UB40 is named after Unemployment Benefit, Form 40 - a form issued to people claiming unemployment benefits. The name was suggested by a friend of the band because all the members were unemployed.
Don Golosso 1 year ago
I thought this was fairly common knowledge under UB40 fans. Their debut album, Signing off, has the UB-40 form as an album cover.
#106
TIL that in 2006, a couple lost for three nights in the San Jacinto Mountains of CA were rescued because they were able to light a signal fire from matches they found in the abandoned camp of a lost hiker who vanished exactly One year before their incident.
DaisyBee 1 year ago
His name was John Donovan. The hikers he unknowingly saved were Gina Allen and Brandon Day, a couple at the time who took a wrong turn on a tour and got lost for days. Had it not been for John’s supplies left behind, they might not have survived. John’s body was eventually found, but no one is sure if he died of exposure related things or jumped from a waterfall having given up on hope of rescue. There’s an episode of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive” documenting their own experiences, and a MrBallen episode detailing more of John Donovan’s life. All can be found on YouTube.
#107
TIL Bruce Lee was the winner of the 1958 Hong Kong Cha-Cha Dancing Championship. He kept a card with 108 different cha-cha dance steps in his wallet and developed new moves which he wrote down in a personal notebook labeled "Cha-Cha Fancy Steps."
SheamusFanFrom1987 1 year ago
Next time anyone intimidates you, just Wah-Cha-Cha them while wielding a pair of nunchucks XP
#108
TIL - Ben and Jerry's has a physical graveyard that they retire old flavors to, and you can actually go visit it.
Don Golosso 1 year ago
I was at a chocolate factory in Austria and they have this for the flavours they made but where too bad to release commercially.
#109
TIL Salvador Dali once conned Yoko Ono into paying $10,000 for a single blade of grass. Yoko had offered to pay that amount for one of his mustache hairs. He substituted the blade of grass because he thought that Yoko Ono was a witch and might use his hair in a spell.
Richard Graham 1 year ago
Little known fact: Yoko One was a rich kid. Her father was President of one of the largest banks in Japan. (She also almost became a concert pianist.)
HolyDiver 1 year ago (edited)
Yoko Ono should have been charged with murder for killing the Beatles.
Richard Graham 1 year ago
I once asked someone if there was a person responsible for killing the Beatles. He said "Oh! No!!! Oh! No!!!"
Load More Replies... #110
TIL Swedes have a national weekly eating plan. Thursdays are traditionally pancakes and split pea soup.
ShellsBells 1 year ago
The US does Taco Tuesdays, and if you're lucky enough, Taco Thursday's as well.
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Sawdust 1 year ago (edited)
Now I just need to find 5 more countries to complete my 7-day, 7-nation pancake breakfast European tour. :-)
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justagirl 1 year ago
i'm sure it tastes delicious but that picture looks nasty. especially the soup.
Bouche and Audi and Shyla, Oh My! 1 year ago
I've only ever seen split pea soup that was green. But I've never heard of soup and pancakes.
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#111
TIL About a 17 year old kid that was given an old iPhone for free, and using the "barter" section of Craigslist made 14 trades, ending with a Porsche. Along the way he traded for newer phones, computers, motorcycles, and eventually cars.
Mimi La Souris 1 year ago
It reminds me of the man who started with a paper clip to end up with a house
PattonPawter 1 year ago
there’s a Japanese variant where a man starts with a piece of straw and ends up becoming a millionaire
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Tim Douglass 1 year ago
Me, I'd start with a Porsche and end up with an iPhone - probably a broken one. I'm not exactly the "deal maker" type. I think you have to have a bit of a larcenous streak to pull off something like this.
#112
TIL In the 1930's a selling point for TP started by Northern Tissue company was that their toilet paper was "splinter free".
Blue Bunny of Happiness 1 year ago
I bought some toilet paper from Morrisons a couple of years ago. I swear it had splinters in it. Sadly, not been able to bring myself to throw it out, just in case we have another pandemic!
#113
TIL that Tupac Shakur renamed his publishing company name from "Ghetto Gospel Music" to "Joshua’s Dream" after meeting with 11-year old Joshua Torres with muscular dystrophy who died 45 minutes after Tupac left his bedside.
#114
TIL A bank robber in France made a fictitious, coded document which he claimed as evidence during his trial. While the judge was distracted by the document, Albert Spaggiari jumped out of a window, landing safely on a parked car and escaped on a waiting motorcycle. He was never seen again.
Dispatcherqueen 1 year ago
He was seen again. Many times, and on the news, until his body was found in his mother's front yard. He wrote the book, Fric Frac, about the biggest bank heist Paris had ever seen, that he masterminded. It's a great read.
Orchidoclaste 1 year ago
It was not during a trial, it was in the judges's office. And he was heard of again, wrote books and gave an interview to a reporter in 83.
#115
TIL some people suffer a "weekend migraine" or "let-down headache" on weekends (or other break from a 9-to-5 weekday job) due to a decrease in stress.
keyboardtek 1 year ago
I read that is part of caffeine withdrawal. Many people drink a lot of coffee to get through the workday and do not d**k as much coffee on the weekends.
ROSESARERED 1 year ago
I get a migraine type headache if I don't drink coffee...I only have one strong cup a day at lunchtime...only time I skipped it was when I was in hospital recovering from surgery, not coffee related🙂
Load More Replies... ShellsBells 1 year ago
I have Migraine Tuesdays. It's my first day off on a 3 day weekend, so I never plan to do anything for the day. Yes, today is Tuesday, and no, I didn't get a break, I'm 8 hours into one right now.
#116
TIL Sony sold its waterproof Walkman in a bottle of water to prove it was really waterproof.
justagirl 1 year ago
yeah, like, if it's a bottle like the one in the picture it's pretty cool!
Load More Replies... #117
TIL of Ian Manuel. A man who spent years in isolation after he was condemned to die in prison for a nonhomicide offense at age 13. He won his freedom in 2016 with the help of the woman he attacked. He is now an activist, motivational speaker, and published author.
Ace 1 year ago (edited)
He shot a young mother in the face during the course of an armed robbery. His sentence was "life without parole" for attempted murder; the headline here makes it sound like he was given the death penalty, which was not the case, and also underplays the nature and gravity of the offence.
Nimitz 1 year ago
He was a 13 years old and life without parole for attempted murder is an unusual punishment. He lived for 18 years in solitary confinement. A clear definition of cruel and unusual punishment. The judge gave him the maximum possible punishment. The nature and gravity of his sentence did not match that of similar crimes committed by white convicts
Load More Replies... Lyoness 1 year ago
I don't know about a death penalty but agreed that a 13 year old should know the difference between right and wrong.
Load More Replies...Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
CD Mills 1 year ago (edited)
I've called myself a "Veritable Fount of Useless Information" for decades. My little school-girl brain still wants to learn "ALL THE THINGS!". {I got to keep that part to this day.} Articles like this keep my brain all wrinkly and happy!
Mary Peace 1 year ago
My mother used to say "Mary's a mine of useless information." Well she had to say something when I came up with a random snippet at family parties.
Load More Replies... Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
This is the first NBA player to break a backboard while dunking a basketball. He was playing for Boston and did it during pre-game warm-ups. 640px-Chuc...68a6e3.jpg 
Martin Kaine 1 year ago
.....and technically the first MLB player to break a backboard (played with the Dodgers in 1949), LOL. Chuck_Conn...09d220.jpg 
McKenzy Flores 11 months ago
You guys really need to chill with the adds. My page restarted literally 23 times it’s fuckingstupid
CD Mills 1 year ago (edited)
I've called myself a "Veritable Fount of Useless Information" for decades. My little school-girl brain still wants to learn "ALL THE THINGS!". {I got to keep that part to this day.} Articles like this keep my brain all wrinkly and happy!
Mary Peace 1 year ago
My mother used to say "Mary's a mine of useless information." Well she had to say something when I came up with a random snippet at family parties.
Load More Replies... Stannous Flouride 1 year ago
This is the first NBA player to break a backboard while dunking a basketball. He was playing for Boston and did it during pre-game warm-ups. 640px-Chuc...68a6e3.jpg
Martin Kaine 1 year ago
.....and technically the first MLB player to break a backboard (played with the Dodgers in 1949), LOL. Chuck_Conn...09d220.jpg
McKenzy Flores 11 months ago
You guys really need to chill with the adds. My page restarted literally 23 times it’s fuckingstupid
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