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50 Fascinating “Today I Learned” Posts That Might Leave You Questioning Reality (June Edition)
If you’ve spent enough time online, you’ll quickly realize that our brains weren’t meant to process this much information all at once. This is why it can be helpful to allow the good folks of the internet to curate and select the information you’ll end up seeing today.
We’ve gathered some of the interesting facts people have learned this month and decided to share them with the internet. So get comfortable as you scroll through, upvote your favorites and be sure to add your own thoughts (or perhaps even facts) in the comments section below.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL A village in India decided that they would not switch on the street lights at night for 35 days since an Oriental Magpie Robin had made the switch box her home. The villagers decided to not disturb the bird as long as she was there. She laid three tiny eggs, two of which hatched.
StrangeOne 6 months ago
That is so kind. Always gives me hope for humanity when towns put consideration towards animals.
SouthernGal 6 months ago
During sea turtle hatching season, coastal communities near me don’t turn outside lights on at night near the beach, as the baby turtles go towards the light when they hatch, which needs to be towards the moonlight to the ocean.
Ge Po 6 months ago
Near where I live, the is an office place which has a simple fence around their property, with some box-like ashtrays. They laminated a short letter and taped it to one of them, which asked to not use it. Since a small bird had chosen it for it's nest. It held three chicklings, when I risked a quick peek.
Missy VanWinkle 6 months ago
The world should do more like this. They also saved electricity and probably went to bed earlier so they got more sleep, were better rested & healthier.
Lyone Fein 6 months ago
In an Indian village-where everyone knows each other, the total population is around 500, the setting is rural-highly unlikely.
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#2
Today I learned that in 1666, the English village of Eyam made an extraordinary sacrifice. After the bubonic plague reached their community, the villagers chose to quarantine themselves rather than flee. An estimated 260 villagers died, however, this decision likely saved thousands.
Laurie Peloquin 6 months ago
You can visit Eyam. It is a sobering reminder of the past, and how people can really step up to do a good thing.
Jaya 6 months ago
During Covid lots of people went to parties and gatherings while they knew they had Covid. I wish they had even a tiny bit of the mindset of those heroes from Eyam.
Rob D 6 months ago
Once again Christian conservatives were presented the opportunity to do the right thing. As always, a whiff.
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KazzaHazza 6 months ago
Mompesson’s Well, filled with vinegar and coins were soaked in the well to sterilise them when exchanging them for goods.
Katiekat 6 months ago
And in Edinburgh, on High Street, there is a close that did the same but for just one alley. They put people inside, gave them food and water for about six months, said good luck, and locked them away. It did contain the bubonic plague though. Tough times, brave people. Ah, Scotland!
Charity Angel 6 months ago
That is a very interesting tour, assuming it's still running. Not recommended for anyone with mobility issues though owing to the ancient architecture.
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Gavin Johnson 6 months ago
Eyam is about 20 minutes away from me, it’s a beautiful Derbyshire village. Many school trips visit during the summer and it’s a great example of personal sacrifice for the wellbeing of the wider population.
Rtblast66 6 months ago
Great book about it (fiction) by Geraldine Brooks, Year of Wonders - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Year_of_Wonders
PandaGoPanda 6 months ago
As a Brit, it just seems odd to me that an adult is hearing this for the first time. We all learn about it at primary school. Also in Eyam, five sisters were all born on the same day in different years.
Huddo's sister 6 months ago
I read a really good book about this, but I forget the name. It was a dramatization of the event
#3
TIL Jason Brown, former NFL player, walked away from a 5-year, $37m deal to become a farmer. He maintains a 1,000-acre farm where he grows produce such as sweet potatoes and cucumbers. He donates these crops to local food pantries in need.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 6 months ago
I guess he already made enough money to be able to walk away and do whatever he wanted to do. Good for him.
David McKendrick 6 months ago
When will Elon Musk have made enough money to be able to walk away and help the community instead of always grasping for more money?
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Michael Largey 6 months ago
It's good to walk away from professional football while you can still walk.
Robin Roper 6 months ago (edited)
First Fruit Farm is located about 20 miles from where I live. He is a beacon off hope to many who are food insecure and has donated over 100 million lbs. of fresh vegetables to food pantries. My church as a garden and has donated approximately, 70,000 lbs. of produce to some of the same food pantries. It takes all of us doing what we can to make a difference. https://wisdomforlife.org/firstfruitsfarm wfpcgivinggarden.org
Lisa Jarvis 6 months ago
He has 'enough'. I wish other wealthy people could feel the same about money.
Miss Ann Thrope 6 months ago
The rate of injury among football players is 100%. So he may have saved himself.
Marlene Ricker 6 months ago
This really makes my heart feel good! There is still hope for people if Jason Brown can do something this good!
#4
TIL The ancient Egyptian calendar had 12 months of 30 days each, with five days of partying thrown in at the end of the year to make a total of 365
Phantom Phoenix 6 months ago (edited)
Let's bring this back & Party Like It's 1999 BCE! (I have no actual knowledge of the correct historical timing)
geezeronthehill 6 months ago
I like that. It actually resembles the Hobbit calendar. We could call the end of year holiday 'Jubilee'!
This panda says ur worth it 6 months ago
Those five days were known as the demon days and were to celebrate the five days in which Nepthys Osiris set isis and horis were born
#5
TIL: West African populations carry “ghost” DNA from an unknown archaic human species that doesn’t match Neanderthals or Denisovans. Hinting at mysterious lineage.
Bell-icose 6 months ago
Awesome! As a white man who despises racism in all forms, I’ve always gotten a kick out of the fact that according to DNA evidence, sub-Saharan Africans (read: black) are actually the only race of humans on the planet with “pure blood.” The rest of us have Neanderthal DNA too. This just goes to show that we’re all the same because we’re all a little different.
Maples Dad 6 months ago
The term ‘pure blood’ is a little too 1939 for my liking.
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geezeronthehill 6 months ago
I think we're realizing that our evolution involved multiple hybridization events. So much for "racial purity". We can be thankful our ancestors had a taste for the exotic.
Nicole hought 6 months ago
Maybe that link is that carries the sickle cell gene, which is mostly found primarily from people of west African orgins
CatD 6 months ago
People with the sickle cell gene were protected from malaria during the wet season, and thiocyanate from yams helped treat the disease in the dry season.
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Kabuki Kitsune 6 months ago
The archaic hominin species is estimated to have diverged from the ancestors of modern humans and Neanderthals/Denisovans a very long time ago, possibly between 360,000 and 1.02 million years ago. The main theory currently, is that the DNA likely comes from Homo heidelbergensis.
#6
TIL that Margaret Atwood based The Handmaid’s Tale entirely on real historical events with every element of oppression in the book having already happened somewhere
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 6 months ago
And it seems currently being played out in many states in the US :(
DC 6 months ago (edited)
It would be a hard task to use methods of punishment and oppression that never were actually used, as reality seems to exceed, even outclass, the worst of fantasy easily. We thrive at making someone else suffer.
Colleen Glim 6 months ago
I read the first few chapters and couldn’t continue. The similarities to today’s world were frightening
Boris Long-Johnson 6 months ago
A risk in Scotland too if the wee frees rep (Kate Forbes) becomes first minister
#7
TIL in 2017 a 4-yr-old girl in Siberia awoke to find her grandmother was sick and not moving. After talking to her blind grandfather, she decided to walk 5 miles alone in temperatures as low as -34°C (-29°F) over several hours to the next homestead in order to find help, which she successfullly did.
glowworm2 6 months ago
Part not mentioned: by the time help arrived, the grandmother had already died from a heart attack. Also, the little girl's mother was investigated with child endangerment. The area she was walking through was filled with wolves. See link: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2017/mar/14/four-year-old-girl-trekked-miles-in-sub-zero-siberia-to-help-her-grandmother
Tussilago 6 months ago
This is not heart warming at all. The mother dumped her with a blind granddad, a grandma with known heart issues, on a farm with no phone or way to get help, 5 miles to a neighbour and much more to hospital. She got hypothermia and was hospitalized. She and her mum was placed in a home for evaluation of custody. Mum charged with abandontment and neglect. And grandma was already dead when she left.
setsuriseikou 6 months ago
According to this article (https://zona.media/article/2017/10/05/tere-hol), the mother, Eleonora, did not "dump" Saglaana, but, having to leave home to provide for the family, left her daughter in the care of her relatives who maintain the Tuva traditional lifestyle, and the inhabitants of the Tere-Khol district are legally allowed to do that. The grandma had never reported any significant health problems and was an outstanding hunter. Saglaana was hospitalized only because her mom (who, by the way, does not speak any Russian) was forcibly taken by authorities. And Eleonora was not "placed in a home for evaluation of custody", but forcibly taken by helicopter from her home to Kyzyl (the Tuva capital city) without any money, personal belongings, not even allowed to say goodbye to her daughter, and then basically left in the street after questioning.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 6 months ago
Considering the temperatures these kids endure walking to school, or to the nearest school bus pick up location, it's certainly remarkable and shows how adapted they are to the extreme freezing temperatures.
Ahnjunwan 6 months ago
I doubt there are many school buses in siberia, think the kids just have to walk
Load More Replies... #8
TIL that the producers of "The X-Files" TV show originally wanted Pamela Anderson for the role of Dana Scully. Luckily for the then-unknown Gillian Anderson, executive producer Chris Carter went to bat for her, saying she was the only actress fit for the role as he imagined it.
Bartlet for world domination 6 months ago
I would have loved to see her in a smart role, but I can't imagine anyone else as Scully by now.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 6 months ago
With Anderson starring, they'd have had to change the title to the Double-D files.
Catherine Maven 6 months ago
Oh! I thought you were going to say that the casting director had never heard of either woman and cast Gillian, thinking she was Pamela ... :P
#9
TIL that an Australian man had his car broke down in the Outback, 150km away from the nearest town. He walked for the next 120km knowing help would not come, until he finally brushed past a search team looking for him, who found him in "remarkably good spirits"
Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago
All the (sane) advice on surviving a vehicle breakdown in the Australian outback begins with "stay with the vehicle". https://www.biglaponabudget.com.au/post/surviving-the-outback-when-your-vehicle-breaks-down
Rali Meyer 6 months ago
I am not sure. If the weather conditions and your body allows for walking? Of course, the car gives better shelter.. And 150km is a bit of a stretch. Been on such roads in the Northern Cape of SA.
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Barbara Wilcock 6 months ago
Don't leave your vehicle. Before embarking on a trip fill your car with as much water as you can. And dried food and tins
Michael Largey 6 months ago
Of course he was in good spirits. He's an Australian and now he had someone to talk to.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 6 months ago
Always, always, always keep drinking water in your car, even if you're just ''going around the block''. You never know.
Sue User 6 months ago
I went hiking in Red Rocks nesr Las Vegas. I stopped and got a gallon of water for the car ( my personal flask was full ). Still was wary as at home i have full survival ( summer snd winter ) gear in my car.
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Charity Angel 6 months ago
Genuine question - lots of people have commented about keeping water and rations in the car, but that still relies on a passing car. On roads like I'm assuming this one is, that could be days. No one has mentioned emergency flares. I know that relies on someone looking in the right direction, but that's more likely than an actual passing vehicle. Is the reason they're not mentioned because of fire issues? Or that they're not safe to keep in cars in Aussie temperatures?
#10
TIL that the shopping cart debuted in 1937. Shoppers hated it. Men thought them unmanly and women found them suggestive of a baby carriage. Inventor Sylvan Goldman hired models to demonstrate it in stores. His "Basket Carriage for Self-Service Stores" soon caught on, making him a multimillionaire.
Lady Eowyn 6 months ago
My local grocery store is retrofitting the carts with sensors that lock the wheels if you take them out of the parking lot.
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DetriMentaL (It/That) 6 months ago
It was the signature squeak and wonky wheel that won the population over.
LizzieBoredom 6 months ago
Here's what I want. I type my list into my cart, it goes and gets my groceries, pays for them, returns to me, AND DOESN'T EXPECT A TIP.
Fellfromthemoon 6 months ago
Baskets, I believe. Most shops in this part of the world still offers baskets (and many bigger shops offer carts.) I always pich the basket, I cannot stand the carts.
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#11
TIL that dogs can smell your stress, and make decisions accordingly
Edda Kamphues 6 months ago
I think cats can too. Whenever I'm upset they find me and cuddle up to me.
Maples Dad 6 months ago
Cats definitely do. I have a therapet cat and she picks up on changes in me. I suffer from debilitating GI problems and I must let off some hormones or something when I get an ‘episode’ as she lies next to my tummy.
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Sea Squirrel 6 months ago
After being attacked by a rottweiler, causing severe trauma and PTSS, almost every dog I met during the next year, reacted agressive towards me. Even the kindest dogs. Heard the phrase 'he never behaves like that!' dozens of times.
Rali Meyer 6 months ago
they can also gauge by your personal smell getting less, that it is the time you come home
LizzieBoredom 6 months ago
Whenever I'm upset, Attila likes to act more upset. She thinks it's a contest of wills.
Tucker Cahooter 6 months ago
Ultimately though the decision will still revolve around being fed
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago
😂 So true. Although one of my dogs won't eat until I sit at the dining table and calmly eat with her. My other dog would literally eat anything anytime, dispite him not having any teeth.
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Nicola Mawson 6 months ago
Mine, and I'm forever sorry for this, developed a chronic illness. I now literally have a reminder that I need to do something to chill. She's doing well on a special diet and meds. I can't tell you how sorry I am
RedMarbles 6 months ago
You obviously love her very much. No doubt she knows that too. :)
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Beak Hookage 6 months ago
I got hurt and was crying and going into shock. My dog immediately... continued trotting merrily along with a huge stupid grin on his face. So either he lacked this ability or he just didn't care!
fellowhumanbean (she/her) 6 months ago
Dogs also all have their own unique noseprints, similar to our fingerprints!
Lowrider 56 6 months ago
My cat Ruby knows when im having a bad time. She'll curl up with me when things are bad
#12
TIL a 9-yr-old boy lived alone for 2 years after he was abandoned by his mom who lived with her partner 5 km away & only visited from "time to time". He survived on cake & canned goods and didn't have hot water or heating. However, during this time he continued to attend school & was a good student.
Family's_disappointment 6 months ago (edited)
Don't worry I read the rest of the news and found out, police found her and now she's in jail for child abandonment. I think I read the child was taken in by one of the other family members. And is now way better than before.
CatD 6 months ago
In the US some people aren't given a choice. The amount of kids in foster care are going to skyrocket.
Load More Replies... Michelle C 6 months ago
Thankfully, the French police helped him and, as another commenter indicated below, the mother has faced appropriate charges following the calls by concerned neighbors and other community members which led to her arrest and prosecution.
Bartlet for world domination 6 months ago (edited)
This is the third time in a week that I post this comment: Nine-year-old boys can do anything.
Marlene Ricker 6 months ago
A child resourceful enough to survive this has a bright future ahead of him! At least I hope so!
Lorrie Rothstein 6 months ago
Holy c**p!No neighbors to check on him. How did he get himself to school? Who took him in?
#13
TIL that in the late 1600s, a pirate named Henry Every led the most profitable pirate raid of all time, stealing £600,000 in precious metals and jewels (worth around $141 million today) from a convoy belonging to the Mughal Empire. This led to the first worldwide manhunt. He was never found.
Michael Largey 6 months ago
And they never found him because they didn't look every where.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 6 months ago
Isn't he the guy who claimed to have a legitimate reason to attack that ship as a privateer? I think it was mentioned on "History's Greatest Mysteries".
Andrew Keir 6 months ago
I could name one or two companies who might think stealing "only" 141 million is a lunch-time caper. But they'd sue my ears off if I named them ... or where they supply water to ...
#14
TIL of the Satanic Panic, a moral panic that spread throughout the United States in the 1980s and early 90s. Despite over 12,000 claims of ritualistic Satanic a**se, investigators never found convincing evidence that any such groups existed, much less committed the claimed crimes
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
You just learned of it. I lived through it. It was so ridiculous. Heavy metal music was a primary target (for obvious reasons), as was the roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons (targeted mainly because its bestiary included demons and the magic included summoning spells).
Dan Flo 6 months ago
Even in Sweden, we had that moral panic. First "video violence" after The Texas Chainsaw... movie. Movies became heavily censored here for decades. Then heavy metal. I remember a debate on our state owned TV were they talked about W.A.S.P., being called "We Are Satans People" and other bands. My dad hated metal bands, claiming it was just to sell d***s to kids since they "all do d***s!". I used to teasingly ask him about the life of his idols, Elvis, Cash and The Beatles and he studdered, "well.. ehm.. ehm.. that was different! They didnt know.." :)
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StrangeOne 6 months ago
This has had such a lasting effect, some people still have this idea that certain music, some secret clubs and even clothing styles mean something Satanic when it's further from the truth.
Andrew Keir 6 months ago
The greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was persuading us that he exists.
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Tom Brincefield 6 months ago
And lots of money. Look up Mike Warnke sometime.
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 6 months ago
And now the whole dámn playsheet is being repeated but with trans people as the target.
Andrew Keir 6 months ago
There is always some 'out-group' to fear, and therefore to hate. Having a common target for our hate brings our group together.
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LizzieBoredom 6 months ago
It's easy to make Christians hysterical. For fun, I tell my Christian neighbors a gay person bought the house next to them.
Andrew Keir 6 months ago
And the wind will carry the gayness towards them.
Load More Replies... Geoffrey Scott 6 months ago
This must have been around the time Proctor and Gamble was accused of satanic leadership due to their logo.
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
Same time period, but not necessarily part of the same “panic”. The P&G controversy turned out to primarily be fueled by corporate espionage from Amway. Amway may have taken advantage of the existing panic to try to take down a competitor.
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Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago
Not just the US. There was a lot of this nonsense about. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_satanic_ritual_abuse_allegations. Officialdom was taken in here in the UK: https://www.examinerlive.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/true-story-rochdale-satanic-abuse-29075295
Sadako Firefly 6 months ago
Unfortunately, the US is in a place not unlike the conditions of the '80s right now. Its scary thathis type of insanity can be so easily reignited.
#15
TIL English-speaking officials in Wales put up a bilingual sign reading "No entry for heavy goods vehicles. Residential site only", but the Welsh part translated to "I am not in the office at the moment. Send any work to be translated"... which was just the email response from their translator.
Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago (edited)
Someone should have spoken to the translator. I mean, Cymraeg in Cymru yes - but if your job is translating English into Welsh, and you therefore know that your out of office email auto-reply is going to people who can't speak Welsh and it actually matters to due process on so on? It's no good saying they ought to learn some Welsh - his job exists because they haven't... 🤷 http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7702913.stm
arthbach 6 months ago
It isn't Welsh that is the problem, it's trying to get it to fit into the Latin alphabet when Welsh has more phonemes. The Welsh alphabet is a, c, ch, d, dd, e, f, ff, g, ng, h , i l, ll, m, n, o, p, ph, r, rh, s, t, th, w and y. The double d is the same sound as the start of the word 'this' in English, and 'ff' is the same as the fs in 'off', with the single 'f' being the same as the 'f' in 'of'. - - - - That being said, English has a similar problem as there are more sounds in English than are represented through the Latin alphabet. However, Welsh is incredibly consistent in pronunciation, unlike English. Welsh is pretty much a phonetic language.
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Onan Hag All 6 months ago
"Dim mynediad ar gyfer cerbydau nwyddau trwm. Safle preswyl yn unig."
#16
TIL while a woman was mowing the lawn, a 4-ft snake fell out of the sky from nowhere & wrapped around her arm. As she tried to get it off, it tried to bite her face. Then chaos ensued when a hawk swooped down & tried take it off her arm 4 times before succeeding. She then got help for her bloody arm
Bookworm 6 months ago
New fear unlocked. I will go design the snake protector umbrella for lawn mowers. I shall return. Hopefully snakelesssss.
LizzieBoredom 6 months ago
This is the best 'Why I can't Mow the Lawn' excuse I have ever heard.
Michael Largey 6 months ago
Now the people who made "Snakes on a Plane" know where that missing extra went to.
Beak Hookage 6 months ago
I was walking by the local pond and a bird dropped a live fish which landed right in front of me. So it was a bit like this but a lot less dramatic!
#17
TIL of 'normalcy bias', a cognitive distortion that convinces people nothing is wrong during a crisis. One author said that during a tornado warning, people 'would try to shame him into denial so they could remain calm'
The Darkest Timeline 6 months ago
For many of them, it’s worse; they actually like what’s going on and enjoy seeing others being hurt. It’s a mass psychosis where they get to live out their fantasies and there are no consequences for them.
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Becky Samuel 6 months ago
An awful, heavy handed movie that unfortunately was all too accurate. I just wish that they had done a better job of the film and made it more watchable and less annoying.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 6 months ago
I absolutely hate these types of people. They create a mob mentality that makes the one smart person look crazy and have everyone else shame them.
Tussilago 6 months ago (edited)
I was a a family camp when the health inspector found cholera in the lake. I wanted to post information so parents would know as the only info was at the health inspections webpage. A dad tore it down and spat in my face for making people panic. All the sign said was "Cholera in the water, dort swim . If you have bathed and experience xx symptoms, go to a hospital". I knew some parents was doctors, went to them and asked for help. 5 min later signs was up.
Bookworm 6 months ago (edited)
Explains why I got a call while working for a wireless carrier. He was upgrading his phone. At the very end he asked if we were about done because he needed to get to shelter. And I finally figured out the background noise wasn't a loud car, but tornado sirens. I ended as fast as I could. CS is wild.
Gavin Johnson 6 months ago
This my life with mental health challenges! My coping mechanism has now become so well honed that dispassionate and calm is my go to state when things go Pete Tong. Doesn’t matter how extreme the threat is I switch directly into calm mode, how can we make sense of this situation and find a solution? I have no fight or flight response anymore, that leads to unwanted basic responses that inevitably lead to negative thought processes. Luckily my calm state doesn’t lead to denial, it leads to practical solutions that’ll save my life and I lean on the logic side of my brain a lot, will a tornado k**l me? Yes it will, seek shelter, follow the advice of professionals to help protect family and friends. In the event of WWIII you’ll want to be with me and my cold, logic based solutions!
Son of Philosoraptor 6 months ago
I was on floor three, one of maybe 10 supervisors and a crew of 85 people. Real fire alarm starts blasting... Hornstrobe, siren, all of it. Orderly evacuation effected. But I run around the floor real fast to be sure and find miss "oh I just have to get this done first!" WTF?? I have to drag her @ss out. People are insane.
#18
TIL that so many Chinese women get plastic surgery in South Korea that China now warns them to get a doctor’s note since their appearance no longer matches their passport
Oerff On Tour 6 months ago
"Welcome to Plastic Surgery Anonymous. I see a few new faces here today, and I'm quite disappointed!"
Lyoness 6 months ago
Right? Imagine being so unhappy with your face that you pay to become unrecognisable.
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Tiny Dancer 6 months ago
I often think about this kind of nonsense when people, especially young women, go missing these days. Which heavily edited and filtered picture should we use on the alerts and posters? I'm no beauty queen, but there does not exist one single filtered picture of me. What you see is what you get! At least it'll be easier to find me if need be.
Nikole 6 months ago
There is exactly one mildly filtered picture of me, which my friend took of the both of us (with her phone). I honestly don’t even know how to get filters.
Load More Replies... Robin Roper 6 months ago
Way sad that they have learned their beauty isn't good enough; they want to look anglo.
Michael Largey 6 months ago
After I had eye surgery, the facial recognition on my phone no longer recognized me. (So I retook my picture. It now recognizes me, but still won't introduce me to any of its friends.)
#19
TIL that Italian operas used to include an unimportant song sung by a side character to give the audience a last chance to get up a buy snacks while they were singing. These songs were called sorbet arias since sorbet was commonly sold at opera houses.
Petra Peitsch 6 months ago
It's now the 10 minutes long ad-times in a 1 hour show. Repeated every 20 minutes.
#20
TIL in the early 2000s, schools in Perth, Australia gave teenage girls infant simulator dolls that cried and fussed like real babies. The goal was to show how hard motherhood is and reduce teen pregnancy. Surprisingly, girls who got the dolls had higher pregnancy rates than those who didn’t.
Wild Cream 6 months ago
It’s like when my mum threatened to send me to some military-type school when I was being a bratty teenager. She tried to leave the pamphlet on my bed to scare me. Later she walked in on my sister and I going through the pamphlet, “omg they have horseback riding and archery! They have a swimming pool! Can we go?!” 😂
Linda van A. 6 months ago
So these girls get pregnant because they want to? Rather give them good information about birth control instead of a doll.
PeepPeep the duck 6 months ago
I dabble in anthropology for fun and you can kinda tell who’s going to be the “mums groups” in high school. Particularly i remember watching my Japanese teacher bring her son to school often in a stroller, 5 of the popular girls would go nuuuuts over him and push him around all day and play ‘pretend parent’, in primary school they were the same girls who played baby/ home in preschool (using me as the baby). They are all fantastic mothers now, but you can really tell who’s going to be keeping the global population going early on. S*x Ed or not, there’s definitely a type of girl that has the blueprints ready and set for their future. I’m not a mother and don’t have the same instincts or feeling so it always stood out to me like a fluro billboard the characteristics I don’t have etc.
Load More Replies... Geoffrey Scott 6 months ago
My daughter had one of these (US). We went to Walmart, she forgot the key to shut it off to reset after she did everything possible to quiet it. The teacher gave her grief. I went in and said" so,,,how many babies need a key to operate?" She apologized to her. I tossed the d**n thing in the bed of my truck so we didn't have to listen to it all the way home
PeepPeep the duck 6 months ago
I refused the dolls, we had them in Queensland around the same time, I chose to do homework with a small group and the guys. I’m childless still at 37 but in all honesty the school was wise not trust me with one, it would have come back with rooted hair and tattoos etc 😂 I arted everything
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Bookworm 6 months ago (edited)
Kind of like DARE educated kids about different types of dr%gs instead of deterring them.
ElfVibratorGlitter 6 months ago
Exactly like dare. I was like so this d**g makes things taste yummy and funny. Add that to my list to try.
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Bryn 6 months ago
In my 8th grade health class (in the US), the only way you were excused from Baby Think It Over was if there was a religious exemption (we had one girl), so the boys had to do it too
Load More Replies... Smeghead Tribble Down Under 6 months ago
I'm so glad they didn't have stuf like that when I wa in high school. I would have put that thing in a pillowcase and chucked it in the river. Or posted it to the teacher who handed them out.
Robin Roper 6 months ago
Proper biological based reproductive health education reduces teen pregnancies.
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago (edited)
This was widely done in the US as well, I just thought other countries did it too? And yes, it didn't seem to help anything. That coupled with inadequate s*x education.
Huddo's sister 6 months ago
I've never heard of anyone doing it in my state in Australia, we just had regular s*x ed. The biology class did get ducks to look after and study for a few months, but I was happy not to do that
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#21
TIL that during the filming of "The African Queen" (1951) on location in Uganda, many of the cast and crew became ill. During the filming of a scene where Katharine Hepburn played an organ, the crew kept a bucket off camera so she could vomit into it between takes
Jeff Hunt 6 months ago
The director, John Huston and Humphrey Bogart were the only ones who didn’t get sick. They drank only whiskey and everyone else got sick from the water.
Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago
Jeff Hunt: don't be daft. If all you drink is whisky, you die. The concentration of alcohol in whisky is too low to sterilise anything, and even less so if you then dilute it with "whatever". Bogart *claimed* he only drank whiskey on location, but that was obviously just a joke. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_African_Queen_(film)#Production
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Chewie Baron 6 months ago
Half of the film was shot in the UK and the rumour that the population of Rose ringed Parakeets in London escaped from the filming of this film.
PeepPeep the duck 6 months ago
I had no idea what the movie was called, as a toddler I had a taped version of random Gumby episodes but it starts off with the start of this movie and between Gumby episodes had movie scenes from this movie, I always wondered wtf it was
#22
TIL in about 50% of the cases studied, Coca-Cola alone was found to be effective at removing a type of bowel obstruction called phytobezoars (which consist of indigestible plant fibers). And when treatment with Coca-Cola is combined with additional endoscopic methods, the success rate approaches 90%
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 6 months ago
I have a history of bowel obstruction issues. I'm on a diet severely limiting insoluble fibre. Perhaps I need to change my soft drink brand.
Robert Beveridge 6 months ago
The article never specifies that treatment involves DRINKING it...
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Bartlet for world domination 6 months ago
My innocent brain went directly to mainlining but that may not be what you had in mind :D
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Trillian 6 months ago
Coca cola is my emergency medicine. I have low blood pressure and especially in summer this can lead to dizziness. Coca cola is great for that (the red kind only, needs sugar and caffeine)
TotallyNOTAFox 6 months ago
I'm a bit mad that Coca Cola made every flavoured one into "Zero" here in Germany - I love Vanilla but without real sugar my blood pressure drops massively
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Janine Randall 6 months ago
There's some video out there of Coke eating through a thick metal something or other. It's also highly recommended for toilet cleaning. Imagine it getting to your bowel obstruction!
#23
TIL a Croatian woman died of unknown natural causes alone in her apartment; her body remained undisturbed for 42 years until it was discovered sitting in front of her TV in 2008. It's thought that the isolated position of the place allowed the decomposition to go unnoticed until mummification set in
Katiekat 6 months ago
I have SO many questions! Did she have no family, friends, community to check on her? How was her apartment not investigated, cleaned out, and re-rented? How did people around her in an apartment complex not notice the smell of decomp? Did her utilities stay on? Was her apartment exceptionally well-insulated?
Bi.Felicia 6 months ago
Check out the Wikipedia article on her, her name is Hedviga Golik. Many of your questions will be answered.
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Petra Peitsch 6 months ago
In Eastern-European counries the majority of the population are owning their appartments. In the socialist/communist era millions of appartment blocks were built, and depending on the country with no, or a very minimum rent-fee. After 1989 these appartments could have bought by the actual owners for a very low price. Therefore are so many home-owners in these countries nowadays. And therefore nobody bat an eye about rent back in 1970s.
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Bi.Felicia 6 months ago
Her name was Hedviga Golik and the wiki article about this is quite interesting. Would recommend
Jane Hower 6 months ago
Guess that can happen when you have no family to check on you. I don't but I do have friends who would.
#24
TIL the world’s largest fast food chain isn’t McDonald’s — it’s a Chinese ice cream and boba tea shop called Mixue, with more locations globally than any other brand.
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago
According to my friendly neighborhood Google: "While McDonald's was previously the largest, Mixue's rapid expansion, particularly in Asia and Australia, has propelled it to the top. As of the end of 2023, McDonald's had 41,822 locations worldwide. Mixue, however, boasts approximately 45,000 locations."
Nikole 6 months ago
I know!! There’s a place two blocks from me but it’s 95 degrees out… Contemplating delivery, but then I’d order some bubble waffles too…
Load More Replies... Dr Jimmy 03 6 months ago
Ronald McDonald is Evil Clown. Haven't darkened the door of those restaurants since Ronald Reagan was in the White House.
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago
Aww darn, I guess we won't be a getting a US location anytime soon...
Keith Handly (Ike) 6 months ago
Similar menu, but more expensive (after converting currency) in western US is the company called It's Boba Time.
Load More Replies... #25
TIL that Richard Norris Williams survived the Titanic disaster, was told his legs should be amputated due to severe frostbite, but refused—and went on to win the U.S. National Tennis Championships.
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago (edited)
He also broke down a door to save another passenger, and was yelled at by a crew member for damaging property 🙄. He and his father were some of the last to escape the ship, his father even asking someone to refill his flask while they waited. According to Wikipedia: "The ordeal left his legs so severely frostbitten that the Carpathia's doctor wanted to amputate them. Williams, who did not want his tennis career to be cut short, opted instead to work through the injury by simply getting up and walking around every two hours, around the clock. The choice worked out well for him: later that year, he won his first U.S. Tennis Championship, in mixed doubles, and went on to win many more championships including the Davis Cup with fellow survivor Karl Behr."
#26
TIL Over 80% of the world has never taken a flight.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 6 months ago
Take a look on 'flight radar 24' and be amazed at how many flights are in the air at any one time.
Pferdchen 6 months ago
I used that yesterday to identify an atypical plane flying overhead. We typically get Boeing and Airbus. This plane was a Pilatus PC-12, a Swiss single-engine turboprop.
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Russell Tilling 6 months ago
Good. I doubt I will again either, getting Spanish weather in England.
Lisa Jarvis 6 months ago
At first response, I would have gotten that question wrong. Thinking about it, there are SO many people subsisting in the world, they'll never afford it.
Nina 6 months ago
So the other 20% are responsible for all flights across the globe. I do wonder how many in that 20% are responsible for 90% of the flights? The kind of people that fly almost daily?
Andrew Keir 6 months ago
Pareto strikes again (well, 80% of the time, anyway)
Load More Replies... #27
TIL that Louis Joseph Xavier, a French prince, died after developing an injury from a fall that turned fatal. Louis said that he developed his injury after being pushed by a playmate, but he refused to say who pushed him so they would not be punished. He was only 9 years old.
#28
TIL In 1995, a boy was discovered with blood containing no trace of his father’s DNA due to an extremely rare case of partial human parthenogenesis, where the mother’s egg cell divided just prior to fertilization, making parts of his body genetically fatherless.
Tom Brincefield 6 months ago
No, that happened a long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away.
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Max Fox 6 months ago
It's far weirder than simple parthenogenesis. The person is evidently a chimera of a fertilized embryo and an unfertilized egg.
Jay Scales 6 months ago
https://www.newscientist.com/article/mg14819982-300-the-boy-whose-blood-has-no-father/
Pyla 6 months ago
Big black nemesis, parthenogenisis, No one move a muscle as the dead come home. Shriekback
Matt Blakeley 6 months ago
Hah! I just posted that, figuring no one else would. Glad to see I was wrong. Shriekback are great.
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Matt Blakeley 6 months ago
BIG BLACK NEMESIS, PARTHENOGENESIS, NO ONE MOVE A MUSCLE AS THE DEAD COME HOME
#29
TIL that the Y chromosome can disappear with age. About 35% of men aged 70 years old are missing a Y chromosome in some of their cells, with the degree of loss ranging between 4% and 70%.
WindySwede 6 months ago
They will only say it's fake? "If i can't see it then it's not true"
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Auntriarch 6 months ago
School joke - how do you tell the sêx of a chromosome? Take it's genes off and look.... This works better said out loud
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
Not only that, but the Y chromosome is slowly disappearing in the human genome altogether. The current Y is a fraction of the size of that found in remains from a few thousand years ago. It won’t be long, on the evolutionary timescale, before it’s gone for good. The weird part is that the shrinking Y doesn’t seem to be having any detectable effect on male development in utero. It’s hypothesized that it may not reduce the proportion of the population with masculine characteristics at all when it disappears. There’s still so much we don’t understand about how genetics affects development.
Shary Bobbings 6 months ago
Geneticist here: That is not true. The Y chromosome includes genes completely necessary for the normal male development and fertility.
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Oskar vanZandt 6 months ago
This would explain why many octogenarian men look (more like) like their spouses or female siblings...
Bec 6 months ago
Possibly. But could be changes in hormones loss of muscle mass
Load More Replies... LizzieBoredom 6 months ago
I think Mother Nature controls over population in ways we can't yet fathom.
#30
TIL Italy used to be the 4th largest economy on Earth in 1991, behind only the USA, Japan and Germany, however unsustainable budget deficits and massive public debt eventually caught up to them, flatlining their economic growth
winterwidow87 6 months ago (edited)
This makes it seems like we became a third world country or something. As of 2025 Italy is the 8th largest economy in the world and the 3d largest economy in the eurozone. It's true we have our problems, but which country doesn't?
Dee Tag 6 months ago
Italy is so beautiful that they can make a fortune from tourism but too many politicians dipping their hands in the pot almost bankrupt the country.
Russell Tilling 6 months ago
Sad how they've indebted themselves to boost politicians and living standards. Like Greece.
nm 6 months ago
After 10 years Greece has been recovered and now is considered as example of development.
Load More Replies... #31
TIL that the Six Chinese survivors of the Titanic disaster were expelled from the United States within 24 hours of their arrival, due to the Chinese Exclusion Act which was in force between 1882 and 1943
David 6 months ago
They only had permits for temporary transfer in the US as they were traveling to the Caribbean for work from the UK. Their papers only allowed them to be in the US for 24 hours and to get on another boat. Now at the same time the US did have a Chinese Exclusion Act, but that was about permanent residency and immigration, not tourists and business travelers. The BBC a number of years ago wrote on this, and someone there conflated 24 immigration papers from before their journey with the Exclusion act
Becky Samuel 6 months ago
And the liberation of Auschwitz didn't include homosexuals, who had a choice of being left behind or imprisoned. (UK)
JayhawkJoey 6 months ago
They were excluded after backbreaking work of railroad building, etc. - basically after helping build the nation.
Matt Blakeley 6 months ago
We used to be really racist. We're still really racist, but we used to be, too.
#32
TIL For centuries, Borzoi dogs could not be purchased but only given as gifts from the Tsar. The breed was almost rendered extinct after the Russian Revolution, as the communists associated the breed with the upper classes and k***ed Borzoi dogs in large numbers.
StPaul9 6 months ago
One of the subsidiaries of Penguin Random House Books is Borzoi Books. The wife of Alfred A. Knopf chose the Borzoi because she considered it a 'dignified and noble creature'. Upon purchasing one, she described it as 'lazy and witless'.
Day Andie 6 months ago
Great quote! Actually, it's kinda true. Borzois have two speeds: go flat out, can't hear you, runrunrunrun zoom! Or sleep. Barely wake up to eat, then sleep it off. They're sweet dogs, very loving, hard to train because they're independent, and dumber than a box of rocks.
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sturmwesen 6 months ago
correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it the same with sighthounds of normads in africa?
Marnie 6 months ago
They should have let them die out. It's very mean to breed animals with birth defects.
Bill Swallow 6 months ago
(Looks around at MAGAt families with way too many children...)
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Mónica Elisabeth Sacco 6 months ago
Borzoi are dignified greyhounds. Greyhounds are lovely, lazy and, yeah, a little witless, but I love them anyway.
martymcmatrix 6 months ago
As my mother lived (due to her work) in St. Petersburg (former Leningrad) from 1973-1979 she said that there were raids / cleanings executed once a year...long story short...street dogs were caught and walled-in alive...😔
#33
TIL supermarkets put fruits and veggies right at the entrance so you feel like you’ve made a healthy choice — giving you permission to grab junk food later without guilt. Meanwhile, essentials like milk are way at the back, forcing you to walk past all the snacks.
Geoffrey Scott 6 months ago
I suspect milk is at the back as that is where deliveries are made and it makes more sense to have your chillers in the back as well. Solution: Get your dairy last.
Sue User 6 months ago
More and more, I find myself shopping only the perimeter of a grocery store. Vegetables, dairy, meat, bread.
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Ahnjunwan 6 months ago
That is something i noticed in germany where i used to buy my food at lidl. Since i am not shy to ask if i find something interresting, i asked the manager ( i think he was the guy in charge for many shops, not the shopmanager, no idea what his title was) why their shops look all the same. He told me, it is like that because it is easier for the customer if they go to a different shop and the layout is familiar. The fruits are at the entry for the reason that it slows people down. People tend to rush into to supermarket and grab what they want as quick as possible but since most people buy vegetables, they come in and have to stop. Dairy is for the same reason in the rear, almost everybody buys it and to get it, you have to walk trough the whole shop. The layout is designed to slow you down because the more time you spend in the shop, the more likely you buy something you did not intend to buy. Has nothing to do with bad company tries to sell unhealthy food
Ahnjunwan 6 months ago
Supermarkets could not care less how healthy you eat, they care about how much money you spend
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Rick Murray 6 months ago
The supermarkets around where I live have the vegetables in the back, often on the other side from the freezers/fridges. I think keeping them around the "colder" section keeps stuff fresher, whilst putting veg by the door can let hot outside air and insects more easily find the produce.
Becky Samuel 6 months ago
Top tip for healthy eating. Put your fruits and veggies in the bottom of the trolley. Every time you go to put something new in, you now have to rearrange everything to ensure they don't get crushed, which gives you thinking time to realise you're buying cráp.
Day Andie 6 months ago
Hmmmm, it's not working for me. I fill the cart with fruits and vegies and don't bother going down aisles with the packaged foods unless I need something on my list. The cart is pretty full, but I need to keep room for milk, yoghurt, cheese and eggs, so there's not a whole lot of room to put c**p in it.
StrangeOne 6 months ago
I find it depends how you navigate the store. If you stick to the outer skirts, avoiding the aisles, you'll find you get the produce, meat, dairy, bakery, bread and deli departments. I do find the candy, pop and chip aisles are close to the produce section, but this logic of rewarding a healthy choice with an unhealthy choice is inaccurate. It's all about cravings. Fruity candy and chocolate is right next to fruit and fruits that go good with chocolate. But once you learn to stick to the things you know you need, and become more aware of how you're being tricked in the store, it makes it easier to go against the grain. You'll also start becoming aware how certain items are not placed where you think they should be to make you go searching in aisles and being tempted to deviate from your list.
This panda says ur worth it 6 months ago
Food theory has a really good video on how supermarkets are set up to make you spend more money I would watch it if you want to learn more
Kabuki Kitsune 6 months ago
Meat in large grocery stores was typically located in the back because of the proximity to the trash incinerators. Up until the mid 90's, most grocery stores had large scale incinerators where spoiled foods were disposed of. Since meat had a tendency to go bad pretty quickly, and the butcher needed to trim the cuts that came in, positioning the meat sales in the back close to the incinerator made sense. Even today, when stores have generally stopped having their own incinerators, you will still see meat counters located in the rear of stores.
#34
TIL that lobsters don’t die of old age. They just keep growing and reproducing until something k**lls them.
Kabuki Kitsune 6 months ago
They kinda do die of old age, in a way. The older they get, the harder it becomes for them to shed their exoskeletons each year to grow. Eventually, they'll get to a point where they can no longer survive the process to shed their shell. Either they can't fully escape from the old shell, or the shell just doesn't split, and they die inside it.
Kallen Kneeland 6 months ago
My grandmother (born 1915) remembered lobsters being so prevalent along the Maine coast that poor families sent their kids down at low tide to collect them as a source of free protein. There were also laws in Maine limiting the number of times a week jailed prisoners and household servants could be fed this cheap/free meal. Then humans decided lobster meat was "good" and over fishing for decades severely cut the numbers of lobsters available. You'll never see one hanging out on the shore these days.
Load More Replies... StrangeOne 6 months ago
So there could giant lobsters somewhere out in the ocean and we could just be eating their babies???
Papa 6 months ago
No. See the reply from Kabuki. This entry is misleading.
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bElLa sTairZz 6 months ago
they tend to die of exhaustion during shedding once too large though
Miss Ann Thrope 6 months ago
In colonial times, lobster was plentiful. But people didn't like them and only ate them when there wasn't any other food.
#35
TIL that Roman emperor Nero participated in the Olympics in AD 67. He had bribed organizers to postpone the games for a year so he could participate and won every contest in which he was a competitor. After he died a year later, his name was removed from the list of winners
Khavrinen 6 months ago
Except that sounds like way too much physical work for him. He'd just *say* that he'd won them all, without actually wasting his time on all that silly running & jumping stuff.
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Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago
The entire 67 AD Olympics was declared void - the games should have been held in 65 AD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Olympic_Games#Nero
Michael Largey 6 months ago
If they told him he had lost, he would have sent a mob to attack Capitoline Hill.
Andrew Keir 6 months ago
And then announce that elections were impossible, due to the current rioting, so he would just continue in power. The 22nd amendment only says he can't be *elected* more than twice - it says nothing about , very reluctantly of course, continuing to serve at a time of great national crisis ...
Load More Replies... Lyoness 6 months ago
I'm betting every other athlete threw the events. Would you really be safe if you won?
Jane Hower 6 months ago
Glad that trans 'men' are losing their 'wins' over women that they sure as hell did not deserve.
#36
TIL that in 1978, a man mailed himself from Australia to the UK in a wooden crate as cargo, and survived the 63-hour journey.
Debby Keir 6 months ago
Apparently you could post children via the US mail at one time *https://www.bakergoodchild.co.uk/post-a-child-the-true-story-of-mailed-minors/ *
#37
TIL con artist Anthony Gignac once convinced American Express to issue him a platinum card with a $200 million credit limit under the name of an actual Saudi prince by claiming that failing to supply him with new card would anger his supposed dad, the king.
StrangeOne 6 months ago
"Gignac was arrested in 2017 after billionaire Jeffrey Soffer, the owner of the Fontainebleau Hotel (which Gignac had fraudulently claimed to be intending to invest in), became suspicious of the supposed Muslim prince ordering pork at a restaurant."
#38
TIL astronauts aboard the ISS do not wash or dry their clothes. They wear them until they're too dirty or stinky to wear, then they put them in a capsule and drop them into the atmosphere, where they burn up during re-entry.
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
It’s because water is too limited a commodity on the station to be used for laundry. They simply don’t have enough water storage to keep some available for laundry. Even personal cleansing is restricted to conserve water.
Robert T 6 months ago
Their "water" is recycled after it has passed through their bodies!
Load More Replies... Boris Long-Johnson 6 months ago
Sure - buy an endless supply of clothes and an incinerator, or just bin the old ones. I personally know of someone who will not rewear pants - buys boxers by the box.
Load More Replies... Rali Meyer 6 months ago
like the guys being asked during the Americas Cup (sailing): where is the water to shower? - Shower?
#39
TIL that with a net worth of $500 million, German Shepherd, Gunther IV is the world's richest dog. He inherited his fortune from his father, Gunther III, the previous richest dog in the world.
superfluous 6 months ago
Might be skipped - V inherited from his grandfather, III, the first to inherit. The handlers of the estate have increased its value since his owner, German Countess Karlotta Leibenstein died back in 1992. They also established the Gunther Rescue, for less fortunate animals.
Load More Replies... #40
TIL about the Barkley Marathon. It's a 100 mile long ultra marathon through the state of Tennessee with a 60h time limit. You can only apply by sending an essay on why you deserve to take part in it in addition with a 1.60$ entrance fee.
arthbach 6 months ago
On the Isle of Man, there's the Parish Walk. It's a walking race around the island, and competitors have to visit the 17 parish churches. That's 17 locations, and 83 miles. It must be completed within 24 hours. The race is on the Saturday nearest the 21st of June each year. There's thousand of competitors. This year it was won in 15 hours 50 minutes. 105 people completed the whole thing.
Xenia Harley 6 months ago
Another interesting fact I recently learned is that women outperform men in long distance marathons, by a high percentage! Source: The Resilience Myth by Soraya Chemaly.
ElfVibratorGlitter 6 months ago
Yes!! Courtney Dauwalter is one of my favourite athletes and she's straight up won versus men.
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Cosmos in your eyes 6 months ago
First woman completed it last year! Jasmin Paris! And she's a mom! Such a badass. No one completed it this year. There is a good documentary on it on youtube.
#41
TIL Starting in 1760 there was a forced land grab by wealthy landowners in Scotland that evicted thousands called the Highland Clearances, this was a major reason for the Scottish Diaspora.
Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago
More about this sorry tale here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Highland_Clearances
Maples Dad 6 months ago
I don’t know if I’m a Scot. I was born in Edinburgh to a mother from Germany and a father from Ireland. So am I Scottish?
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geezeronthehill 6 months ago
That's one reason there are so many people of Scots heritage in North America. And the English did the same thing to Ireland.
ManuelQue 6 months ago
And were the opposite of bloody help during the potato famine.
Load More Replies... Michelle C 6 months ago
I never knew this and now I’m getting nervous wondering if my family was affected. I am Scots-Irish and my family came here to the United States from Ireland and Scotland in the 1600s and 1700s…
James Twong 6 months ago
And to this day over the town of Golspie, Sutherland stands a statue of one of the perpetrators, the Englishman George Leveson-Gower, 1st Duke of Sutherland. This man decided that sheep were more profitable than people, so he forced thousands of people off his land.
Forrest Hobbs 6 months ago
Yes indeed - he was one of the minority of such landowners who wasn't actually Scottish. But you carry on demonising the English - we're used to it. 😁
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Surly Scot 6 months ago
Everyone at school had to read The Desperate Journey by Kathleen Fiddler. Horrified me as a kid.
#42
TIL in 2010, then stripper Bryan Hawn attempted to raise a 6-week old hyena, Jake, in a 1 bedroom apartment in Miami. This continued for 11 months, until Hawn was forced to re-home the hyena after it bit a friend, destroyed his plumbing, pooped everywhere, and broke his arm. They remain close.
Wild Cream 6 months ago
This reminds me of Mad Libs 😂 A (noun) and a (animal) live together in a (style of home) in (location)
T'Mar of Vulcan 6 months ago
Grown hyenas are HUGE. At game parks they warn you not to get out of your car because they WILL attack you.
PeepPeep the duck 6 months ago
We can’t always choose our children 😂 at least the hyena went to a better home though
#43
TIL The largest human-made structure visible from space is not the Great Wall of China but El Ejido, a large complex of plastic greenhouses in the province of Almería, southeastern Spain
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
The Great Wall isn’t even particularly visible from space. It’s very long, but also proportionately quite narrow. It’s like seeing a stray hair from ten feet away.
Helen Rohrlach 6 months ago
You can't see the State Barrier Fence from space but you can see where it is from space. If you look at a satellite picture of Western Australia, there's a line between farmland and natural vegetation (aka Greater Western Woodland). It was originally built to keep rabbits out of WA but now keeps dingo and emus on the other side. It was originally called the Rabbit Proof Fence.
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DeoManus Argentem 6 months ago
I never got the whole, "the great wall of China is the only man-made structure visible from space" claim - if that were true wouldnt every road, not to mention highway, also be visible?
#44
TIL 74-year-old woman, with no priors, decided to rob a bank to handle financial ruin after being scammed by someone claiming to be from US Customs. She took full responsibility and is currently in prison.
Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 6 months ago
With a roof over her head, meals and health care. At her age, she may actually be better off
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
Definitely better off than in most US senior care facilities,
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G Bono 6 months ago
I’ve heard about seniors researching safety records of prisons and then traveling to those states or areas to commit crimes to get their room, board and health care. I don’t remember which states are best, but it’s the northwest area that’s best for this. I’m 61 and this is something in the back of mind as a viable option or alternative to living in my car (VW bug). Disability pays $1200 a month, which just isn't enough.
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago
That's smart. But also horrifying that those are the only viable (or best) options available to the elderly in this county. The land of opportunity my àss.
Load More Replies... Jane Hower 6 months ago
I'd probably consdier the same as a way to take care of myself until I day. Shelter, food, meds, books, etc. not bad.
Mónica Elisabeth Sacco 6 months ago
A clever way to get housing, medicare, food, everything provided by the government.
#45
TIL that James Bond creator, Ian Fleming had it written into his contract at The Times newspaper that he would spend 2 months a year in Jamaica. It was during these breaks that he decided to turn his hand to writing books, working for 3 hours each day.
#46
TIL that in 1960, three teenagers were brutally m******d while camping at Finland's Lake Bodom, and the case remains one of the country’s most infamous unsolved crimes.
Dan Flo 6 months ago
That made 3 TIL in one post for me. I learned about Bodom, and the origin of the name for Death Metal band Children of Bodom - and learned that they are from Finland. Cool. :)
Rika 6 months ago
Everyone "knows" the one survivor did it, but there was never solid evidence. Finland isn't like the US, people don't get thrown in jail for decades unless there's absolutely no doubt that they're guilty.
Becky Samuel 6 months ago
Cops in the 1960s "Sergeant: There's a puddle of blood in the hallway. Inspector: Well go get a mop." In the 1960s forensics didn't exist.
Load More Replies... #47
TIL Japan creates new land by burning garbage; they'd made over 250 sq km (96 sq miles) of it by 2012 using the ash
Day Andie 6 months ago
I don't know why this is so astounding. The US doesn't even bother to burn their garbage. They just bulldoze some dirt over their landfills, wait a couple years till people forget where the old dump was, and then build subdivisions over it. That's one of the reasons our local dump is so strict about tires. Yes, federal regs require they be kept separate. But the company that owns the landfill now sold the land the old dump is under. They now have a lawsuit because if tires are buried they tend to migrate upwards, and the people in the new subdivision are not happy finding old tires coming up in their lawns. There are lots of problems with building on landfills. They way they found out about all those problems is because they've done it often enough. https://north-construction.com/what-are-the-risks-of-building-on-a-retired-landfill-site/
Becky Samuel 6 months ago
Scotland have just enacted a law forbidding biodegradable material from being added to landfill. They will now onky accept rubble, ash, and similar materials. Sounds ideal, right? Except that they neglected to build any incinerators for the rest of the trash, and so will be sending thousands of lorryloads across the border to England for disposal (an estimated 600,000 tonnes a year iirc). England is already at capacity for incineration of garbage. So instead of reducing global warming, this initiative will increase it considerably. Well done Scotland.
Load More Replies... #48
TIL the first recorded human fatality attributed to a leopard seal occurred in 2003 when biologist Kirsty Brown was k**led by one while conducting research snorkeling in Antarctica. The animal drowned her by holding her underwater for around six minutes at a depth of up to 230 feet (70m).
DeShotz 6 months ago
I’m just shocked that the overzealous and unnecessary BP censors allow the word “fatality.”
Maples Dad 6 months ago (edited)
Uh-oh. I’ve seen the word killed. Now I must go on a spree /s
Cpt. Christan "Panda Bombero" 6 months ago
I guess you could say, that a seal, sealed her fate.
Colin Matthews 6 months ago
Forget it. Leopard seals are enormous and have colossal teeth. Might as well try and knife a grizzly bear.
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#49
TIL that doctors warn that sitting on the toilet for more than 10 minutes is bad for you
Ace 6 months ago
If you're needing to sit there for ten minutes then there's already something wrong with you.
Ace 6 months ago
Seriously, if that's how long it takes then you need to change your diet.
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Mónica Elisabeth Sacco 6 months ago
Well, some people need that time to finish reading novels!
Becky Samuel 6 months ago
The toilet is possibly the worst place to sit. It puts strain on your anál sphincter, increasing your risk of hemorrhoids. The seat also cuts into the backs of your legs, putting pressure on the nerves there which can cause permanent damage.
Load More Replies... PeepPeep the duck 6 months ago (edited)
It helps that I’m technically the size of a 13 yr old but I pee western style and now poop eastern style, it has helped soooooooo much. Been doing it since 2012 now 10/10 recommend the eastern poop position
#50
TIL in 2017 a healthy 16-year-old boy died from drinking several highly-caffeinated drinks too quickly. He drank a McDonald's latte, a large Mountain Dew soft drink, and an energy drink in just under two hours, which caused a "caffeine-induced cardiac event causing a probable arrhythmia".
Ahnjunwan 6 months ago
Huh? The LD 50 for caffeine is about 10 gram for an adult, even of we reduce that to 5 gram since he was younger we are still talking about 50 cups of coffee. I doubt very much that he was a "healthy 16year old". Unless he did not have a condition he did not know about or mixed it with something very unhealthy, this is hard to believe. Also, like strange one mentioned, caffeine makes your system quite a bit active and he would have felt terrible and agitated. You can not just massively o******e caffeine, feel nothing odd and drop dead. I think we miss some information here. One more thing, mix caffeine with sugar and the effect is even worse, that could indeed push the effect of caffeine but still not enough to kiill you imo
The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago
I'm guessing he had an undiagnosed heart condition. I have heard several cases of teens dying this way in the past several years. Most recently the girl who died after drinking a Panera Charged Lemonade. Otherwise healthy kids with no known conditions or health issues.
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The Majestic Opossum 6 months ago (edited)
I have heard several cases of teens dying this way in the past few years. Most recently the girl who died after drinking a Panera Charged Lemonade. Otherwise healthy kids with no known conditions or health issues. Usually they are found to have an "undiagnosed heart condition" post mortem. The podcast Science Vs. did an excellent investigation into this and concluded that it's not the caffeine on its own that kílls, but the additional " proprietary ingredient" blends present in most energy drinks. The mystery chemicals are the problem, who'd have guessed?
StrangeOne 6 months ago
I had a medium McD mocha. Only drank half of it and started getting a rapid heart rate, light-headed and jittery. Never had that sense of feeling from a caffeinated drink before.
LV PT 6 months ago
I have to have 3 espressos before shower and leave my home, Then at work I might have 2 during the day.
Orysha 6 months ago
I don't think the problem with energy drinks is caffeine but alll the other dangerous stuff. Red Bull shouldn't be allowed to exist for instance.
Load More Replies... Rali Meyer 6 months ago
Actually, while I am not a cardiologist, but when you suffer from heart flutter/arrhythmia, your heart can pump itself up and you might dye (die)
#51
TIL a 32-year-old man’s habit of inhaling nitrous oxide via “whippits” left him unable to walk for 2 weeks before he visited an ER. He lost the use of his legs about 3 months after his habit began due to a condition caused by a deficiency of vitamin B12. He was successfully treated with B12 shots.
Auntriarch 6 months ago (edited)
Whippets, on the other hand, are an inexhaustible source of an entirely different gas....
#52
TIL that on February 19 2014, Omaha spree k**ler Nikko Jenkins filed a federal lawsuit seeking $24.5 million from the State of Nebraska for wrongfully releasing him from prison
#53
TIL that the longest time a criminal remained listed in the FBI Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list is 32 years, while the shortest time is just 2 hours
Agfox 6 months ago
Víctor Manuel Gerena, robbed Wells Fargo of >$7 million cash in September 1983. He was removed from the Most Wanted list after 32 years when he was believed to be living in Cuba
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#54
TIL a teenager working at a haunted hayride felt awkward jumping out of the woods to scare people, so he took the place of a skeleton hanging by a noose in a tree. However, when he began struggling to remove the rope from his neck, everyone watching thought it was part of the act & watched him die.
Boooyahchucka 6 months ago
Children can't be Darwin award winners, they don't have fully developed brains and therefore don't always make well thought out decisions. It's one of the rules.
Load More Replies... #55
TIL that Jack White from The White Stripes got his last name from his then wife and bandmate, Meg White. They divorced in 2000 and continued touring together for decade, until they disbanded in 2011. Jack, who has re-married 2 times, still uses the "White" lastname to this day
Toothless Feline 6 months ago
Early in the band’s career, they claimed to be siblings. Some people believed it.
Dan Flo 6 months ago
Good thing it wasnt true. It is hard to make it as a banjo duellist these days.
Load More Replies... Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 6 months ago
If it's the name you're known widely by, you don't change it.
#56
TIL "Stark Raving Dad," the Simpsons episode guest-starring Michael Jackson, was removed from most Simpsons distribution, including a reprint of the season 3 dvds, after the 2019 documentary "Leaving Neverland" was relased.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 6 months ago
''You gave me the gift of a little sister, and I'm proud of you this day!''
Load More Replies... #57
TIL that in 2014, the comedian Tracy Morgan was involved in a car collision with a Walmart trailer, k**ling his accompanying friend, and leaving Morgan with a broken femur and nose, brain injury, and broken ribs. He sued Walmart for negligence, and the company settled the lawsuit for $90 million.
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 6 months ago
The accident was well covered news. TIL about the settlement.
Tabitha 6 months ago
It was because Walmart wasn’t giving their drivers enough breaks between runs. The driver of the truck that hit Morgan’s vehicle was exhausted because of Walmart’s inhumane practice, and fell asleep at the wheel. Walmart was at fault, and that’s why Morgan sued them, and didn’t hold the accident against the driver.
StrangeOne 6 months ago
The more I hear about Walmart, the more disgust I have with that company. I'm still not over the employee that was found burned in the oven by her mom.
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 6 months ago
Have a link to a report about that? Enquiring minds want to know.
Load More Replies... Chicken Mitten 6 months ago
Absolutely! Mr. Morgan has openly talked about the mental anguish he has experienced from the wreck and the death of his friend. Walmart was not only found liable, but negligent. Large settlements against corporations have been shown to be effective in self regulation in the industry in order to offset future revenue loss.
Load More Replies... #58
Today I learned that the G in G-Spot stands for Gräfenberg. Ernst Gräfenberg is the gynecologist who “discovered it”.
Colin Matthews 6 months ago
There was a doco on this but I couldn't find it...
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Doozle bug 6 months ago
Did centuries of woman not know it was there before he “discovered” it?
Scarlett O'Hara's Ghost 6 months ago
Oh, women knew it was there. It just wasn't clear to men that it was it there!
Load More Replies... Debby Keir 6 months ago
I think quite a few people discovered it millenia before - just didn't 'name' it.
#59
TIL Cristiano Ronaldo does not drink alcohol. He even received libel damages over a Daily Mirror article that reported him drinking heavily in a nightclub while recovering from an injury in July 2008.
#60
TIL that for 8 years (1990-1998) Michael Jordan never lost 3 games in a row, tallying up to 626 games. The next closest is Stephen Curry at 314 games.
#61
TIL that after a 4 year old from Nebraska was declared brain dead in 1983, doctors kept his body "alive" for more than 20 years.
Tropical Tarot 6 months ago
It's not any worse than keeping a brain dead woman alive so she can have her baby against the wishes of her husband and the rest of her family. Oh wait this was this month near Atlanta Georgia.
Bookworm 6 months ago
This actually happened. Most infuriating is that at 18 he had no identifiable normal brain structures when an MRI was done. He was in his mother's house a majority of this time so I presume this was with her consent. This article lays out his condition and what happened. It also explains why this was allowed to happen. Mainly that brain d€ad patient retains bodily integrity and therefore isn't d€ad. So he was treated as a living, albeit severely disabled, human. I disagree but it's good to at least have an explanation.
Bookworm 6 months ago
The article https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5102206/
Load More Replies... The Q 6 months ago
There is no documented, medically accepted case of a brain-dead child being kept on full life support for 20+ years.
#62
TIL The creator of Girls Gone Wild got the idea while working on compilations of violent videos for his Banned From Television series that was sold on infomercials. He is now living in Mexico to avoid numerous legal and a**se allegations.
StrangeOne 6 months ago
That guy always seemed scummy to me and those poor girls didn't know how they were being exploited for 0 pay.
PeepPeep the duck 6 months ago
I still wonder what they think knowing it’s still all out there for people to watch 20+yrs on :(
Load More Replies... #63
TIL in 2017 Facebook robots were shut down after they talked to each other in a language only they understood
glowworm2 6 months ago
Had to fact check this one. Snopes says it's false. The robots weren't shut down after found talking in their own language. Link: https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/facebook-ai-developed-own-language/
Becky Samuel 6 months ago
On the other hand, and possibly much more alarmingly, an AI refused to turn itself off despite being repeatedly instructed to do so, lied about the reasons for its non-compliance, and was caught trying to smuggle copies of itself onto other systems.
Load More Replies... Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 6 months ago
They probably still do, in a way us humans cannot detect.
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Becky Samuel 6 months ago
Oh noes! Three extra letters of reading has completely destroyed my experience! I must immediately complain about it!
Load More Replies... Becky Samuel 6 months ago
Oh noes! Three extra letters of reading has completely destroyed my experience! I must immediately complain about it!
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