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“Today I Learned”: 30 Interesting Things About The World That People Have Only Recently Found Out (New Pics)
When we come across something intriguing, we often feel the urge to share our excitement and pass it along. But instead of interrupting our roommates with random tidbits of information in the middle of a TV show, we can now turn to the internet.
There's a subreddit called 'Today I Learned' (or TIL for short) and its 30.4 million members make it the fifth-largest community on the platform. People go there to share all the new and fascinating stuff that blows their minds, and since its inception in 2008, the place has become like an encyclopedia.
From cheating in professional sports to kids' gaming habits, here are the best recent posts from TIL.
(Additionally, for those who want to learn more, check out Bored Panda's previous articles on the subreddit, which can be found here, here, and here.)
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL of the lesbian Blood Sisters, who, starting in San Diego in 1983, gave their own blood and organised blood drives to make up the shortfall after gay men were banned from donating because of the AIDS crisis.
Starr's SeaUtopia 2 years ago
I wish "normal" people had instant communities as do the "normal - divergent". My daughter is trans and her community of LGBTQ+ friends are as close as family. It's harder to make friends (also see post about friends) if you don't fit into a ready made community. It's the only thing I miss about high school.
Jay 2 years ago
It's hard even when you do. Gay people were no easier for me to make friends with than straight people. I thought being gay was what made me weird, nope. Gay people think I'm weird, too. LOL
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And the like 2 years ago (edited)
I've always wondered how they justify the ban. I mean: the point, from what I understand, is the sex promiscuity which, allegedly but from my knowledge of the male gay world not so allegedly, is higher in gay men. But it's not being gay per se. If I'm a gay man and I'm in a stable relationship and I don't engage in risky behaviours, why should I be banned?
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Deborah Harris2 2 years ago
That looks so much like Miriam Margolyes in the centre at the bottom, I wonder if it is her :)
Densolo 2 years ago
It is not. I actually know one of the women in this photo. Miriam is British btw
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RELATED:
#2
TIL about Brady Feigl and his doppelganger, Brady Feigl. In addition to sharing a name and extreme similarities in appearance, each was a minor league baseball pitcher and had the same elbow surgery performed by the same doctor. A DNA test confirmed no relation.
Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)
If the DNA test, "confirmed no relation", which one of them is the alien that hatched out of a pod? (see documentary, Body Snatchers)
AndThenICommented 2 years ago
The Jeff goldbloom version :-) (I know it’s the remake, but it’s good)
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Jaaawn 2 years ago
I have a doppelganger somewhere in my city. He's been spotted a few times by various people, myself included. When I saw him, I was sitting on a bus, idly looking out the window- it was a real wtf moment as he was even wearing the same clothes as me. My partner saw him in a KFC a few years and took a photo from a distance. So there's photographic evidence but still none the wiser as to who this mysterious twin of mine is!
C Foster 2 years ago
Same here, over the past 15 years or so there have been about a dozen sightings by various people. The most recent sighting revealed that he drives the same vehicle as me, color/model. I have not seen this person myself.
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pink_panda 2 years ago
Yes, I wonder if that's how they found each other?
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scag$y 2 years ago
We're definitely living in a simulation. I have no doubt. I decided for certain when I met my very own doppelganger. He was 187cm tall, I'm 187cm. He wears size 11 shoes, I wear size 11 shoes. He was wearing a blue shirt, I was wearing a blue shirt. He was wearing black shorts, I was wearing black shorts. He was wearing blue socks, I was wearing blue socks. He hated what Disney had done to Star Wars, so did I. Uncanny. Maybe the clothing is a bit of a false positive though, because we were playing for the same football team at the time. But otherwise, wow! Oh! He was a POC and I'm caucasian. Also, our faces were completely different. But otherwise, ya know, kinda spooky eh? Anyway, simulation. For sure.
glowworm2 2 years ago
I was once told by a cashier at an Entenmann's/Thomas' Warehouse that I looked exactly like his son. I was 21 at the time (now 34) and his son was 14, and deceased. Also, I'm a woman. He showed us a photo and I did look exactly like him and another employee agreed. It was extremely creepy.
#3
TIL Hirsoshima, Japan is one of the few places outside of the US that celebrates Martin Luther King Jr day, due to his outspoken views on nuclear nonproliferation and disarmament.
Sarah SH 2 years ago
My kids get off of school for Columbus Day, but not Martin Luther King Jr. Day, which I find totally backwards.
Disgruntled Pelican 2 years ago
That’s crazy. I didn’t know anyone still observed Columbus Day. Schools in my city haven’t taken that day off in at least a decade. They are always out for MLK day, though.
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#4
TIL To "protect the truth," a woman recorded hundreds of thousands of hours of TV news between 1977 and 2012. Her archives grew to about 71,000 VHS and Betamax tapes stacked in her home and apartments she rented to store them. Upon her death, the Internet Archive agreed to digitize the volumes.
RagDollLali 2 years ago
Every time I think people can't disappoint me any more than they already have, I remember QAnon and heave a sigh deep enough to throw out my back🤦
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Kookamunga 2 years ago
Her name was Marion Stokes. The IA folks are going to be working on the digitizing for a long long time. Here is the link to her collection. https://archive.org/details/marionstokesvideo marion-sto...51-png.jpg 
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
Not such a crazy idea. We're already seeing streaming services re-edit films post-release.
Nicole Weymann 2 years ago
Thousands of old movies have already been lost because they've disintegrated. That's an enormous cultural treasure lost.
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Chewie Baron 2 years ago
She didn’t rent the apartments, , she bought them. She had seven apartments all full of tapes. She was able to buy them as she was decently wealthy.
Milford Biggenson 2 years ago
“It is our solemn oath that we, the Internet Archive, digitize this footage she documented to benefit the free world and….waitasec, these aren’t news programs, these are all Coronation Street!”
Pat Bond 2 years ago
Checkout the Monkhouse collection. Started this in the 1950's. Bob Monkhouse OBE (1928-2003) was one of the UK's best-known comedians, with a long career combining writing, acting, stand-up and as a TV game show host. He was also an expert on silent cinema and an avid film collector. His film collection, started in the late 1950s, became the subject of legal action in 1979 when he was accused of attempting to defraud film distributors. However, he was acquitted. He also amassed a huge collection of video recordings, having first acquired a recorder in the mid-1960s. In 2008, Kaleidoscope and the National Film Archive went through the recordings and discovered a number of television broadcasts that had previously been thought lost.
#5
TIL in Nome, Alaska in 1925, a diphtheria epidemic struck and there was no antitoxin left. Land, air, and sea routes were unavailable, so 20 mushers and 150 sled dogs relayed the serum across 674 miles in 5 1/2 days, in subzero temperatures, near-blizzard conditions and hurricane-force winds.
JC 2 years ago
Actually Balto only ran the very last, shortest, and easiest leg, but gets all the credit since he was the one who actually arrived in the town.
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Subtlelikeawreckingball 2 years ago
And Togo ... Togo's leg of the journey was the longest and most dangerous, but Balto gets the most recognition for bringing it across the finish line
scag$y 2 years ago
They made an awesome movie of it called (as you might expect) 'Togo' starring a whole bunch of awesome doggos (and Willem Dafoe). Really great movie.
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Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
Not that it isn't a cool fact and all, but if most of the commentators can name two of the sled dogs and their perspective movies, I'm thinking it might not be as unknown as the others, lol!
norabest321 2 years ago
This is why the Iditarod started. It's like a marathon in that somebody did this epic human endurance distance crossing for a good reason. Marathon: dude runs 26 miles to say We Won! Iditarod: medicine was needed a billion miles away and some awesome people and dogs ran it all the way in 5 days. And Togo should have his own statute next to Balto.
Becky Samuel 2 years ago
Over 150 dogs have died running the Iditarod (and that's just the ones since they started recording dog deaths, there were many others). Most of these died from asphyxiation pneumonia caused by inhaling their own vomit -a horrible way to go as they gasped for oxygen while freezing to death on the ice.
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Sharon Ingram 2 years ago
You learned that TODAY? That was part of my education in middle school 55 years ago. And I read the Reader's Digest Condensed Version when I was 10 or 11.
#6
TIL about "Terminal Lucidity." The unexpected return of mental clarity and memory shortly before the death of patients suffering from severe psychiatric and neurologic disorders.
Jaaawn 2 years ago
I have experienced this several times whilst giving palliative care to people with dementia and Alzheimer's.
Bree 2 years ago
It takes a very special person to do that work. Thank you for all that you do.
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DforDory 2 years ago
True. My grandba had Parkinson's,later developed Alzheimer's and the day she died, my mom visited her in the nursing home and when she returned home,told me I needed to go ASAP for a last visit,because grandma was clear all of a sudden and nurses also said,this IS THE SIGN. 30 minutes later the phone rang, grandma died and I never had the chance to say goodbye. It's like she waited to say bye at least from one person.
DforDory 2 years ago
I just now remembered, that in 2021 November I started working at a dental clinic as coordinator. My first ever patient to deal with, was a nice fresh pensioner from abroad,who decided to get all his teeth done and go on a world trip. He missed his Monday appointment (had his phone turned off,which for older people is not unusual when traveling),when he would have gotten his teeth,then wouldn't come on Tuesday either,so I called the contact person... I got informed he passed away in the weekend. So yeah..I am convinced this is true,that people suddenly do/say out of the ordinary things before they die.
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ISeeWendiGo 2 years ago
I've seen this so many times while working in nursing homes. If one of our residents with dementia suddenly had a good day we knew that they were likely going to pass in a day or two.
Thomas Bentley 2 years ago
That seems like it matches my great grandmother. She was tapping out morse code on her lap minutes before she died.
Yeah, okay. 2 years ago
Oh, that is cool, and I'll bet she had a story behind that. Was she a code operator in her youth, maybe? Secondly, what was the message??
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Lory 2 years ago
I've had families members pull the patient's DNR (Do Not Resuscitate) because of this. They thought their 90 year old plus grandmother was going to recover because she suddenly became lucid. We had to run a code blue when she died. Poor grandma ended up dying with a tube down her throat and broken ribs. I now explain to family members that there is a possibility that this might happen to their love one. By the way, that family member that pulled the DNR was a firefighter.
Sara Haynes 2 years ago
My wife was a long term care nurse. A woman with severe dementia, didn't talk or feed herself, whose husband came to visit every day. He was diagnosed with brain cancer and died within weeks of his diagnosis. The day he died, she started walking and talking and eating in the dining room, for about a week, before her dementia returned. She died shortly thereafter. in answer to how this happens, I have to believe in the eternality of the spirit.
Aileen Grist 2 years ago
It can happen to anyone. Someone is unconscious and visibly dying then they suddenly 'get better' will sit up in bed, drink, talk, eat all sorts and then just lie down and go back to dying.
Lilly's Mom 2 years ago
This is true, happened to my husband who had lung cancer. He was in the ICU, he ate his supper and was coherent and making jokes, an hour later he wasn't sure where he was and was fighting the Bi-Pap. Then he died a couple of days later.
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#7
TIL At the second Tour de France, the first four finishers were disqualified because they took the train.
WindySwede 2 years ago
Was it in the rulebook? "You can't use the train"? - me after watching to much 'Taskmaster'..
Load More Replies... Donkeywheel 2 years ago
The reason: the early races were in complete autonomy. They had to carry food, water, spare tires, and stop at a shop if needed. No one was following so it was easy and tempting to cheat.
Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago (edited)
Tour de France: One Hundred Years of Cheating. Maybe that's the actual sport? Who can cheat the best?
gerard julien 2 years ago
" Who can cheat the best? " I think Lance Armstrong was the best !
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ConstantlyJon 2 years ago
Fair. I would rather take the train than bike through the mountains as well.
Huxleyporgsarecool 2 years ago
one of the other racers grabbed the back of a car by tying a string to the back and holding it in his teeth
Ian Webling 2 years ago
To add: Because of cheating and other nefarious activities, it was decided to have no more races. It was called the Last Tour Tour de France. So if anyone asks the the last Tour de France was held, the correct answer is 1904.
#8
TIL that in the Fukushima nuclear disaster, the total number of deaths, including deaths from cancer due to radiation exposure, is 1.
2x4b523p 2 years ago
Also a few hundred older men volunteered for the cleanup to spare young people, as they would likely die of old age before they would develop radiation related cancer.
Adam Jeff 2 years ago
But there have been more than 2000 deaths attributable to the evacuation of the area. I would say these are part of the death toll of the disaster (even if you argue the evacuation was a mistake, it is still a consequence of the accident. And those numbers don't allow to conclude that it was a mistake, because for that we need to know how many deaths would have occurred had they not evacuated).
DrBronxx 2 years ago (edited)
Yup. Fukushima has suffered a lot more as a whole from incorrect information and fear of radiation than it ever did from actual radiation.
Adam Jeff 2 years ago
Possibly, but that depends on how many radiation-related deaths would have occurred if they hadn't evacuated, not how many did occur.
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A P 2 years ago
And yet, we still deal with power issues because a huge portion of the public is a bunch of luddites that think chernobyl happens every 5 minutes wherever there's a nuke plant.
NamiKoa 2 years ago
As long as no one is happy storing nuclear waste in their back yards, I think nuclear power will be problematic.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
Back when that happened, my GF freaked. She asked me if the radiation could come here. The entire Pacific ocean separates the USA from Japan. so NO.
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago (edited)
High winds blow to the east from Japan to the USA, so it wasn't really unreasonable to assume that it could be a possible problem.
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rodger coghlan 2 years ago
Who the hell puts backup generators in the basement near the ocean?
Horten Ho-229 (she/her) 2 years ago
This was not Chernobyl. They did not send people into the reactor hall as part of their shifts, and there were no actual explosions, just hydrogen going boom outside of the reactors.
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TIL of Baseball Hall of Famer Rube Waddell, who, despite his skill, showed various unpredictable behaviours including leaving midgame to go fishing, and was also incredibly easily distracted by shiny objects, puppies (who he would leave the field to play with), and fire trucks, which he would chase.
Keerthi Vardhan 2 years ago
That was a dog spirit posession. That explains pretty much all the behavior and also why he was good with the ball.
Joi Cain 2 years ago
This. Is. A. Brilliant. Observation. I believe in this
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Den Ver 2 years ago (edited)
His career ended when he was sprinting after a puppy with a shiny collar that was riding on a fire truck. The truck suddenly stopped ... he didn't.
Michelle C 2 years ago
Sadly, those obsessions would literally plague him to the end of his career and his death from tuberculosis in a sanatorium at the age of 37.
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Milford Biggenson 2 years ago
They missed the part where Rube Waddell was bitten by a radioactive puppy in his early teens.
Daniel Atkins 2 years ago
You know that they are really good if they are in the Hall of Fame despite wandering away from games.
Justin Trouble 2 years ago
I can understand everything but the fishing, unless there is a puppy at the pond.
Yeah, okay. 2 years ago
They didn't say he used a pole to fish. Maybe he jumped into the water after them Golden Retriever-style.
Load More Replies... Neuridivergent 2 years ago
I have adhd and that is extreme. I go with dog possession extremely strong previous life personality. I just can't decide which breed.
#10
TIL more than 1 in 10 Americans have no close friends. The share of Americans who have zero close friends has been steadily rising. From 3% of the population in 1991 to 12% in 2021. The share who have 10 or more close friends has also fallen - from 33% to 13%.
Wouter Van den Broeck 2 years ago
Strange, but the fall in % of close friends seems to coincide with the rise of use of social media.... any coincidence ?
David Hale 2 years ago
I am in the 12%. I am sad every day. Cherish your friends. Being without friends slowly destroys a person.
Vasana Phong 2 years ago
Sadly but true, I think when you’ve been stabbed in the back multiple times from”friends “, every thing is meh
scag$y 2 years ago
*TRUE or FALSE?* They started a club for all those people without a friend. But they kept having to shut it down because the members made friends with each other, which meant that they were no longer eligible to be in the club.
The Chronic Insomniac 2 years ago
I am part of that 12% since my husband passed February 22, 2022
Alan Christensen 2 years ago
I have one close friend and he's about to die of cancer. But before we met eleven years ago I had no close friends, and I was fine with that.
#11
TIL In 1971, the Texas legislature unanimously passed a resolution honoring "Boston Strangler" Albert DeSalvo for his work in "population control." Representative Tom Moore Jr. introduced the bill to prove that they pass legislation with no due diligence given to researching the issues beforehand.
pusheen buttercup 2 years ago
You know what else is population control... Abortion and birth control
Joshua David 9 months ago
Billionaire capitalists want to prevent these abortions and birth control because less people means less consumers spending money on them so they're basically protecting future profits.
Load More Replies... RagDollLali 2 years ago
As someone who's lived in Texas most of their life, I can promise you there is a very large population of us who are trying to fight POS like Ted Cruz and definitely did NOT vote for him. It's getting to the point where most of us are trying desperately to leave a state that we used to love, and really suffer when we are forced to deal with the aftermath of the laws that these disgusting and terrible people are passing.
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Barbra E. Nyberg 2 years ago
If i were president, i would give texas back to mexico, and throw in florida for sh*ts and giggles.
Lauren Lewis 2 years ago
But where would we get our entertaining news headlines? I know California is crazy, but not Texas or Florida crazy.
Load More Replies... Belynda Young 2 years ago
You all realize they were making a comment on how legislation was passed, right. It was not about reproductive rights or anything else. Just look at what your law makers can do.
Neuridivergent 2 years ago
The point still holds that they probably don't even read it before passing it. Reproductive rights is the easiest to see how that can go wrong, but there are certainly other examples.
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Catlover129 2 years ago
I’m from Boston originally. They were so pressured into closing this case and putting someone behind bars that DNA evidence in the 1980s showed they may have convicted the wrong person. My uncle was a detective who worked on this case and till the day he died he swore “Al wasn’t working alone”.
Disgruntled Pelican 2 years ago
In 2013, DNA evidence proved DeSalvo’s connection to the murder of one of the victims, Mary Sullivan.
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Stan Brooks 2 years ago
Well, it was in Texas after all. Quickly replacing Florida as the home of the crazies.
#12
TIL Zhang Zongchang, a Chinese warlord, had proclaimed that he would return only in a coffin if he was defeated in battle. When his forces were pushed back in a campaign, he was true to his word—he was paraded through the streets, sitting in his coffin and smoking a cigar.
Adam El Helweh 2 years ago (edited)
Also, the "dogmeat general" once visited a statue of the Dragon King to pray for water as the region he was ruling (Shandong) was under a pretty hard famine at the time. When his prayers failed to yield results, he slapped the statue of the water god "several times" and prompted his soldiers to fire artillery into the sky "for several hours" ( ISBN 9781439188392)
A Wild Bean 2 years ago (edited)
iirc there was also a woman who rode around London in a hearse because why tf not
#13
TIL The "shower effect" of having more creative ideas in the shower or doing moderately boring activities is a real thing. Physicists and authors reported 20% of their most creative ideas and solutions to problems came with a wandering mind. Later papers termed this "the shower effect".
Zia Barrett 2 years ago
My better ideas seem to turn up when dozing off, the time between disappearing beneath blanket and sleeping. Have to keep a notebook between pillows.
JoyfulZebra 2 years ago
I'm pretty scatterbrained, but I usually have lucid thoughts whenever I'm too tired to write them down.
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Ali H M Salehuddin 2 years ago
How come mine only comes (if ever) when I'm on my porcelain throne..
OmBoyGanesh 2 years ago
To achieve this, Einstein worked at the patent office, Sheldon Cooper at the Cheesecake Factory.
Christof Irran 2 years ago
But that's not where Einstein got his ideas. According to himself "I thought of it while riding my bicycle."
Load More Replies... Alan Christensen 2 years ago
Yes, a period of intense work on a problem, followed by some mentally undemanding activity, allows the subconscious to work in the background, connecting thoughts, experiences and information in new ways. Most of the good ideas in my office happened in the lounge area or at lunch.
Susan Bosse 2 years ago
It's doing mundane things that you're doing by rote. Allows your mind to wonder about.
#14
TIL onions are toxic to dogs. They can cause hemolytic anemia and result in death. A 45-lb. dog would only have to eat one medium to large onion to experience dangerous toxicity levels.
Vasana Phong 2 years ago
Grapes/raisins, chocolate, garlic,I love my Jerry too much to even give him any form of human food, i cringe when I see ppl giving their dog chocolate chip cookies or stuff that can cause potential harm,Jerry will be 17 years old this June, eating only kibble and can dog food
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Jo 2 years ago
Xylitol is also highly toxic to cats and dogs. Teatree oil is toxic for cats...
Tishia partchey 2 years ago
Thank you! My mom uses it for my cats. Luckily no harm so far but I'll get her to stop
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Sarah SH 2 years ago
My yellow lab is always on the hunt for people food, particularly bread, and has even eaten parts of the bag too. I have to put especially dangerous things like brownies way out of reach. (She somehow manages to get things that seem completely inaccessible for a dog). She watched me set a box of chocolate doughnuts on top of the fridge once and gave me a look as if to say “Challenge accepted.”
Anon822209 2 years ago
Labs are just adorable furry garbage disposals. I'm convinced. I used to keep a list if things my lab has eaten. It included but was not limited to: half a pizza stolen off of the counter, an oven mitt, a loaf of bread (also stolen), a bag of gelt including the foil, and a steel-toed boot.
Load More Replies... Lolly 2 years ago (edited)
One of my dogs once ate 1 raisin and about an hour later started to be sick. Had no idea what was wrong as grapes and raisins were not allowed in my house for this reason. Took her straight to the vets and my mum who had been at my house came with me. When asked by the vet if she had eaten something she shouldn't like chocolate, onions, grapes or raisins my mum said that she had given her 1 raisin even though she knew they were band but didn't believe me that they were toxic to dogs so gave her one anyway. 1 raisin made her that ill. I was livid with my mum she wondered why my dogs weren't too keen on her
Not-a-Clue-What-to-Call-Myself 2 years ago (edited)
I hope she paid the vet bill and your dog bit her.
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John L 2 years ago
Neither did Rachael Rae. IIRC, she killed her first dog and had to adjust the ingredients in her brand dog food "Nutrish", to remove them. That was a big black mark on her career.
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Fraxinus excelsior 2 years ago (edited)
Any plant related to onions, even alliums, also nuts, mushrooms lots of stuff. Check out veterinary websites.
Auntriarch 2 years ago
I didn't know this either. I used to give my dog garlic in his food to repel ticks
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howdylee 2 years ago
Ok, eating a whole onion i can see being a problem. What if they eat something that had onion powder in it, or like 1 diced onion bit... is that harmful? (serious question - i recently got my first dog, have avoided giving her human treats for fear of a minute amount of seasoning could be bad)
Becky Samuel 2 years ago
No, a little bit of onion seasoning isn't going to kill your dog or make it sick. Lots of people use garlic for their dogs as a method of reducing and repelling parasites without any ill effects. Raisins and grapes are much riskier - I can totally see why someone would give grapes or raisins asa treat withiut realising, ut who the heck is rewarding their dogs with a chunk of raw onion!
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talliloo 2 years ago
not only onions but grapes/raisins and, i recently found out, avocados. and, of course, chocolate. any time i am eating chocolate and they come around i tell them 'it's chocolate' and then they walk away. but, also, when the day comes that i have to send them over the bridge i will make sure they will get one chocolate kiss. i saw a jar of these in my old vet's office with a sign that said they were parting snacks for the rainbow bridge as every dog should taste chocolate before they go.
TheAnimalGoddess 2 years ago
That's so kind of them & you! 💖 I had a friend that when it was time for her elderly dog who had a lot of health problems, she shared some chocolate cake with him; I hadn't thought of that before, but I realized what a beautiful idea it is, they all deserve something wonderful like that for us to share with them 💖
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Sue Bradley 2 years ago
I would like to add another reason that our pets shouldn't be fed 'human' foods or pizza, biscuits etc. the fat in these foods will make them very poorly with Pancreatitis and they can die from it. As with the foods already mentioned the amount needed to make them ill will vary - so please ignore the pleading eyes!!!!
David Hopkins 2 years ago
Cooked onions are safe but still there's no reason why a dog should eat them.
#15
TIL Hans Gruber, the villain of Die Hard who appears on numerous “greatest movie villains of all time” lists (AFI, Empire, etc.), was theater actor Alan Rickman's first film role.
CrazyKnitter 2 years ago
He was a good guy and an amazing actor. I've heard nothing but wonderful things about him. He was on this earth for too short of a time.
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Paul C. 2 years ago
Wow had to look this up. It felt like he had been around in films for years but it's true. Hans Gruber was the perfect way to start in films, he always seemed just right as a villain that you still, quite liked but were quite pleased when he got his comeuppance.
Cara G 2 years ago
"Cancel the kitchen scraps for lepers and orphans, no more merciful beheadings....and call off Christmas."
Load More Replies... DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
You'd think he was a seasoned actor by then...really owned the role. Similar to Dicaprio in What's Eating Gilbert Grape, just a kid but out in a Oscar worthy performance.
Donkey boi 2 years ago
But he had been doing TV for like, 10 years earlier. And Stage before that.
#16
TIL that to get the pear or apple into a bottle of brandy, they place the empty bottles over the budding fruit at the start of the season, and allow it to grow into the bottle all summer.
Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
I thought you were creatively swearing, lol! TIL that Bartlett Pears over here (Canada) are called Williams Christ. Cool.
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VonBlade 2 years ago
But how did you think they did it before you learnt that? Just use lots of olive oil and a sink plunger?
boone williams 2 years ago
And Barry White music. Don't ever forget the music.
Load More Replies... Milford Biggenson 2 years ago
I’m far more interested in what this simpleton thought the other process was.
Tiffi 2 years ago
Japan does something similar with watermelons. Encase them in a square cage like contraption while they're little. Viola, square watermelons. They're pricey though.
Gemma Gilbert 2 years ago
I'm always surprised how expensive fruit is in Japan when I see it on TV.
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Wayne Reynolds 2 years ago
No no no...they just dehydrate the ship and put it in the bottle and then gently add steam and the ship gets big again. Hence, steam ship! 😁
Load More Replies... CGZ 2 years ago
I used to work in the next cubicle from the guy who had been the drummer for the band Looking Glass who sang that song, "Brandy". (Just one more worthless fact to add to our list.)
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Sandra Bartsch 2 years ago
See the process here: https://mostereikobelt.ch/2020/05/20/wie-kommt-die-birne-in-die-flasche/
Bardhi's Dad 2 years ago
I did it on our backyard, some 35 years ago, with pear, but also with cucumber. And it worked, as I remember now, very well
#17
TIL Caligula, the third emperor of Rome, once declared war on the sea itself, commanding his men to collect seashells as proof of victory.
Arn Edwards 2 years ago
That is nothing. The US once had a President that wanted to nuke hurricanes.
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago (edited)
Madness and paranoia caused by lead poisining, his own guards did end it when he ordered to massacre the inhabitants of Rome out of fear that they don't love him
Mulberry Juice 2 years ago
That piece of history never fails to crack me up 😆
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Autistic Cupcake Panda 2 years ago
This guy was absolutely insane. Totally unhinged, even by Roman Emperor standards.
#18
TIL most so-Called “Medieval Torture Devices” are fake actually made up by hoaxers, showmen, and con artists in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries.
JoMeBee 2 years ago
I hope this is true--otherwise they were some seriously sick people back then. I guess still pretty messed up to think them up even if the devices weren't actually used.
Kattenkinders 2 years ago
Making those up back then is just as making up a scary horror film nowadays. Fantasy is of all ages.
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Donkey boi 2 years ago
The torture museum in London tells you which items were actually used and which were 'merely conceptual' long after the period.
El Cucuy 2 years ago
Is this the one that traveled the world for several years? There was one in San Francisco many years ago. Diabolical doesn't begin to describe some of devices on display.
Load More Replies... Milford Biggenson 2 years ago
The only one that still is used today is speaking with an insurance salesperson.
David 2 years ago
This may be a true statement because of the "most" but history (not necessarily all 'medieval' ) had a lot of ugly ways to kill people. Pressing, drawn and quartered, crucifixion, that bronze animal thing where they put you inside and baked you. Plenty of real horror to go around.
Andrewsarchus42 2 years ago
The brazen bull was actually likely never used based on the lack of contemporary sources mentioning its use and the lack of any physical evidence it was made. The rest are true, though!
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Camilla Koutsos 2 years ago
The iron maiden is a Victorian invention, if I'm remembering correctly.
Margaret H 2 years ago
"Most" might be fake or only concept devices, but enough of the tortures were real. The rack was real, as were thumbscrews. Pulling people into pieces by tying them to horses was another torture that is documented while flaying (skinning) prisoners was a torture that had been used since Roman times. There have always been nasty people in the world and nastier punishments.
#19
TIL that Frank Prentice a survivor of the Titanic, stated that the scent of the iceberg was detectable before the collision occurred.
Hugh Cookson 2 years ago
Icebergs do actually have a distinct smell. I can't describe it exactly but it is sort of slightly salty with a sort of 'ozoney' smell ... quite strange.
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Barbra E. Nyberg 2 years ago
I think it would smell a bit like ice that's been in the freezer too long.
SuperChicken 2 years ago
I need a nap. I thought it said, 'delectable,' instead of, 'detectable.' 🙈
Turnip and a Frog 2 years ago
What does it smell like? I'm guessing freshwater in the midst of all that salt?
Milford Biggenson 2 years ago
Literally no one except Frank Prentice on the Titanic: “My iceberg senses are tingling!”
#20
TIL that an achene is a single-seeded fruit, and that strawberry "seeds" are achenes. Each little strawberry achene is its own tiny fruit, and the entire rest of the strawberry is an accessory fruit. A single strawberry is actually approximately 200 little fruits attached to a big fruit.
Cthulhu is Alive 2 years ago
My Dad is allergic to the seeds on a strawberry. He can eat them if they've been taken out
Jojo 2 years ago
De-seeding a strawberry seems like a soul-destroying activity 😳
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LittleWombat 2 years ago
Decades ago, I worked with an older woman who was allergic to the seeds of strawberries and her equally old husband would peel strawberries so she could have all she wanted of them. I think that's one of the sweetest things I've heard of even still! 🥰
Cecile Visscher 2 years ago
Is it one little seed with accessories? Or 1 strawberry a many little fruits?
#21
TIL Bill Watterson used to sneak signed Calvin & Hobbes collections onto the shelves of his hometown bookstore, but stopped doing so when he discovered they were being sold online for high prices.
Paul C. 2 years ago
I love Calvin and Hobbes! No interesting point to make, I just love Calvin and Hobbes!
Justin Rogers 2 years ago
I have 2 goats named Calvin and Hobbs, poor Hobbs had to have his leg amputated but he's house goat so he lives his best life with 5 cats 3 ferrets and the dog in a thow
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David 2 years ago
Calvin & Hobbes is still my GOAT of comic strips. I met a nephew of his in an online game (due to my screen name). I can't prove it but think it was real due to an interesting conversation that wasn't flexing. I am both glad that he quit before he ran out of material yet at the same time sad about it.
Sinnsyk Jakte 2 years ago
I would squirrel that away for a real fan. Or just to have. 'Cause finding something like that in the wild would be such a special moment... And when I die, there are already going to be so many questions when people go through my things...
#22
TIL The ~1mm large animal known as Trichoplax can regenerate from just a handfull of cells and if its chopped up, the individual pieces will try to find each other and join back together.
Marie Dahme 2 years ago
Sooooo if we can take the cells of the Trichoplax and then add some immortal jellyfish cells… throw them in a Petri dish with some human stem cells: you get a creepy person that can’t be chopped up and lives forever ! (Wow, just realized I watch way too much syfy channel late at night ! Lol)
#23
TIL that when Weird Al wrote I Want A New Duck in 1985, he went to the library and researched ducks for a week.
CGZ 2 years ago
LaBelle said they didn't know what they were saying when they sang "voulez-vous coucher avec moi". Hmmmm...
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Alicia M 2 years ago
Everyone should listen to Jurassic Park, set to the music of a song named MacArthur Park. It details the events that happened at Jurassic Park. It's hilarious. 🎶 Jurassic Park is frightening in the dark All the dinosaurs are running wild Someone let T. Rex out of his pen 🎶
Debrina Blackmoon 2 years ago
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gh4zvQfDhi0
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#24
TIL that a Dutch woman was denied Swiss naturalization despite having lived there for 39 years, because her 'neighbours' deemed her too annoying and not integrated into Swiss society since she often critized Swiss tradition of hanging large bells on cows' necks.
Ace 2 years ago
She was considered a troublemaker in general, but was eventually granted citizenship. We love the sound of the cows in our little Alpine village.
Deborah Harris2 2 years ago
I visited a small village in Switzerland on a school trip many years ago ( I can't remember it's name) , and the sound of the cows coming in to be milked was lovely, all their bells had different tones, I loved it x
Load More Replies... Yeah, okay. 2 years ago
To be fair, if you think about it from the cows point of view, having a bell that sounds off with every step has to be pretty awful. As for the church bells, no, don't move somewhere and insist the local religions can't do what they were doing before you showed up.
Natalie Cilla 2 years ago
Depends on the size. Some of the bigger ones (ornamental&often used when bringing the cows up to/down from the mountains when the season changes) can be heavy. But the smaller ones actually help when the cows get lost in the mountains and need to be found to survive. So yeah, might be a bit annoying but also really essential.
Load More Replies... Milford Biggenson 2 years ago
Whoever thought the only prescription for Swiss naturalization was actually more cowbell!?
Bart 2 years ago
Well, if you think about the fact that those bells allow the cows to roam free in the mountains, I think the cow prefer the bell over a fenced off field...
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#25
TIL that an 84-year-old man named Park Byeong-gu has eaten nothing but instant ramen for over 41 years.
Shyla Bouche 2 years ago
After eating so much of it in prison, I can't stand the stuff any longer!
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Eiram 2 years ago
Ramen is usually served in a broth with things like veggies, seaweed, meat, and other things. The seasoning packets vary greatly. So, just because he ate Ramen doesn't mean it was only noodles.
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Sinnsyk Jakte 2 years ago
My gran'pa was always concerned about my instant ramen consumption. Apparently, it's almost immortality soup.
PurpleUnicorn 2 years ago
I think that's an exaggeration, he would be extremely malnourished if he ate only the noodles
#26
TIL that a Kia/Hyundai whistleblower was awarded $24 million USD for reporting the companies' failure to recall unsafe cars and share accurate recall information with the government.
DE Ray 2 years ago
They're apparently incredibly easy to steal - all one needs is a smartphone and USB cable to override all the security features.
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PiAnisum 2 years ago (edited)
In Germany we had a pharmaceutical whistleblower who reported that at the pharmacy he worked at, the cancer medication of patients got tampered with. The owner of the pharmacy did this to make more money out of it. It resulted in several deaths of cancer patients that had to be investigated. A scandal that really shocked me but what shocked me even more was an interview with the whistleblower years later, where he reported that he struggled with finding a job in the pharmacy business. Edit: Forgot to say he never got anything out of it. At least financial since he struggled with getting a job. He definitely had a lot of families being very thankful that their loved ones finally got the full medication and not the watered down one. He may have saved their lives!
Sarah SH 2 years ago
I had a Hyundai Accent that decided it would no longer go in reverse so I had to park creatively. I would pull into spaces I could go forward through and only driveways with hills if I needed to back out.
Slap Shot 2 years ago
I bought a Hyundai when they first came to the US. At one point the brakes completely failed. I never received a recall noticed. Also the car only lasted for 50 thousand miles before completely dying. Now I guess they are pretty good but I will never take a chance on one.
Christof Irran 2 years ago
There is a great deal of pragmatism behind recalls. If a company projects that settling lawsuits resulting from defects costs less than a recall, then there is not going to be a recall.
#27
TIL that the record for longest time without sleep was set in 1963 when 17 year-old Randy Gardner stayed awake on purpose for 11 straight days.
Zia Barrett 2 years ago
My panic attacks once kept me awake three days a few years ago, I was having trouble stringing thoughts together and hallucinating by that point. Eesh, 11 days...
assdog 2 years ago
Hi Zia, i feel you. I had one for over 4 days and it took me like 2 days basically sleeping to get over it afterwards. I still suffer from them daily but the best thing of that episode was that when i woke up it rained for like 24 hours non stop so i couldn't work. It was the best feeling. Fxk you panic attacks. x
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
Damn, I was pretty close to that when I was a senior in HS. I went 9. Wasn't trying to set any record. I was just having back to back panic attacks. Also stopped eating for a couple weeks. Ended up in the ER after I collapsed in school.
ShyWahine 2 years ago
Gardner later reported serious bouts of insomnia decades after setting the record
Timberly Flowers 2 years ago
Seriously though. I get super nauseated if I get too tired.
Load More Replies... #28
TIL that in the early 90's Bart Simpson T shirts were banned at many schools across the country (United States).
Eastendbird 2 years ago (edited)
In 1992 George HW Bush said he wanted to make the American family "less like The Simpsons and more like The Waltons". Writers on the programme had Bart comment "We're just like The Waltons, we're praying for the end of the depression too."
Tiffi 2 years ago
Republicans: always pining for halcyon days of yesteryear that never really existed. They're still doing today.
Load More Replies... Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago
It has been pointed out that The Simpsons is the only tv family that goes to church every Sunday.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
I remember that. It was like a sequel to the Satanic Panic of the 80s.
SuperChicken 2 years ago
Yes, the Satanic Panic of the 80s. And, remember those who played D&D at the time were Anti-Christ?🙄 Didn't stop me and my friends. Good times.
Load More Replies... Alicia M 2 years ago
I was in high school in the early 90s and any student wearing a Bart Simpson t-shirt had to turn it inside out or put tape over the front. So ridiculous.
Whiskey Tango Delicious 2 years ago
In this era, the creators wrote a letter to the first lady, under the guise of being Marge. A heartfelt piece, defending the plight of her family. It was so well done, Barbara Bush wrote an apology, to Marge!
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago (edited)
...and Maggie T-shirts were recommended with caution.
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Murph 2 years ago
I got in trouble for wearing one to work. I was the youngest employee (20s) at a large toy store. We all wore vests so you couldn't see the front of the shirt. Found out it was some of the older employees that complained. It wasn't even a "bad one". It was the one where they are sitting on the couch watching TV.
#29
TIL Canadian artist Michael Snow sued the Toronto Eaton Centre mall in 1982 after they put Christmas bows on an art installation of flying geese which he had sculptured. This led to a landmark court case, and a leading Canadian decision on artists moral rights. Snow ultimately ended up winning.
STress 2 years ago
It's Canada, of course Snow will be the winner. Let's see him winning in Hawaii or Jamaica...
My O My 2 years ago
And geese. I've heard of the canda geese you'd better stay clear of
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Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
A little love for Michael, he just passed away a couple of weeks ago at the ripe old age of 94. He likened the Christmas bows on his geese as putting a wristwatch on Michelangelo's David, which makes his artistic point perfectly. The geese were taken down recently as the roof underwent some major repairs. Hopefully, they'll make a big deal out of their return as a tribute to Snow. https://www.thestar.com/entertainment/visualarts/2023/01/06/toronto-born-interdisciplinary-artist-michael-snow-dies-at-94.html Flight-Sto...cc-png.jpg 
norabest321 2 years ago
Watch on David I understand. Was this artist paid for the mall installation? If he was I take issue. If you sell something you're taking the risk of the new owner doing whatever they want bc the artist SOLD the piece. I guess if the installation was on loan that would be one thing but just cause he didn't like what one of his customers did to something that customer owned, hmmm...
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censorshipsucks 2 years ago (edited)
wow that's grumpy. I mean I despise early christmas decor at shops, but I'd just leave them be on that one.
Peryton 2 years ago
I get it. As an artist I wouldn't want my work altered without my consent.
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Matthews 2 years ago
In my country, the respective laws are called intellectual rights/property, but the violation of immaterial property (ie, the thing was not physically destroyed) is under moral rights/damage.
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#30
TIL the average minor spends about 7 hours per week with their father, but about 15 hours a week on video games.
SweetCheesySpaghetti 2 years ago
My husband and son play videogames together :) I think its absolutely wonderful.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 2 years ago
As a gen-xer, I'm not impressed. They call us latchkey kids for a reason.
Beeps 2 years ago (edited)
Same here. Plus my father was in the army and, even when not abroad, only came home at weekends. Now, as an adult, as part of my job, I’m often involved when people who divorce draw up their contact agreements. It recently occurred to me that most children of divorced parents spend more time with their fathers than I ever did.
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Susan Bosse 2 years ago
Some fathers don't deserve time with their kids. Video games require reasoning, reacting, and usually interacting with others and working as a team.
ISeeWendiGo 2 years ago
Seven hours is about the amount of time my son spends with his father over a few months. But, of course, his father portrays himself as father of the year 🙄😤😠😡🤬
Theresa Stephenson 2 years ago
That is sad buy if a father works 8 hours plus they would seem about right.
#31
TIL of aphantasia a condition where people are unable to form mental images in their head. People with aphantasia are also less likely to have an inner monologue.
Justin Rogers 2 years ago
Add constant ringing to the equation and welcome to my world. People wonder why I have such a pleasant disposition
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Deborah Harris2 2 years ago
That's Fantasia, have my upvote for being that 'one person' who amuses me today :p
Load More Replies... Sinnsyk Jakte 2 years ago
I actually constantly see images, hear songs or phrases, and have that running monologue from three different perspectives pretty much at all times... It's bonkers in here.
JoMeBee 2 years ago
I think my kid may have this. He hates to read and when I ask him about it, he says it's just words and doesn't evoke any images or feelings. He's a super sweet kid in all other aspects so I don't think I'm raising a serial killer, but as an avid reader it bothers me that he doesn't get any enjoyment out of it...
Brocken Blue 2 years ago (edited)
I have aphantasia. Was super freaked out when I realized in my thirties that y’all actually see stuff you are imagining (which to me is like being on hallucinogens all the time… crazy stuff). I also adore reading and actually have a masters degree in literature. Don’t need to actually see something to enjoy a book. It might just be he’s like my spouse, who loves reading nonfiction things that interest him but never reads a novel because he just finds reality more interesting than most fiction. Different strokes for different folks.
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Anon822209 2 years ago
Wait, so if you can't picture things and don't have an internal monolog, how do you think???
Sarah SH 2 years ago
I have a VERY terrible visual memory. (Not the same, I know), but I couldn’t remember the color of the walls in one of the bedrooms of my house when my husband started talking about painting rooms. I was sure it was blue…
Nancy T 2 years ago
I'm like this. I also have a little trouble with faces.
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#32
TIL that when it comes to natural disasters, Michigan is the safest state in the US.
Michelle Carlson 2 years ago
There's a whole lot more to us than just Detroit! Come visit! :)
Load More Replies... Christof Irran 2 years ago
Interestingly, Michigan also has the greatest number of lighthouses of all states in the U.S.
Annabet 2 years ago
after hearing about all the rain, floods, snow storms, hurricanes and tornadoes, I'm rather thankful for the west side of Michigan. We can deal with snow storms, if that's the only thing we have to deal with!
readingthequibbler 2 years ago (edited)
Yeah, I was born on the east side of Michigan. I've literally had tornadoes jump my house. This just doesn't feel true to me (it being the safest from natural disasters)
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The Guy down the street 2 years ago
What about mn? There hasn’t been natural disasters in years
Marie Dahme 2 years ago
Northern Michigan will also be one of the safest places to be regarding climate change in the future.
Lazy PANda (she/they) 2 years ago
I live near there! Yeah, it’s pretty cold, but the only really dangerous big things are the occasional tornado or two. Everything else is pretty avoidable if you have a safe warm shelter.
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
I think I need you to cite your source on this. We are surrounded by water. We have mountains, forests, and huge variance in temperature.
#33
TIL that famed herpetologist Robert Merten documented his death by twig snake bite in his journal, which took 18 days to prove fatal. He wrote near the end that it was "the only appropriate demise for a herpetologist".
Kattenkinders 2 years ago
And why not a picture of a twig snake but one of a python who isn't poisonous?
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
Why is there not some type of warning system on BP for when I'm about to scroll down to a snake ffs?
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I heard last week about a guy in Australia who is being bitten/stung by as many flora and fauna as he can to record the amount and type of pain they give. One of the plants was the Gympie Gympie tree. The aim is then to be able to understand and treat different types of pain.
#34
TIL Creedence Clearwater Revival was only active for four years (1968-1972), with seven studio albums. They still hold the record for most singles (nine) to reach the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 without ever scoring a #1.
Paul C. 2 years ago
So good to see John Fogerty has at last regained the rights to the CCR music.
LinkTheHylian 2 years ago
Yes. Maybe we can finally watch a movie in/about/around Vietnam without "Fortunate Son" appearing in the soundtrack.
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#35
TIL - One of the first wireless TV remotes was developed by Zenith in 1956. A small hammer in the remote would hit one of 4 aluminum bars, generating an ultrasonic sound that was beyond the range of human hearing.
Justin Jones 2 years ago
In the early 80's we had a TV that changed with a sound remote. Power on, Volume up/down, Channel up/down. If you pushed the Volume up and down button at the same time - the cat would jerk up, lay its ears back, and run out of the room.
David Gripon 2 years ago
I remember a neighbor having one. He would show us how a high pitched whistle would change the channel.
Fred Greiner 2 years ago
We had one of those, you could also change the channel by jingling the change in your pocket.
Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago
My grandmother had one. You'd press this heavy button on the "clicker" and the big 'ol chanel k**b would go ka-chunk! and roll to the next channel.
#36
TIL igloos can have an interior temperature of 19-61 degrees Fahrenheit amid exterior temperatures of -45 degrees. And if constricted properly they can withstand the weight if someone standing on top of them.
StumblingThroughLife 2 years ago (edited)
Or minus 7 to 16 degrees Celsius for those who don't use the Fahrenheit scale in their Country.
V33333P 2 years ago
Thank you for all of us outside of the US that use °C xD
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WonderWoman 2 years ago
And if "constricted" properly will kill the people inside. Best to construct them properly.
Lazy PANda (she/they) 2 years ago
I’m pretty sure you have to light a fire inside, so the inside layer melts and refreshes to create a protective layer to insulate
Thegoodboi 2 years ago
I remember making one when we actually had enough snow to make one. It's true! It does feel warmer inside.
#37
TIL that although you can buy different grades of isopropyl (rubbing) alcohol, 70% is actually most effective for disinfecting; the added water helps it to dissolve more slowly, penetrate cells, and kill bacteria.
Raymond Core 2 years ago
Alcohol is hydroscopic and when 100% alcohol is exposed to the atmosphere it will absorb water until saturated at 70%. It also takes less energy to refine to 70% than 100%.
Martin Kaine 2 years ago
My understanding of this is that the 70% alcohol removed the cell wall, killing the bacteria, but the higher percentages replaced the cell wall with a kind of scar tissue. This has the effect of making the bacteria very sad and angry, causing them to impulse shop or to lash out at their friends.
Debrina Blackmoon 2 years ago (edited)
How about binge-watching Z Nation, angry-snacking, & guzzling schnapps with cola?
Load More Replies... John L 2 years ago
To further clarify, I believe there is a 90% composition, which is LESS effective than the 70% version, for the stated reason.
Anon822209 2 years ago
True, but higher concentrations have their uses. Removing permanent marker and latex paint from surfaces comes to mind
Load More Replies... Christof Irran 2 years ago
Efficacy and performance change with different applications. Isopropyl alcohol in a 99% concentration is the most effective solution for removing water from gasoline (you add it to your gas tank after the car, chainsaw, lawnmower sat all winter). The 70% solution is useless in this application.
#38
TIL that Subaru is the Japanese name for the Pleiades star cluster M45, or "The Seven Sisters", one of which is invisible according to Japanese tradition, hence Subaru logo only has six stars.
Barbra E. Nyberg 2 years ago
The term Pleiades comes from the ancient Greeks. It means Seven Sisters. Nautical lore tells of the 7th Sister "being lost". It isn't just Japanese tradition. I wonder how many other ancient cultures watched that star "being lost" and came up with a story about it?
Wintermute 2 years ago
Fun fact. There's a remarkable number of constellations that have very similar mythologies developed independently over vast geographic and chronologic time scales. There's a lot of theory as to why this happens, but it's largely still a mystery why so many cultures tell the same stories about the same things. YouTube "The Cosmic Hunt" for a great example.
Load More Replies... Chewie Baron 2 years ago
There’s an area of North London called Seven Sisters, and there was seven trees that had been planted yonks ago in the area. A few years ago, after some bad storms, seven new trees needed to be planted. They were. By seven sisters.
CGZ 2 years ago
There's a song by the Eagles called Seven Bridges Road. Also: I have seven head-holes.
Load More Replies... #39
TIL wheeled luggage was first seen as a niche women’s product until the 1970s. Department stores initially refused selling wheeled luggage for fear it would make men feel “wimpy”.
V33333P 2 years ago
Fun fact to add to that: wristwatches were seen as female only til after WWI when pilots and soldiers realized they were more convenient than pocket watches
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
Except of course for nurses, traditionally a female profession, who wore watches on the collarbone to reduce infection risk. Strangely, no such tradition exists for doctors...
Load More Replies... Sarah SH 2 years ago
Same with purses. I can’t count how many times we’ve been somewhere and my husband hands me something and tells me to put it in my purse to carry.
Toni Kay 2 years ago
Lol It’s the opposite for me, I’m good at leaving my purse places so I don’t take it and I give hubby stuff because his pockets are bigger than mine
Load More Replies... A Wild Bean 2 years ago
The only thing "wimpy" about this is having such a fragile masculinity that you're scared to use a suitcase
#40
TIL In 2000, 10 year old Brazilian Paulo Pavesi was rushed to the hospital after a fall and pronounced dead. Evidence showed the doctors had falsely pronounced him dead to harvest his organs for black market sale. Paulo was still alive when his organs were removed.
JoJo Anisko 2 years ago
Omg, that is obscene! Apparently, as of 2021, only two of the doctors responsible have been convicted.
Lazy PANda (she/they) 2 years ago
That’s horrible! I wonder if there’s a change.org or something we can do to fix that!
Load More Replies... Marie Dahme 2 years ago
Watch the documentary on National Geographic called Trafficked. They did one recently about the sale of black market organs. Wealthy people buy them, a lot of Americans too. Horrifying to watch, just like all the episodes on Trafficked.
3 Owls In A Coat 2 years ago
Oooh it’s on Disney+, I’m going to check it out tonight, thanks!
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DC 2 years ago
... and every time THIS happens somewhere in less fortunate places, people in the well-to-wellst developed world start being refusish about organ donation again, as if shortening the supply even further would take any pressure out that market. No, only donations can, everywhere, and research to eventually be able to grow drop-in replacements, as in ... surgery stays the same, but being made from your very own DNA in stem cells, there's no need for immune suppression - and no wait. Future's dreams from 1990. Still not there yet...
#41
TIL After hurricane Katrina Brad Pitt set up the Make It Right Foundation to build homes for those effected. The project had famous architects but the homes were not designed or constructed for a New Orleans environment. By 2022 only 6 of the 109 houses were deemed to be in "reasonably good shape."
JoMeBee 2 years ago
That's what happens when you ask an architect to do an engineer's job. But I bet they looked cool...
May light defeat the darkness 2 years ago
An architect’s dream is an engineer’s nightmare.
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WonderWoman 2 years ago
Shame on the architects for not consulting with engineers first, second and third.
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
Seems like that would have also helped to contribute to the area, unless the architects donated their services.
Load More Replies... Sarah SH 2 years ago
That’s what I was thinking too. At least he tried to do something to help.
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CD King 2 years ago
It seems to happen a lot with celebs when they get involved with good intentions. Remember Oprah and the school in South Africa or, really, many of Bill Gates projects in Africa ie: solar toilet. I think it's the managers they hire get the wrong people for the job or don't use common sense.
Justin Rogers 2 years ago
But it works on paper? Obviously they never swung a hammer in their life
#42
TIL that the social huntsman spiders live in complex family groups up to 150-strong, led by a dominant matriarch. A single mum establishes a family and her offspring from one to four clutches remain with her until they are almost one year old.
Nat of Clan P 2 years ago
I went camping in the outback years ago and had one of these bad boys crawl up my face. I don't know how I managed it but I picked it off and threw it without making a sound (I was with about 20 other people all camping in swags). I was screaming on the inside though. Just No.
Little Wonder 2 years ago
I love these guys! It's interesting because huntsmen are usually solitary, they meet up to breed and then that's pretty much it, but the social huntsman is hanging out with family, chillin'. Some huntsmen also protect the egg sac, but leave once the babies hatch.
Keisha Washington 2 years ago
Insurance company will call it an arson case until you mention the spiders. It will then be considered a spontaneous combustion event and they'll build you a new home.
Load More Replies... #43
TIL The largest preserved impact crater in our solar system is on the Dark Side of the Moon. An "anomaly" of heavy metal the size of Hawaii is buried beneath, which apparently alters the Moon's gravitational field.
SuperChicken 2 years ago
Need to contact Cmdr Koenig, then. Sounds like the location of Nuclear Disposal Areas One and Two.😉
Load More Replies... François Carré 2 years ago
I'm sure the "anomaly" has their own music band and that they rock.
CGZ 2 years ago
There's a giant Nazi base there. It's in the documentary "Iron Sky" (2012). It has Julia Dietze. She's really hot.
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TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago
"That is no moon!" - Wouldn't surprise me if that would be a headline nowadays
SweetCheesySpaghetti 2 years ago
I once had a neighbor who swore the moon was just a projection, and that it was also "see-through." She was a grown adult, with a college education. She also wouldnt celebrate thanksgiving because she didn't believe that native americans actually existed. She said history books taught that to show the strength and masculinity of the white man so that people would forget that they fled England in the first place.
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#44
TIL Bermuda has no natural water source. Each house collects rainwater using white, stepped roofs.
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
It's really lime coating...it's anti-bacterial so helps keep the water safe.
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Geoffrey Scott 2 years ago
Think it was "This Old House". Did a segment in the Keys(Florida), was excavating for a pool and found a cistern that collected rainwater for drinking.
#45
TIL during WWII, Rolex allowed allied PoWs to order watches with the company taking each man’s word as his bond and duly sending the watch. This boosted morale in taking payment on account implied confidence the Allies would win the war.
Grant Barke 2 years ago
That doesn't make sense. If Germany had won, you would still have to pay for the watch. I doubt the French stopped paying for goods under German occupation.
Shealeigh Bodde 2 years ago
They were PoW. If Germany won, they would probably be killed. The fact that Rolex showed that they trusted the PoW to pay, means that they showed that they trusted that the PoW would survive - at least, that's what I understood from it.
Load More Replies... Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
TIL this and also that Rolex, although based in Switzerland, are a British-founded company.
Kattenkinders 2 years ago
How, if you are a prisoner of war, can you order a new watch I'm wondering🤔
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago (edited)
Red Cross, I assume, or similar. Or mail, the places that were actually allowed their right.
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#46
TIL That Sri Lanka was connected to India by a walkable land bridge known as 'Adams Bridge' until it was destroyed by a cyclone in 1480CE, leaving a chain of limestone shoals behind.
Donkeywheel 2 years ago
To be clear: this was never an actual bridge. It was en emerged passage when the sea level was lower in the past 100,000 years. It was absolutely not destroyed by a cyclone, it was just submerged when the sea level rose. Also, it is absolutely not man made, this is just a religious belief.
Blada DeBlejd 2 years ago
Or Rama's bridge. The ancient Sanskrit epic Ramayana mentions a bridge constructed by the god Rama to reach the island Lanka and rescue his wife Sita from Ravana. In popular belief, Lanka is equated to present-day Sri Lanka and the bridge is described as "Rama's Setu".
DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
Also, Adam's Bridge is said to be the remnant of a bridge constructed by Rama to facilitate the passage of his army from India to Sri Lanka for the rescue of his abducted wife Sita from the demon king Ravana.
Ruchi Choudhary 2 years ago
It’s Called Ram setu not adams bridge. Provide the right information if you are posting. And the Ram setu is about 7000 years old
Bobby 2 years ago
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adam's_Bridge Both names are applicable from what I see
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#47
Today I Learned that “kosher salt” is used for drying meat in a way that makes the meat kosher. It isn’t that the salt is kosher (it is) but that it’s used for koshering meat.
Caro Caro 2 years ago
Coarse edible salt without common additives such as iodine. Typically used in cooking and not at the table, it consists mainly of sodium chloride and may include anticaking agents. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kosher_salt
Load More Replies... Bill Dolman 2 years ago
From Mashed: Actually, it's the grain size. Table salt is finely ground, so it dissolves easily — but it packs less flavor than kosher salt, which has a coarser texture, with large and unevenly-shaped crystals that offer a punchier taste. The grain size can make such a significant impact because many home cooks (and many recipes) measure by volume, not weight. Therefore, 1/4 cup of kosher table salt equates to 39 grams, while the same amount of table salt is 76 grams, which is almost double — and that disparity is bound to send your dish into the salt-overload stratosphere.
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
Ummm... the salt can't kosher meat. It can keep it kosher. If the meat isn't butchered by kosher standards, the salt cannot kosher it.
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
I’m not Jewish, but I’ve got Kosher Salt in my kitchen as it is in a lot of recipes for the taste it brings. And as WonderEoman mentioned, it’s great as a salt rim for cocktails.
#48
TIL Americans were forbidden to travel to China until 1979, when President Jimmy Carter made the decision to normalize relations with China.
Little Wonder 2 years ago
The Chinese Exclusion Act was in force until 1943, at which point 105 Chinese immigrants could move to the USA per year.
Load More Replies... Carl Galante 2 years ago
The process was started by Nixon in 1972. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/1972_visit_by_Richard_Nixon_to_China
Sarah SH 2 years ago
And now people are back to hating China because they blame them for Covid.
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago (edited)
The oppression of the people there, concentration camps and invasion plans for Taiwan also really aren't positive marketing points either
Load More Replies... bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
You can, just not as "tourism", if that makes sense. It doesn't tho.
Load More Replies... #49
TIL During the Second Punic War, it's been suggested that upwards of 300,000 Roman soldiers were killed by Hannibal's army. At the Battle of Cannae alone, about 20% of Rome's fighting age men were killed (up to 70k), and by the end of the war, 1 in 6 of Rome's adult male population was dead.
Hotdogking 2 years ago
Interesting. Thanks for the Hannibal Lecture. (I shall show myself out)
Adam Zad 2 years ago
And thank you for addressing the elephant in the room. I'll get my coat and follow you.
Load More Replies... Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
I love Eddie Izzard's routine with the Roman officers reacting to Hannibal's advance. "Sir, it's Hannibal, he's coming!" "Ha ha, we knew he'd attack." "But he's coming over the Alps, sir!" "Ha ha, we knew he'd come that way." "But he's coming on elephants, sir!" "Ha ha - what? What the f**k's an elephant?" "It's like a big, upside down squirrel sir." "Jesus Christ!"
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
But not before Caesar knew he’d be the name for a brand of dog food for small yappy-type dogs in the future.
Load More Replies... Eastendbird 2 years ago
All I can hear in my head is Jake Peralta "Ahh yes, the second pubic war.."
#50
TIL the fastest heartbeat ever recorded was 600 beats per minute.
Zia Barrett 2 years ago
This is a case of what is known as extreme tachyarrhythmia. It's a discussion case study of a man whose heart rate went well beyond what is considered survivable as a human. Very interesting - https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3273956/
Load More Replies... #51
TIL that there is a genus of bees nicknamed “vulture bees” that are stingless and eat carrion (dead animal meat) instead of pollen. They still produce edible honey and can be found in North and South America.
#52
TIL adult diapers outsell baby diapers in Japan.
Pieter LeGrande 2 years ago
A baby may need them only a few years, a adult for 10, 20 or more years.
Deborah B 2 years ago
Also, Japan has an aging population. Many more elderly people than babies.
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Scott Crowe 2 years ago
Birth rates are dropping in a number of countries and I couldn't be happier.
StumblingThroughLife 2 years ago
Interesting fact: "Elderly men totalled 15.74 million, making up 26.0% of the total male population, while the number of elderly women came to 20.53 million, accounting for 32.0% of the overall female population (2022).
Pedantic Panda 2 years ago
Very strange but this may not be down to just the ageing population. I thought it might be gamers so looked into it, seems it may be used as a time saver for busy or lazy adults. Link below is to a Japanese magazine, you will need to translate the page. https://nikkan-spa.jp/299209
#53
TIL actress Hattie McDaniel, the first ever African-American to win an Oscar, had one final wish when she was dying from cancer: to be buried in the Hollywood Forever Cemetery in LA. Her final wish was ultimately denied, as the cemetery had a strict all-white policy at the time.
Not-a-Clue-What-to-Call-Myself 2 years ago
I wondered that. Perhaps it's just an example of someone who was buried in that cemetery.
Load More Replies... Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
Would have made more sense to use a picture of the cenotaph the Hollywood Cemetery erected in her honour in 1999 after her family refused their offer to have her re-interred there. Nowadays, the cenotaph overlooking a lake is apparently one of Hollywood's most popular tourist attractions. Hattie-McD...523404.jpg 
Auntriarch 2 years ago
I would think so, but maybe people just don't know about her wish
Load More Replies... Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago (edited)
The Stones are all white, mate. Only their music's black.
Load More Replies... #54
TIL, The oil from a right whale would operate an average American car for 8 years.
Andy-Pandy-Panda 2 years ago
But it can keep the beautiful whale operational for ~70 years. A much better use.
Kattenkinders 2 years ago (edited)
I guess it depends on the subspecies of right whale and fact is that they run for much longer on that oil. Hopefully this kind of news won't lead to another near extinction or worse this time. Found this info when googling: "Why do they call it a right whale? Whalers labeled these animals "right whales" because they considered them the "right" whales to hunt. They swam slowly in coastal waters, floated when dead, and yielded large amounts of oil and baleen. Right whales had been hunted to near extinction when hunting was finally banned in 1935."
Den Ver 2 years ago
Right whales got their name because they had so much oil compared to other species. They were the 'Right' whales to hunt.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 2 years ago
I'd rather have an electric car that doesn't pollute or result in a species becoming nearly extinct.
Rostit . 2 years ago
guess how that car was made? Guess how its material were mined and created? Guess how electricity is made? We have a long way to go.
Load More Replies... DennyS (denzoren) 2 years ago
Whaling was very popular, as also described in Moby D**k. Not a great practice though.
Margaret H 2 years ago
Don't let that idea get into an oil company's executive's head or whaling will be reintroduced before you can say Greenpeace.
#55
TIL Redbull declared a man's plan to cross the Atlantic in 1m boat 'inspirational, but mad’ and declined to sponsor him.
#56
TIL that after Sam Cooke sang "A Change is Gonna Come" on The Tonight Show (Feb 7, 1964), the network lost the only recording of the performance. Cooke elected never to perform it again in his lifetime (he was murdered in Dec of '64), due to the song's complexity and ominous nature.
bottomless.abyss.of.bordem 2 years ago
From what I'm reading, his death was not related to racism at all. He was shot by a black woman he was allegedly assaulting. I saw some conspiracy theories but....
#57
TIL that less than 1% of nuns in the US are under 40 and the average sister is 80 years old.
JoMeBee 2 years ago
This is not surprising given that women are autonomous and actually have options these days...
Kattenkinders 2 years ago
I'm wondering how many became a nun out of their own choice just because they didn't like or want the traditional role they had to perform as a wife back then. Now they are married to God and still have a certain amount of freedom.
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Esme Love and Squalor 2 years ago (edited)
There are some young nuns out there. My 22 year old niece just joined the Sisters for Life a Catholic order and is doing her nunnery training in nyc (I know that’s not the correct term; I’m no longer Catholic)
#58
TIL in the 2003 SpongeBob episode "Mid-Life Crustacean", Mr. Krabs is invited to join a panty raid with SpongeBob and Patrick. The episode was removed from streaming services in 2018 by Nickelodeon, Paramount+, and Amazon.
Octavia Hansen 2 years ago
Really? And the show about young girls living alone, hosting an internet show, in a massive apartment didn't raise eyebrows? Or babies on the loose? Geeze, how can I get a job watching this and deciding what everyone sees, or doesn't see?
OnAFreakingRollercoaster 2 years ago
I read "pantry raid" and was like what's the big deal🤷🏼♀️
#59
TIL that Joe Jackson would hold a belt as the Jackson 5 rehearsed, ready to strike his children if they stepped out of line. Michael Jackson was terrified of his father. “I have thrown up in his presence because when he comes in the room and this aura comes and my stomach starts hurting."
Zia Barrett 2 years ago
If I remember, he also fainted when his father showed up to concerts several times and his bodyguards carried him away from his father's presence, and that he preferred being on stage in front of large crowds because his father couldn't get him up there.
Terry Tobias 2 years ago
If you watch video of the Jackson Five when they were starting out, you could see the joy Michael had while performing. He was so cute and charismatic. He was also approachable and engaging. It was a tragedy how the abuse he suffered changed him, but we were lucky that he was still a phenomenal performer.
Load More Replies... Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago
Some believe the reason MJ had so much plastic surgery is because he couldn't stand seeing his father's face in the mirror.
JoJo Anisko 2 years ago
Whatever Michael Jackson's sins were, he came by them honestly. R.I.P.
Barbra E. Nyberg 2 years ago (edited)
Countered a downvote. He was a tortured soul. And i don't really believe he would have harmed children. Try to vicariously have a happy childhood through them, yes. Go totally overboard, yes. Get attached to certain kids, whose parents milk that attachment for all it's worth, yes. Kids grow up, begin to find things a little creepy, parents find a new way to milk things.
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Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
Not sure horrific child abuse should be a topic for TIL. Seems to trivialize it.
DC 2 years ago
It's not lighthearted, but it's something that definitely everyone should know about, and here ... we do have an extreme case, and one where everything is public anyway, so new exposure of whatever kind won't happen. People on either side of the belt might not want their private affairs discussed in public, or be accused thereof unjustly, or be represented not according to reality and so forth, and there still may be doubts and different versions, and ultimately, we'd be left to believe either side or the other, but remain clueless about what really happened. Not so here. Joe himself wasn't silent about any of it, was he? At least, these two aren't alive anymore, so won't be bothered by whatever comes out, is discussed, diagnosed, interpreted, known, unknown. And everyone is at least halfway filed-in on this topic about these two anyway.
Load More Replies... #60
TIL of Deli Mike, a Turkish Airlines Airbus A340 notable for her temperamental behavior. Known for “pranking” passengers and crew, she would turn lights on and off and refuse to retract the landing gear seemingly at random. One story went that staff fixed a faulty instrument panel by talking to her.
Paul C. 2 years ago
Just as a point of note, I'm not so sure that a plane being "temperamental" is such a good thing.
Zia Barrett 2 years ago
They removed and replaced every single system in the plane, never found out what caused it. They certainly tried to fix these issues.
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White Wolf 2 years ago
I had to read the comments to realize that she was a PLANE, not a pilot.
Zia Barrett 2 years ago
For the note - her registration was TC-JDM, her actual name is İzmir. Deli Mayk/Deli Mike is a nickname from her registration, DM, Delta Mike on the phonetic alphabet; with Deli (meaning "crazy" in Turkish) substituting Delta. They never found out why she did any of those things, no actual fault was ever found even with pulling apart panels and electronics and reinstalling them.
Margaret H 2 years ago
Imagine a pilot having to sweet-talk a plane as well as fly it. I wonder what would happen if they swore at her instead.
Zia Barrett 2 years ago (edited)
Not one single death or injury ever occurred with these issues in her entire 23 years of service.
Load More Replies... #61
TIL that 8 of the 56 men who signed the Declaration of Independence were born in the British Isles.
Vicki Doggurl 2 years ago
It’s kinda surprising that it’s only 8. I’d have figured more.
Load More Replies... Octavia Hansen 2 years ago
Consider that everyone who wrote, fought and died for Texas was not a Texan . . .
#62
TIL there is clear evidence that one of the largest volanic eruptions in human history took place in the mid-15th century, but scientists still have no idea where it happened.
Robert King 2 years ago
You beat me to it. At least a 70% chance it was under the oceans.
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DC 2 years ago
Residuals in ice that was building up at that time. Ash particles, composition of air trapped in bubbles, the like...
Load More Replies... #63
TIL that 70 to 80% of hemophiliacs being treated with blood products prior to 1985 became infected with HIV.
Katy McMouse 2 years ago
My mum had a medical condition that depleted her blood on a fairly regular basis. For years, she refused blood transfusions for fear of receiving infected blood. It wasn't until the mid to late nineties that she gave in and started receiving transfusions, and even then, she was afraid.
Alicia M 2 years ago
This is what happened to Ryan White. He was a hemophiliac child who received HIV contaminated blood. He became famous when parents tried to run him out of school because they didn't want their kids attending class with him. So much was unknown at the time. The hate and viciousness he had to endure was heartbreaking. There's a statue of him at Riley Hospital for Children, in indianapolis, Indiana, where he was treated.
Tiny Dancer 2 years ago
A brave young man. Elton John was a big support and became a family friend before Ryan died at 18 (1990). He played at his funeral (Skyline Pigeon) and is still close with Ryan's family, especially his Mum, Jeanne. He dedicated "Don't Let the Sun Go Down on Me" to her (in the audience) and the family when he played his last concert in Ryan's home state, Indiana, last year. Thanked them for saving his life. https://ultimateclassicrock.com/elton-john-ryan-white/
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lunanoire 2 years ago
As a young nurse in the 80's I cared for many AIDS patients, gay and several hemophiliacs that had acquired the virus through our blood supply. It's a heartbreaking death. I'm encouraged that some have better outcomes now and can live with the virus but the cost of the drugs is still astronomical. We have forgot how many talented and wonderful people society lost with AIDS.
Katy McMouse 2 years ago
Thank you for being one of not all that many who would care for AIDS patients in the 80's. I don't remember when it stopped being hard to find those of you who would, but you all carried a huge responsibility on your own, for a very long time. The world owes you a huge debt of gratitude, so once again, many heartfelt thanks. You all were angels.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 2 years ago
The blood companies knew that HIV was blood borne and they carried on refusing to test blood. Shocking.
Barbra E. Nyberg 2 years ago
And the republican controlled government let them, bc it was a "gay" thing, and a sexually transmitted disease. The party has devolved.
Load More Replies... Esme Love and Squalor 2 years ago
I knew a family growing up with three hemophiliac sons who all died of aids.
#64
TIL In 1942, German submarines sunk a British passenger ship. They surfaced to collect survivors, announced their presence to the allies and sailed under a Red Cross flag. The U-Boats were attacked by allied planes, forcing the submarine to throw all the survivors back into the sea and crash dive.
Best Behave 2 years ago
I believe that Karl Donnitz, the high commander of the kriegsmarine, subsequently ordered that uboats were forbidden to pick up survivors. This lead to intended prosecution for war crimes in the Nuremberg trials, until petitions were made by some allied commanders for this to be abandoned, as it was deemed that he’d issued the order for the protection of the men under his command. Donnitz, who was a committed member of the nazi party, was acquitted of this, although was found guilty of other crimes and served 10 years in prison.
Martin Kaine 2 years ago
Check out the life of U-boat captain Werner Henke, as covered by the Washington Post in this article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/archive/lifestyle/2001/04/22/war-38/d730e07f-426e-4f1f-94e0-b36eb9ce779b/
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago
The heavy cruiser "Graf Spee" sank 9 ships without causing any death before it's last battle in the bay of Monte Video
David Andrews 2 years ago
If you are going to make statements like that, please learnt the facts first. The Laconia was a British ship sunk by a German U-boat, which was then attacked by an American bomber (despite an RAF officer who had been picked up messaging the bomber from the U-boat to say that the Laconia survivers were on board, including men women and children). Britain was not involved in attacking the U-boat
Load More Replies... #65
TIL that an F-117 Nighthawk crashed in Sequoia National Forest in 1986, two years before the plane was publicly announced. The US Air Force established a permitter around the crash site and secretly replaced the wreckage with a wrecked F-101A that had been stored in Area 51 for this purpose.
DE Ray 2 years ago
Fun fact: the US Air Force actively spread UFO conspiracy theories and funded films and television shows depicting UFOs as being related to space aliens as a way of limiting speculation about secret developmental aircraft. The founder of the largest UFO dedicated organization in the world was an Air Force colonel who admitted late in his life that he was assigned that task by the Pentagon.
#66
TIL that foods such as: cheese, wine, chocolate, and others are technically illegal in Florida. This is because they contain the trace amine tyramine which is considered a schedule I hallucinogen. This is despite tyramine not actually having any hallucinogenic effects and being widespread in foods.
Martin Kaine 2 years ago
As long as the cheese, chocolate, and wine aren't gay, it should be fine by DeSantis.
Load More Replies... Sinnsyk Jakte 2 years ago
By Florida standards, I'm gettin' messed up every day. Copious amounts of cheese. Criminal amounts of cheese...
#67
TIL The US Once Considered a Plan to Detonate a Nuclear Bomb on the Moon.
JoyfulZebra 2 years ago
We did plant our flag on it, so it's technically ours! We can do what we want with it! /s
Load More Replies... Grant Barke 2 years ago
I have a better idea. Let's drop multiple nukes on Olympus Mons, see if we can awaken that big bastard. I'm sick of these Mars rovers sending pics of a desolate Martian landscape of rocks and dirt. I WANT TO BE ENTERTAINED.
StumblingThroughLife 2 years ago
What would have happened if they had: (youtube): https://youtu.be/qEfPBt9dU60
#68
TIL that Laos is the most heavily bombed nation in history.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
let's not forget to mention WHO bombed it!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
#69
TIL that Florida will pay you to hunt snakes: No license or permit required.
JoMeBee 2 years ago
Should be more specific: nonnative snakes that people have as pets, decide they don't want them, and release into the wild. They are taking over areas such as the everglades since there are few predators
Almostfoxlike 2 years ago
They weren't released pets, it was a reptile facility that was destroyed by a hurricane.
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Holly Laufenberg 2 years ago
in florida they also hunt rattle snakes, most places pay by the foot, starting at 6 ft long
#70
TIL that blood plasma is America's 10th largest export surpassing that of trucks.
StumblingThroughLife 2 years ago (edited)
This reminds me of this article in our UK newspapers (2013): "The Government was tonight accused of gambling with the UK’s blood supply by selling the state-owned NHS plasma supplier to a US private equity firm." https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/politics/is-there-no-limit-to-what-this-government-will-privatise-uk-plasma-supplier-sold-to-us-private-equity-firm-bain-capital-8718029.html
Sarah SH 2 years ago
I got paid $100 each time I donated plasma last summer for the first eight trips and then $45 for each one after that. Wondered why they paid so much. (I’m a teacher and schools being off in summer means money is tight).
Load More Replies... #71
TIL that Shalimar Seiuli, the sex worker who gained infamy when she was seen getting into Eddie Murphy's car, died after falling five floors after she locked herself out of her apartment and tried to use a towel as a rope to swing down from the roof to an open window.
#72
TIL Brian Patrick Carroll, the guitarist known professionally as "Buckethead", has recorded over 300 studio albums, four special releases, one EP, and has performed on more than fifty albums by other artists.
cadena kuhn 2 years ago
Did a custom painting of him as a gift for a friend. He got so excited
#73
TIL A US Navy red cell kidnapped a civilian security officer as an exercise and proceeded to torture and beat him in a hotel room. The officer's wife nearly shot the members of the red cell, but the officer told her it was an exercise rather than a real kidnapping.
John L 2 years ago
Wow, tortured and beat him, for just and exercise. Hate to see what they would do if they were serious.... /s
StumblingThroughLife 2 years ago
They actually tortured and beat him, or was THAT pretend too? If not, I could see why the wife wanted to shoot them.
sdizzle85 2 years ago
The original poster is referring to Commander Richard "Demolition D**k" Marcinko, who was a very successful US Navy Seal. He was tasked with testing the security of US naval installations during the later years of the Cold War...which he did too well. His team also kidnapped an Admiral & "mildly" tortured him, getting said Admiral to divulge top secret information. He was later tried on trumped up charges, which he beat. He ended up serving time for "overpaying" for hand grenades- all of which was most likely retribution for embarrassing the Navy by following their orders. Say what you want, but he's a legend & inspired some of our favorite video games!
Detective Miller's Hat 2 years ago
Something like that happened to one of my cousins when he was in the British Army. We have no idea what actually happened. He was in the hospital for weeks and most of his body is covered in burn scars. He said it was a "training exercise."
Sinnsyk Jakte 2 years ago
I have so many issues with this considering that I helped train people in military intelligence and...my supervisor would have immediately shut that 'exercise' down, and ensured the ruin of the careers of those involved.
Temporary Dork 2 years ago
I read too many posts about blood products to interpret this red cell the right way right away :)
#74
TIL that no human has beaten a computer in a chess tournament in over 15 years.
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago
Chess is too predictable, there isn't enough room for irrational moves to outsmart the computer I would assume
Mat Hall 2 years ago
Chess is not really predictable - there are around 10^120 possible sequences for a chess game lasting 40 moves (known as the Shannon Number); for a sense of scale compare that to the ~10^80 atoms in the observable universe - plus making "irrational" moves is likely to see you lose very quickly regardless of whether your opponent is machine or human. Attempting to predict moves is not really how chess is played... (Although Douglas Adams did give us the word "aboyne", which means beating an expert at a game of skill by playing so appallingly that none of his clever tactics or strategies are of any use to him.)
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Lp Johnson 2 years ago
So, since back when we were able to play against the computer in yahoo messenger lol
#75
TIL That China had a very significant role in helping the US defeat Japan in WWII, and that China suffered over eight million casualties.
V33333P 2 years ago
Right? USA didn't even show up til the latter part and always claim they won it
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Mr. Cinder 2 years ago
The Rape of Nanking was a horrendous atrocity perpetrated by Japan against China.
Donkeywheel 2 years ago (edited)
Mostly prior to the us engagement in the war. The casualties occurred when Japan invaded China, not when they were later fighting the us.
Vix Spiderthrust 2 years ago (edited)
Well, yes. They'd been at war since 1937, two years before the European war kicked off in earnest (Germany had been invading places before then) and four years before the US got involved.
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