Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
50 New ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Learn Something New
If you browse Reddit, the chances are you will end up on its powerhouse called Today I Learned. And it's not a powerhouse for no reason, trust me.
TIL is home to 27.3 million members who enjoy pumping their trivia muscle and coming to the subreddit to recharge their memory banks.
Created back in December 28, 2008, the community has become a destination for daily tidbits of knowledge and interesting facts. The best part, TIL is basically a never-ending stream of wisdom goodness, so if you ever have a spare moment to kill or simply need some cool things nobody knows to impress your date, TIL facts make for lightyears of scrolling. So in case you feel adventurous, more Today I Learned facts await here, here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL in 1818, the US began building a fort near the New York-Quebec border to defend against invasions from Canada. After two years of construction, they realized the fort was actually on the Canadian side. They abandoned it and named it Fort Blunder.
LeeBreezy 3 years ago
just adding a real comment so that you arent only replied to by bots
Load More Replies...
Redheaded1 3 years ago
We could use a Canadian invasion. Some common sense, manners, and everything else aboot them that is wonderful!
LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago
lol read some of the comments on Canadian news media and you'll not notice much of a difference.
Load More Replies...
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
I wonder when the Canadians noticed. Did they just not tell them and figure hey if they get it built we can have a free fort?
Stephen Lyford 3 years ago
Canada must not have been too much of a threat then, if they let the USA build a fort on their soil for 2 years. :)
LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago (edited)
The Canadians were probably watching and wondering of what those nutty Americans were up to. Maybe some helped. Sounds like a Looney Toons cartoon. "Eh, what's up, yanks?" "We're buildin' us a fort." "What are you buildin' a fort for?" "Ssshhh. We're defending against the Canadians. Be vewy, vewy quiet." "Canadians, eh?! Here let us help." "Oo"
Load More Replies...
Suzy the observer 3 years ago
Québécoise here. Hahahahaha!!!! For the history buffs: https://www.amusingplanet.com/2018/04/fort-blunder-fort-that-america.html
Indy 3 years ago
Just FYI, majority of Canadians don't pronoune it "aboot". It's based on the French Canadian accent speaking English. Dont care if I get down voted. It's like in the 80's everyone thought a lot of Americans said y'all. I'm French Canadian myself so I understand the accent.
Mr Zipperface 3 years ago
I thought it was based on the Scottish settlers who brought "aboot" with them.
Load More Replies...
Rannveig Ess 3 years ago (edited)
Hey Canadians! When you invade can you please bring some Boston Creme Tim Horton donuts? I'll reimburse you when I see one of you. Best donuts in the universe, and I never liked donuts. Thanks ahead of time!
wilburmorte 3 years ago
In 1842 the border was altered to return the fort to the US. Fort Montgomery
RELATED:
#2
TIL that in 1950 in Beatrice, NE, a church exploded five minutes after choir practice started. No one was hurt because every single member of the choir was late for completely separate reasons, so the church was empty.
Kristopher Still 3 years ago
I remember it was features on an episode of Beyond Belief: Fact or Fiction lol
Load More Replies...
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
And the Choir Director was notoriously strict about prompt attendance so this was highly unusual, but even he was late - I believe they said his small child had spilled something on her dress so his wife was having to get her changed. Other people variously had car trouble, had homework to finish, were listening to a radio serial they just had to catch the end of, fell asleep, the preacher was finishing up a letter he needed to get in the post that evening. All very random and unrelated delays.
Ogre Juan Canolli 3 years ago
Should Read "Scheduled" NOT "Started" . Also , No-one (Let Alone ALL) Had Ever Been Late Before
Stephanie Hatton 3 years ago
The Stuff You Should Know podcast did an episode on this recently; they gave all the reasons that each member was late that night. Apr 6, 2022 The Church Choir That Didn't Explode
Henry Myers 3 years ago
What are the odds of being on this page and seeing this comment not even 10 minutes after listening to that episode?!
Load More Replies...
J. F. 3 years ago
Oh, I saw that episode - we in Germany call it "X-factor: The unbelievable"
Load More Replies...
#3
TIL during a financial crisis in 1720, the British parliament debated a resolution for bankers to be sewn into sacks with snakes and dumped into the Thames river.
Jo Johannsen 3 years ago
I've already claimed the concession rights the last time this was posted.
Jackie Nettleton 3 years ago
I would pay up to £30 for a cup of tea if this would happen and you had the concession stands just because of the pleasure of seeing bankers getting their just rewards
Load More Replies...
Mark Fuller 3 years ago
SO much potential, so many flaws. Firstly, we should be sewing both bankers AND politicians into sacks and tossing them into the Thames. Second, we probably don't have enough sacks. Third, we'd need to import snakes - we only have three species in the UK, just one of which is venomous. They aren't common, they are shy and they simply won't inflict the harm necessary. Forth, for the aforementioned reasons, it would be very unkind to the snakes. They deserve better. Fifth, we've made lots of progress improving water quality in the Thames. The last thing it needs is more waste thrown in it.
Bacony Cakes 3 years ago
Simple: We keep the snakes out, and we trebuchet the sacks over the Russian border instead.
Load More Replies...
Tonk Terrier 3 years ago
This was because of the East India company getting in to trouble. Excellent book called The Anarchy details it
#4
TIL Keeping cats on ships has been a long held seafaring tradition due to their efficiency as a form of pest control and the supposed luck they brought to vessels. It is thought that cats were spread around the world by groups such as the Ancient Egyptians, Vikings, and Age of Discovery explorers.
M Rob 3 years ago
And thought of as the real reason the Dodo was wiped out. Between the cats, killing the birds and rats eating the eggs.
Kira Okah 3 years ago (edited)
The invasive pigs and macaques are believed to have had a higher impact as they ate both the birds and eggs, the rats considered less as the Dodo demonstrated being able to fight them off. They are also now believed to have been critically endangered before humans set foot on the island, after the remains of a severe flood were found in 2005 that shows it was a catastrophic mass death event for the Dodo.
Load More Replies...
Porch Santa 3 years ago (edited)
I vote the reason be "cat naps". All in favor don't vote, just nap.
#5
TIL that Charles Darwin often gave his old papers to his children for them to doodle on. Thus, much of what survives of his original Origin of Species manuscript represents the best of his children's writing and drawings, rather than the best of his work.
David Woollands 3 years ago
One of his notebooks was stolen from Cambridge library and has only just been returned with a note saying ‘Librarian…. Happy Easter’ 22 years after being stolen! https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-60980288.amp
Hannah Edwards 3 years ago
Gave to his children to draw on or was sitting smoking his pipe and little Darwin Jr comes in with the only copy of Origin of the Species now sticky with jam “look daddy, look what I drew for you.”
JEON CENA 3 years ago
Fun fact, Victor Hugo did the same and made a "upper" desk office to keep his letters out of the kids hands. Later on, on that same desk, he added a plank on the bottom so the kids could use it as their own desk while he was reading his letters. This can be seen at his house/museum in Paris
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
His journals were stolen from Cambridge in 2001 and JUST NOW returned: 2 Apr 2022- two Charles Darwin manuscripts worth millions of pounds reported as stolen from Cambridge University library after being missing for two decades.
The disappearance prompted a worldwide appeal with the help of the local police force and Interpol. Now, in a peculiar twist, the notebooks – one of which contains Darwin’s seminal 1837 Tree of Life Sketch – have been anonymously returned in a pink gift bag, with a typed note on an envelope wishing a happy Easter to the librarian.
The bag was left on the floor of a public area of the library outside the librarian’s office on the fourth floor of the 17-storey building on 9 March, in an area not covered by CCTV. Who left them and where they had been remains a mystery. Screen-Sho...7b-png.jpg 
#6
TIL in 1952, a bus driver (Albert Gunter) was driving over Tower Bridge, when to his surprise, the bridge started opening. The double - decker bus was at the edge of the south bascule when it started rising. He made a split decision and accelerated clearing the 6ft drop. Later receiving a £10 bonus.
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
According to google the average salary for a London Bus driver in 1952 was £9. So basically he got a week's wages as a bonus, which isn't bad. Probably a lot better than whatever the idiot operating the bridge who failed to notice a BRIGHT RED DOUBLE DECKER BUS before opening it got!
Load More Replies...
Seán Baron 3 years ago
It's this incident that the song "The Wheels on the Bus" comes from. What people don't know is that the next verse starts "Holy S**t we're flying!".
Troy Parr 3 years ago
Another fact about Tower Bridge is that although it looks to be built from stone. It's actually built from steel and the stonework is cladding.
C C 3 years ago
Anyone else have the song "London Bridge is Falling Down" playing in the background of their mind as they read this post?... None? No one else?... Sweet lol
Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago
Imagine if you were riding on the top at that moment—-better than any roller coaster could ever be!
Troy Parr 3 years ago
How times change. Nowadays he would be sacked, fined and banned from driving busses ever again. Not to mention a bus load of passengers making claims against him for all sorts of stress and trauma.
#7
TIL that Stan Lee had a younger brother, Larry, who co-created Thor, Iron Man, and Ant-Man. Larry Lieber is currently 90 years old and only retired from pencilling comics in 2018.
King Kashue 3 years ago (edited)
For the same reason Stan Lee is known to tons of people while Jack Kirby is only known to comic nerds. Stan Lee may have been an awesome person - but he also spent a lot of time making sure everyone knew he was an awesome person, often to the detriment of other awesome people.
Load More Replies...
François Carré 3 years ago
I don't know if he has a moustache but he could legit steal his brother's cameos on Marvel movies now.
Twodogsandapicnictable 3 years ago
Co-created doesn't necessarily mean he did contributed equally. Or maybe he just wasn't a self promoter like his brother. He did keep his own name instead of changing it to something me marketable like his brother. Or just think of how many lead singers that are the only band member's name you know. Or ghost writers you've never heard of that write songs for Grammy winners.
Sarah Stalder 3 years ago
I wonder if his full name was Stanley Lee. Has a different ring to it.
Ross Warren 3 years ago
His birth name was Stanley Martin Lieber. Stan Lee started out as a pen name and he eventually had his name legally changed.
Load More Replies... #8
TIL that (former) Dutch footballer Dennis Bergkamp is afraid of flying to the point that he would take car/ferry/train to away games, or not travel at all. His Aviophobia gave him the nickname of the "Non-Flying Dutchman".
MMcD 3 years ago
John Madden didn’t fly for a long time. I thought it was a fear, but looked it up and it was due to claustrophobia.
Load More Replies... Tonk Terrier 3 years ago
Dennis Bergkamp spent his professional life playing at Arsenal and is a football genius. He played as a striker and his ability to baffle defenders in that fraction of a moment in the penalty area is really worth watching.
Michele Ferretto 3 years ago
Some context here: 2 of his youth teammates died in an aircrash going to Suriname. That's were the fear comes from.
#9
TIL in Egypt, around 17000 divorce cases in 2018 cited "Candy Crush" as the cause of divorce.
Katie Nelson 3 years ago
I read "around 1700" and thought that candy crush had divorced them in 1700. me is dum
the one panda _ 3 years ago
Yes because as we all know how popular that game was 300 years ago! ☺️
Load More Replies...
Briana Kessler 3 years ago
I broke up with someone for not much different reasons. Obsessive use of phone is not something a significant other wants to date.
Donny Cromwell 3 years ago
I remember years ago I saw a girl playing it while she was driving 65 mph on the freeway. I don't think she was paying any attention to her driving.
Abdul Rahman Falih 3 years ago (edited)
Am I the only one who gets anxiety(or some wierdish feeling) from the music of candy crush?
juice 3 years ago
i don't mind the music, i just don't like the deep voice...
Load More Replies...
Hazel Sage 3 years ago
I’m confused. A game? Why? I’ve never played Candy Crush, but as far as I know it’s just a standard match-three game.
CATMONSTER2018 3 years ago
It's quite addicting to some people. I would assume that the reason of divorce would be that they play the game more rather than spending time with the partner.
Load More Replies...
#10
TIL there are 13 remaining secret apartments on the top floors of New York City’s branch libraries.
Hedgeh og 3 years ago
There are a number of articles about them; they were built for caretakers, at a time when furnaces needed regular manual stoking and so on. This is one of my favorite articles about them: https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/inside-the-new-york-public-librarys-last-secret-apartments
Michael Lockard 3 years ago
Nertz! Try this: https://www.6sqft.com/life-behind-the-stacks-the-secret-apartments-of-new-york-libraries/
Load More Replies...
Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago (edited)
They’re not the only unoccupied properties in major cities, either. Many foreign “investors”(aka money launderers) bought houses and apartments and never occupied them, and never intended to. There should be some kind of deal the cities can make with these absentee owners to rent out their properties—-at reasonable rent-controlled rent amounts that represent no more than 30% of a 99 percenter-level salary—-to keep them occupied and not at risk of falling into disrepair from neglect. The renters pay the city and the city pays the owners, let’s say, 70% of the rent amount. Everyone’s happy. There are decent homes in town for hardworking renters, and steady income for both cities and owners.
Twodogsandapicnictable 3 years ago (edited)
These foreign owners of unoccupied properties are using them as tax havens or for money laundering. They can't rent them out or they would be developing real income that would only complicate their scams.
Load More Replies...
Lucky2BAlive 3 years ago
Would love to see pics of the apartments (which would probably be listed in the millions today)
Malgorzata Margo 3 years ago
I work at one of these libraries. The apartment is empty and has old peeling paint. It's very spacious (3 bedrooms) and very quiet, even though the neighborhood is quite noisy. I like taking my lunch breaks there (nap or read). One of the perks of this job :). The public has no access to these because of ADA laws/ no elevator.
Whitey Black 3 years ago
Sounds great, but the noise complaints would be abundant. The library in my NYC high school was hardcore. It had sign that said SHUT THE F**K UP!
#11
TIL that two 16-year-olds got lost in the Canadian wilderness while snowboarding, but were able to stay warm by burning their homework. The two boys were rescued the following day and managed to avoid frostbite, sustaining only minor injuries.
Commander Ducky 3 years ago
... because I brought my homework snowboarding.. I guess it didn't like snowboarding..
Load More Replies... 
Abdul Rahman Falih 3 years ago
Yea but 1 in 1 quintillion chance of being useful and not brain wrecking at the same time
Load More Replies... LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago
During winter our daylight time is very short, it can get dark by 4:30pm or earlier. If you're living in the mountain towns you the slopes are pretty much your backyard. If you wanna carve the snow before it gets too dark you have to do it right after school, Or it could have been a field trip assignment type of thing.
Betsy Novack 3 years ago
Or they were supposed to write "I won't forget my homework" 12,000,000 times and and were planning on doing the last 5 at home.
Load More Replies...
CelticElff 3 years ago (edited)
They carried their homework with them while snowboarding? that sounds like total BS
Karen Grace 3 years ago
Unless they went straight after school so they could get some time in before dark.
Load More Replies... #12
TIL cheetahs were at one point so close to extinction, their genetic diversity has become too low for their immune system to recognize a "nonself". Skin grafts exchanged between unrelated cheetahs are accepted as if they were clones or identical twins.
Kira Okah 3 years ago
Not at one point, but at two - one around 100,000 years ago and one at 12,000 years ago. Their genetic variation is around 0.1–4%, which is insanely low.
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
Isn't almost the same true for humans? Our genetic variation is about 0,5 % cause we almost went extinct?
Load More Replies... Mark Fuller 3 years ago
Please tell me they are in a better position now. This is heart-breaking.
Daniel (ShadowDrakken) 3 years ago (edited)
It will take dozens of generations for enough mutations to build back up and create true diversity again. Think hundreds of years, if at all.
Load More Replies... Jef Bateman 3 years ago
I'll remember this forever now. My brain has an ability to clear out useful information to make room for things like this, which I am unlikely to ever use. Although I will be happy if I ever have to give a cheetah a skin graft!
Tonk Terrier 3 years ago
Interesting story. At the Zoo in CHCH NZ there is a cheetah paddock where you can get in contact with the smaller female and cubs, (males are too dangerous) they chirp if you tickle them and there is a system for dragging a rabbit fur at high speed for them to chase. The keeper says it's the only paddock that hasn't got any rabbits in it
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
Sadly Cheetahs are not evolutionarily going to make it with such low diversity. Their best bet is science and sound animal husbandry.
Joy Hunter 3 years ago
Although cheetahs can run at 60 miles/hour, they can only do that for about 30 seconds. They only get to eat about one-third of what they kill because two-thirds of their kills are stolen by other predators while the cheetah is recuperating after its sprint. "Duma" (Swahili for cheetah) is a wonderful movie, definitely worth watching if you're into animals.
#13
TIL John von Neumann regularly recalled complete novels and pages of the phone directory. He could divide two 8-digit numbers in his head and converse in Ancient Greek at age 6, and was proficient in calculus at age 8. When he enrolled in university at 16, he had already written a research paper.
UpQuarkDownQuark 3 years ago
And I can only remember 3 of 4 things I’m supposed to pick up at the grocery store.
Bobby 3 years ago
I wonder if he had to sacrifice anything else for that crazy brain power. I just feel like our brains can only handle so much. Did he have problems with speaking, or social skills. Was he the worst dancer to ever attempt it? Did he have that thing where all your senses kinda blur together?
urszulat 3 years ago
Although Von Neumann's father insisted von Neumann attend school at the grade level appropriate to his age, he agreed to hire private tutors to give von Neumann advanced instruction in those areas in which he had displayed an aptitude. At the age of 15, he began to study advanced calculus under the renowned analyst Gábor Szegő.[23] On their first meeting, Szegő was so astounded with the boy's mathematical talent that he was brought to tears. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_von_Neumann
Leet_loves_space 3 years ago
to think we know more than him because we are in an era where we know that asbestos is bad and that carbon emissions cause global warming.
#14
TIL that the Eurasian magpie is one of the most intelligent birds, and one of the most intelligent of all non-human animals. The expansion of its nidopallium is approx. the same in its relative size as the brain of humans. It is the only bird known to pass the mirror test.
Ozacoter 3 years ago (edited)
Corvids are really smart. They are also capable not only to make amd use tools (other birds can) but to make/use tools in order to retrieve a second tool needed to solve a puzzle. That is really complex thinking.
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
I live in a town that’s run by ravens and things seem to be just fine and dandy!
Load More Replies... 
Carlotta Müller 3 years ago
That is not true. Rabenvögel und Krähen bestehen den Spiegeltest auch. Vögel sind grundsätzlich oft sehr intelligent.
Felicia Dale 3 years ago
Our parrot passed that test but not in a lab. He was only 125 grams but super smart. I know of at least two African grays who passed this test, too, one in a lab though that was accidental so it couldn’t count. Alex the African Gray (Dr. Irene Pepperberg’s first parrot) saw himself in a mirror and immediately asked, “Who’s that?” Dr. Pepperberg (annoyed with herself for not planning for this) replied that it was him- and Alex ignored his reflection for the rest of his life.
Evil Piggy 3 years ago
I once set a crow free that had gotten it's legs wrapped up in what looked like old fishing line about 15 years ago. For 4 straight days afterward it returned (sometimes 3-4 times per day) and left random knick-knacks in the entryway to my car port (the place where I had "saved" him/her.) I thought that was the coolest thing ever... until it returned every year like clockwork with gifts. This went on for 7 years. The last 2 years before it stopped visiting, it brought his/her life partner along, who also carried gifts. Now THAT was the coolest thing ever!
Duncan Rogers 3 years ago
Crows have been tested this way as well and while not conclusive, there is strong possibility that they are currently LEARNING how to pass the test. Which, to me, is mighty impressive.
#15
TIL In 1924, the federal government funded enormous concrete arrows to be built every 10 miles or so along established airmail routes to help the pilots trace their way across America in bad weather conditions and particularly at night, which was a more efficient time to fly.
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
Someone made a custom Google map of them but they eliminated that feature and I was unable to find it.
Load More Replies...
Gavin Johnson 3 years ago
The arrows had lights above them in order to make them visible at night / during inclement weather. Video here …… https://youtu.be/-DfzbnW2DTI
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
Less turbulence and less friction on the wings and fuselage because it’s colder at night. Wind tends to die down at night as well. There’s also fewer planes/radio chatter in general at night (though this probably wasn’t a consideration in the 1920s, lol.)
Load More Replies... 
#16
TIL the hit version of “Tom’s Diner” was remixed by the group DNA and circulated to clubs without the permission of the artist Suzanne Vega or her label. When Vega heard the remix, she advised the label to buy it and officially release it rather than sue the group for copyright infringement.
ChickyChicky 3 years ago
I bet she made a lot more money than she would have without it. She wasn't a super well-known artist, though she has a pretty prolific career. Some people still think she was just a one-hit wonder.
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
I have most of her CDs—she’s one of my all-time favorites, and the only performer I ever saw in San Francisco’s fabled Warfield Theatre.
Load More Replies...
Mark Gibbings-Jones 3 years ago
Plus, as many may already know, the original acoustic version of Tom's Diner was the 'first' MP3 - audio engineer Karl-Heinz Brandenburg used it to test and refine the MP3 audio compression scheme. And if that weren't enough to make the song noteworthy, the actual NY eatery that inspired the song - Tom's Restaurant in Manhattan - was used for the exterior shots of Monk's Cafe in Seinfeld.
Bi-Polar Express 3 years ago
There is an entire album of remakes of this song. I have it. My favorite is the drunken version by Bingo Hand Job (a very drunk REM).
LB 3 years ago
Ooh thank you for sharing! Excited to listen to this album now.
Load More Replies... Carlotta Müller 3 years ago
I thought though DNA had no rights to remix the song, she didn't had to buy it.
Richard Nichols 3 years ago
What I'd heard was that, rather than sue them, she illegally released their remix of her song on her own album.
Bear of Culture 3 years ago
Religion has done more harm to humans than humans could do to themselves
#17
TIL Aurora Rodríguez Carballeira wanted to have a perfect daughter. Her daughter Hildegart read at 2, spoke 4 languages at 8, joined law school at 13, becoming professor there at 18, writing on socialism and sexuality, writing to figures. On 1933 her mother shot her.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago
Mother was later diagnosed a paranoid schizophrenic. Her 18 year old daughter was growing distant, mother thought she was falling in love and so...
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
Aurora's explanation was, "El escultor, tras descubrir la más mínima imperfección en su obra, la destruye," "the sculptor, after discovering the most minimal imperfection in his work, destroys it."
Load More Replies...
Is Be 3 years ago
Thank you for that info, makes a good read on Wikipedia. FYI the pic is of the daughter.
Julieandthephatones 3 years ago
that changed incredibly quickly..geeze!! she could'a changed the world 😪
Lori Sandoval 3 years ago
This is what she said when asked her reasons for killing her daughter, "the sculptor, after discovering the most minimal imperfection in his work, destroys it." Yikes! Ironic that a self-proclaimed feminist claimed ownership over her child. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hildegart_Rodr%C3%ADguez_Carballeira
Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
There's a book about another young woman who was brought up by an insane mother called "Debutante: The Story of Brenda Frazier by Gioia Diliberto" The hell this girl went through - even surgery to break her legs so she'd be taller - is astounding. And yet when you think of it, the Kardashians have a whole empire doing this stuff, and now pop out babies to groom to take their reins...sick. sick.
Kira Okah 3 years ago (edited)
The motive for the murder is not truly known, though she claimed that she destroyed her work for having found an imperfection, what actually prompted it exactly was not explained.
Load More Replies...
Trevor Nicholson 3 years ago
Ok, I looked this up. First of all, what they're missing is when she was born, because saying her mother shot her {in} 1933 means nothing really unless you know she was 18 years old when she was killed. This also should mention this was in Spain because her liberal feminist and socialist activism made her very well known in Spain's political spheres at the time of the newly established Second Spanish Republic. Basically, this TIL is far too minimal in the important parts.
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
That poor girl probably grew up never knowing how remarkable she was, and very likely was shown little true affection.
#18
TIL that the "lower bar" on women's bikes is antiquated and was created to accommodate the heavy dresses women wore in the late 1800s.
Ozacoter 3 years ago
Its wonderful and should be the standard. I never wear skirts but when i was still cycling i had a lot of trouble using "mens" bikes. Just put the low bar for everybody! It serves no purpose now that materials are stronger. Many mountain bikes have a small bar but much lower than the traditional ones. Also you can get hurt with the bar if you get hit.
Peter Thielen 3 years ago
It does make sense on sporty bicycles, it's much stiffer and can save weight. There's a reason you'll never see a low bar road bike!
Load More Replies...
Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago
It was also so they didn’t have to raise their legs high enough to risk the exposure of an inch of leg—-Heavens to Mergatroid!—-to clear the upper bar, back in the days when people even covered up the legs on pianos to keep their young people from having impure thoughts (Cripes!).
Aisling Raye 3 years ago
I wish I could upvote this more for your use of "Heavens to Mergatroid"
Load More Replies...
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
My father is 74 and has a women's bike cause it's more comfortable for seniors.
Got Myself 4 Pandas 3 years ago
I'll take the lower bar over the pelvic bone smashing into metal by braking too quickly, that stings like a b***h
Samantha 3 years ago
Yeah, we might not have balls, but slamming your pubic bone on the high bar is not something easily forgotten, and you don't just walk off the pain.
Load More Replies... BkB 3 years ago (edited)
A low bar is definitely easier when you transport your kids on your bike as well (like we like to do in the Netherlands). With a childseat on the backside of your bike (bagagedrager?) you’d have a pretty hard time getting on your bike with a high bar. Especially if you have a seat on the front of your steer as well!
Firkin Dirkin 3 years ago
There are no male/female bikes in belgium, holland etc. You use the bar type as you want. No one cares...
Alex Vanderheide 3 years ago
BS there are bikes for men and women in both Belgium and the Netherlands PS. Holland are two provinces North and South Holland (Noord en Zuid Holland).
Load More Replies...
Bob Standen 3 years ago
Can't tell you the number of times my balls were hit by the cross bar on my bike.
Josiane Roy 3 years ago
I don't miss the standard bar from my first bike. I cracked my pelvic bone on that bar falling on it. It hurts.
Twodogsandapicnictable 3 years ago
Its how all bikes should be. Landing on that bar if you slide off the seat in a accident is just fkd up.
#19
TIL, that Lieutenant Elmo Zumwalt III contracted cancer and died at 42, after getting exposed to Agent Orange while deployed in Vietnam. It was his father, Admiral Elmo Zumwalt who ordered the use of Agent Orange in Vietnam.
M Rob 3 years ago
Yep Dad knew, and said that even though his son died and his grandson is disabled, due to it... He feels it saved lives and he would do it again.
Load More Replies...
witchling 3 years ago
My father died from agent orange. I have terrible health issue attributed to it. It's a sad chapter of history.
Brodie Bruce 3 years ago
My father died in 2016 from cancer due to Agent Orange.
Load More Replies... Bob Standen 3 years ago
We did a trip to Vietnam a few years back, the bus driver was given 'kickbacks' from various factories who had shops built into the fronts showing their wares for sale. We were taken on tours of the work floors showing how the goods were made. Every second or third worker male/female were deformed in some way, we were told they are 'Agent Orange' effected from the war they won. Shame on America!!!
Bubs623 3 years ago
My father served two tours. Died from cancer caused by Agent Orange. Although unrecognized by the US government, thousands of children born after the soldiers came home, like me, experience life long medical issues and problems. The govt only recognizes one disease in second generation patients, but medical Documentation proves otherwise. And that does not begin to cover the millions of Vietnamese people affected.
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
This is just terrible. I had 3 uncles who served during the Vietnam war. One of them was exposed to Agent Orange, and died shortly after coming home. Senseless, terrible tragedy, that war.
Kate Stevenson 3 years ago
My father died exactly the same way. He was a Special Forces Commanding Officer in Vietnam. Later he contracted Cancer from Agent Orange and died at the age of 44.
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
RA The Rugged Man does a deep track about his dad's experiences in Vietnam and having children affected by Agent Orange. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YV2Guv8l2FY
#20
TIL English is not an official language of New Zealand despite it being spoken by 90% of the population. The two official languages are Te reo Māori and NZ sign language.
Chris Ramage 3 years ago
Nah, the sheep know Te Reo. We have very smart sheep
Load More Replies...
Vince Cross 3 years ago
As a New Zealander - this is not true, English is one of the three official languages. Capture-62...1ea647.jpg 
Rachel Ainsworth 3 years ago
Also a NZer - The goverment says it is not https://www.ethniccommunities.govt.nz/resources-2/our-languages-o-tatou-reo/. The argument is that we don't need a law to make it official as it ia already assummed within law to be used in most situations.
Load More Replies...
Moezzzz 3 years ago
I have a step brother who lives in New Zealand. He loves it there. We all grew up in Mississippi, one of the most backwards and terrible states in the US (other than Alabama), and actually out of 5 kids, only one still lives in that horrid state
onivdsrapowijap 3 years ago (edited)
English also isn't the official language of the US, yet everyone seems to think it is
Load More Replies...
Phill Healey 3 years ago
It used to be but everyone was sheepish about using it in public
Load More Replies...
Sandy Kavanaugh 3 years ago
New Zealand is a very modern nation, while keeping her traditional roots.
Nancy Lynch 3 years ago
There is no official language (at the Federal level) in the United States.
#21
TIL that a 4-year-old was arrested for witchcraft during the Salem Witch Trials. Little Dorothy Good spent 10 months chained in a prison cell after confessing to a local judge that she had a pet snake that could talk.
Ozacoter 3 years ago
Humans are the worst. I cannot express how horrified I am thinking about that girl.
Elizabeth Hendrick 3 years ago
We really are, aren't we? We do so much harm in the name of 'doing the right thing'.
Load More Replies...
User# 6 3 years ago
I thought religious nutters all believe snakes can talk. After all, it's in the bible!
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
Different religions have different nutter demographics
Load More Replies...
GaeFrog 3 years ago
Even if she did have a talking snake why chain her up for it?? Its not like she was attacking people with it. She just had a friend snake
Karen Grace 3 years ago
At 4 y.o. it was most likely an imaginary friend. I'd be surprised if there was a real snake involved.
Load More Replies...
Pungent Sauce 3 years ago
The pilgrims were Puritans, booted out of England because the C.O.E., themselves total religious nutters, deemed them too extreme.
Random Anon 3 years ago
Gullible ignorant humans placed into position of authority by some arbitrary dogma sounds like some bushmen society, worshiping rocks and random crap. But it's actually how all major religions still are, in the 21st century.
Ross Warren 3 years ago
The Salem police department features a witch on their badges because nothing says justice like a reminder of the time that several innocent people were killed for a crime that doesn't even exist.
#22
TIL that in the 4th century CE, Roman bishop Acacius of Amida sold the all church's treasures to free 7000 Persian prisoners captured by the Romans during war. The Persian emperor was so impressed by the act that he ordered an end to Christian persecution throughout his empire.
Premislaus de Colo 3 years ago
TIL that the sculpture here presents St Adalbert, it can be seen in Prague in St Adalbert's chaple, and that image sof Acacius of Amida are widely accesible in the Internet...
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Waiting for the Pope to sell all the Catholic church's treasures to help Ukrainians who suffer from Putin's war crimes.
Chich 3 years ago
But if he does that who is going to pay for all their Dior robes and fancy shoes and hats?
Load More Replies...
Pantea 3 years ago (edited)
This story is fake. It's made up by the catholic church to showcase its power. Christianity was a serious competition for the Iranian official religion, zoroastrianism. The main cause of war between Iranians and Romans was Armenia, which had become christian and had forgotton its old traditions and cultural ties with Persia. In 422, the Persian emperor Bahram V and the Roman eastern Emperor Theodosius II signed a peace treaty that agreed on ending both zoroastrian and christian persecution. Also, this wasn't the only point on the peace treaty. The romans were forced to accept it because Huns were attacking Constantinople.
GPZ 3 years ago
And from then on, the Catholic Church went to extraordinary lengths to increase its wealth to the point that they have incredible holdings despite the supposed pledge of "poverty, chastity and obedience". Then they have the gaul to ask parishioners for donations for "the upkeep of the holy places", which probably translates into "We in The Vatican don't want to spend our own money as we have become accustomed to our luxury lifestyle, oh and we need more money to pay out of court settlements to people who have been abused by priests, who were known paedophiles but who were simply shifted around and unleashed on another unsuspecting congregation.
Mandy Delaforce (PC Girl) 3 years ago
This sounds like a "and then then all stood up and clapped" story.
#23
TIL that the crust of the Earth is so thin, that it makes up 1% of the earth's volume that contains all known life in the universe and can be compared with a peel of an apple.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago
Yet it's too deep to drill past. The thinnest part is 3 miles, but is at the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean. The deepest drill was about 6 miles, but was not even close to the mantle. Frankly, we really SHOULDN'T drill past the crust!
Lady Vader 3 years ago
Yeah, why pre-drill a rift for a kaiju to come through. Make them work for it.
Load More Replies...
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
It even get's better: if the crust of the earth would be the peal of the Apple, our atmosphere is thinner than the wax on the Apple.
Leslie Donsen 3 years ago
The Kola Superdeep Borehole is the world's deepest artificial hole. It is near the Russian border with Norway, on the Kola Peninsula. Locals claim you can hear the screams of tortured souls in hell from the 12.2 km underground structure. (If that doesn't give you nightmares, nothing will)
Thomas Ewing 3 years ago
And the breathable atmosphere is so sheer that it can't be measured on a standard 12" globe.
Thomas Sweda 3 years ago
You’re right Brandy. we might spring a leak, and let all the air out.
O.M.Miki 3 years ago
i think the furthest in history ever dug was 1/3 down, but now deep sea drilling expeditions are being conducted to reach the mantle. From my understanding it gets too hot deep inside the crust to geo any further, However, the sea (already at a low level) would allow us to reach the mantle quicker....but It's unclear if it's hot . The recorded sounds from deep within the crust is haunting (some describe it like bellowing rumbles - or echoing winds or screams) - i mean i don't think we should be puncturing the earth like this just for the sake of reaching it. We could be disrupting the inner workings of earth. It's like drilling into someone skin body to reach a breast plate - only to take samples knowing it's protecting lungs and keeping you alive.... honestly deep sea exploration, planet exploration is fine for whatever reasons the world needs it for, but so many things need attention now on the surface of earth and so much money gets poured into these things....
#24
TIL F1 driver Kimi Raikkonen nearly bankrupted his Lotus team. They put a €50k bonus per point in his contract thinking they wouldn't score many, Kimi scored 390 in two years including 15 podiums and 2 race wins.
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
Clearly not enough F1 fans on here or you'd have more upvotes.
Load More Replies...
Marco Conti 3 years ago
Kimi has more money than God. He drove the last few seasons as a hobby.
Load More Replies... 
Gin. No tonic 3 years ago
In Formula 1 top 10 drivers of the race (out of 22 drivers) get championship points based on the place they take, 1st place getting the most points. The driver and the team that get the most points during the season win the year. In F1 a lot depends on the car, and Lotus wasn't a particularly good or rich team (relative to other teams), and even though Kimi is a great driver, they didn't really expect to get a lot of points. So they put a clause that Kimi will get €50k for every point as an incentive. Yet they didn't expect Kimi to do so well. And as Kimi received 390 points in two seasons they owed him 19,5 million euros extra for the points on top of his salary, which was way more that they expected, and this almost bankrupted the team. Also "Shut up, I know what I'm doing!" is almost a standard Kimi's saying as the team is telling him what to do during the race, and he, well, knows what he's doing.
Load More Replies...
#DreamSMPistheBest1 3 years ago
That's 19500000 or nineteen million and five hundred thousand.
#25
TIL Cancun was founded by the Mexican government using computer models to find a nice spot for tourists.
Hedgeh og 3 years ago
Ted Cruz agrees! Never forget he abandoned his state (Texas) when it was undergoing the most extreme disaster it had experienced in years - more than 1,000 excess deaths in that week of February 2021 when the extended freeze hit the state. Senator Cruz thought he could be of most help to his constituents sitting on a beach and not suffering like the peasants. TX electrical grid still not winterized adequately.
Mary Rose Kent 3 years ago
They don’t really have a grid…they have a lot of autonomous power vendors, so it’s a real catch-as-catch-can situation. And they’ve voted numerous times to keep it that way.
Load More Replies... InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Went there once, got robbed at machine gun by 3 policemen and then dropped off at a dodgy looking corner somewhere miles away from our resort, thank you to the taxi driver who picked us up and took us out of the "bad place not for tourists". Probably won't go there again.
Rodrigo Villa 3 years ago
And sadly, it is being destroyed by mass tourism and attractions and the mexican government doing nothing. I'm mexican and it is truly a shame to see something so beautiful being destroyed. If you like beautiful waters and pristine beaches without so much criminal activity and nightlife, visit Huatulco. Just as beautiful.
Christie Henderson 3 years ago
That makes total sense to me after being there. It is a beautiful beach, a little tourist oasis, but if you leave the immediate area, you drive through the ramshackle poor reality surrounding the beach. I have no desire to go back. To me, it felt false and contrived and opportunistic. When I visit a foreign land, I want to experience the culture and meet the people, not be separated from it in a contrived disney-esk resort area. I understand the reasoning by the government as to why it is like that, but it made me feel icky. It is not right that tourists should get to experience this beautiful beach, while the people who live there aren't even allowed in for the most part.
Marlena Adams 3 years ago
Computer models? They didnt even prepare roads! They mever even planned cancun city or playa or tulum, hence many buikdings and condos but barely any road infrastructure
#26
TIL Philadelphia Cream Cheese was invented in New York and has never been made in Philadelphia. Its name was part of a clever marketing strategy, because at the time (1880s) Philadelphia was known for its high quality dairy.
Gabby M 3 years ago
Philly cream cheese is made in Lowvill NY. They even have a festival yearly
Load More Replies... Joy Hunter 3 years ago
For many years it has been consistently rated the best cheese in its class by international judging panels. Also, Cracker Barrel cheddar has consistently been rated the world's best cheddar. Don"t tell England!
Nitro Codes 3 years ago
Well, they haven't been shut down yet, so yeah, it is legal!
Load More Replies... #27
TIL of the "Boring Billion". From roughly 1.8 billion BC to 0.8 billion BC, relatively nothing happened on earth. There was tectonic stability, a static climate, and hardly any biological evolution. It has been termed "The Dullest Time in Earth's History"
Chich 3 years ago
The planet is doing fine. The petrol fueled apes however...
Load More Replies...
tuzdayschild 3 years ago
The dullest time in human history was 4th grade in Ms. Brown's class.
Rachel Ainsworth 3 years ago
Actually there's an old saying in English that is incorrectly attributed to the Chinese.
Load More Replies...
#28
TIL that Sesame Street was initially banned in several states, such as Mississippi, for casting black and hispanic actors.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Won't be long before Sesame street will be banned again in several states for the exact same reason and some more.
Katy McMouse 3 years ago
No kidding. It's frightening how some of our states are setting us back decades, in terms of certain rights and freedoms.
Load More Replies...
Trevor Nicholson 3 years ago
Nixon himself had Buffy Sainte-Marie blacklisted for her activism, destroying her music career. She ended up working on Sesame Street and, among other things, breastfed her son in an episode and also taught children about Indigenous people. Frankly, I'm surprised Republicans haven't gotten it cancelled. They may cry about cancel culture but they sure love cancelling things THEY don't like.
K Witmer 3 years ago
Desantis is banning math books right now bc they had word problems siting black culture. He said it was crt and therefore discriminated against white people. He's dangerous bc he's a smarter liar and grifter and fascist than trump. Trump opened the door for a smart dictator
Load More Replies... Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
"Sesame Street premiered almost 52 years ago (Nov 10, 1969). Six months later, a state commission in Mississippi voted to ban the show because, one member shared, it had “a highly integrated cast of children.” After a public outcry, Mississippi reinstated the show 22 days later" .. I didn't find that it had been "several states" Blame the idiotic politicians.. .don't assume the entire state is racist.
Cody Rhys 3 years ago
It just occurred to me that in my 37 years of being alive, I've never associated Muppets with race or ethnicity. Like..... I guess I just saw Muppets as their own, singular, imaginary race. I'm so confused now.
Jon S. 3 years ago
Trying to remember from my childhood, but I think there are real humans interacting with the puppets on sesame street.
Load More Replies... InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Just a wonderful and beautiful show, I'm so glad Channel 4 had it on over here when I was a kid in the 80's, it is just the best, the way they deal with thigs like death and racism is amazing, the way they explained BLM to kids last year was just perfect.
Elaine Mattingly 3 years ago
They don't make crayons in just one color? Why? ................Just saying you dummies who are afraid of color.
#29
TIL Scooby Doo was designed by Iwao Takamoto, who first learned illustration from fellow prisoners in the Manzanar concentration camp for Japanese-Americans.
Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
Read George Takai's autobiographical graphic novel--They Called us Enemy.
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
Kudos for referring to it as what it actually was, not an "internment" camp.
Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
In BC, there are stories of Germans having their heads shaved and paraded up and down main streets. Italians lost their citizenship. In Montreal, some Italians (usually men) were imprisoned on Isle Saint Helene, sometimes for years, without trial. Doukhabors had their children taken from them. They weren't considered "white," and there was enough prejudice to allow this injustice.
Load More Replies... 
albernistuff 4sale 3 years ago
As dreadful as the Internment for Nisei was, (Canada and USA) I think it was in some ways the less awful choice. In times of war, the unwashed masses tend to get xenophobic, and the propaganda regarding the Japanese and Germans was demeaning. If these people weren't kept out of harms way, they might have suffered much worse, especially if the war took a turn for the worse. Remember it took a couple of years for the US to get dominance in the Pacific, and as folks learned of friends and family being tortured and executed, they might have tried to take it out on Japanese regardless of their citizenship status.
Auntriarch 3 years ago
If there was a benefit, and you may be right, it was accidental
Load More Replies... #30
TIL the IRS still operates largely on mainframe computers running 60 year old code.
Jane Martin 3 years ago
You would be shocked to know how many large corporations still use mainframe. These systems run great, run fast and still do the job
Two_rolling_black_eyes 3 years ago
I used to work for a large company that handled financial transactions for many banks, credit card companiew etc. Every 6-9 months, someone would suggest trying the newest language. A month later it would be abandoned because code written in the 60s was still faster than anything since. COBOL was written for a specific purpose and all these years later nothing handles 30,000 credit card swipes per second than COBOL on a mainframe.
Load More Replies...
Madzdad the Bard 3 years ago
You know, if it works, it works! I can only imagine the cost of modernization. It will get done, but by that time the new system will be 20 years out of date and several billion dollars over budget.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
In the Netherlands the tax bureau uses an outdated IT infrastructure with some computers running programs on exotic operating systems. There are just a few old people left who know what these programs do and how to keep the computers running. When these people retire it's anyone's guess what will happen if these computers crash.
oktopus 3 years ago
The retired people get hired at very nice consulting rates.
Load More Replies...
Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago (edited)
I worked for TSA from 2012-2017. When I started there, the computers were still on Windows 95. By the time I left, they had upgraded—-to Windows Vista. They’re probably still using Vista. Good enough for government work, I guess. FFS.
oktopus 3 years ago
Not sure what language the pictured code is in (JavaScript?) but it sure as hell isn't 60 year old.
Karen Grace 3 years ago
I highly doubt the IRS is going to let anyone take photos of it's code. They would use stock photos for an article on it.
Load More Replies...
Grady'sRaider 3 years ago
Modern OOP library based languages are inefficient. Modern programmers use virtual language tools to create apps quickly that run slowly. Run them over a network and they run even slower. I.e. I tweaked a program where each line printed called a routine from disk to format the date for six columns. I wrote a small subroutine to do the same job inside the program. It ran in 20 minutes, vesus the old time of 68 hours. The client, used to the old time, ran the billing report a second time.
#31
TIL of 'Truck Wages' or 'Company Scrip, where an employer will pay employees in company minted money that is only redeemable in company owned stores. It is referenced in the sea shanty 'Wellerman' and the last company to get sued for using it was Walmart Mexico.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
It was a cunning way to enslave people. The money they earned was of no use outside of the company. Saving up to move on and escape was impossible for the employees because of that private currency.
Leslie Crittenden 3 years ago
They also charged ridiculously high prices, used up all their income so that workers couldn't save up enough to buy their own homes it leave
Load More Replies...
Furgus McGurgus 3 years ago
Scrip enabled companies to claw back money it paid their employees. Sell sub-standard goods for inflated prices in the company store, and mandate that a percentage of the salary is paid in scrip rather than legal tender. It also meant that you could prevent your employees from leaving to take better, safer jobs elsewhere, since scrip in the company bank was non-transferrable, or could only be redeemed at pennies on the dollar. Fortunately the rise of unions and the organised labour movement put paid to companies shafting their workforces.
jack kangas 3 years ago
Redit article Walmart was doing that up until 2008 https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/2sxudm/til_walmart_paid_employees_of_walmart_de_mexico/
#32
TIL of the Octomom case of 2009, where a single mom was implanted with 12 embryos and gave birth to 8 babies (octuplets). They are currently the longest surviving octuplets ever. Ultimately her fertility doctor had his license revoked.
Heather Atwood 3 years ago
Even more surprisingly, she was a single mom and was on government assistance when she gave birth and already had 6 children before the infamous octuplets.
Madeleine Flowers 3 years ago
Also, there is currently a mother who gave birth to 9 surviving nonuplets, the first confirmed case in history. That was about 2020, 2021 if anyone wants to look it up.
Charlotte Sandoval 3 years ago
Yep, and no fertility treatments, last I read, which is incredible!
Load More Replies... 
abby smink 3 years ago
I think it was something like she already had multiple kids, one with special needs, which she did not adequately care for.
Load More Replies... Mushroomlover 3 years ago
Yes and she used the money collected to help her to get plastic surgery. It was a huge scandal when she first was pregnant cause she already had at least 2 children. It was wild.
The Cute Cat 3 years ago
The story the goes very dark after their birth.. You will face-palming several times if read the complete story
H Edwards 3 years ago
True, but the last picture I saw of them for their recent 13th birthday, they all looked happy and healthy.
Load More Replies...
Debbie Burns 3 years ago
I think when I read a TIL that I knew from day one thinking it's common knowledge across the world that TIL I'm much older than I actually feel. Sigh
Natty 3 years ago
She had 6, with a total of 14 altogether. My own uterus could never, but to each their own lol
Load More Replies... #33
IL of Audie Murphy, an American soldier from World War II that earned every military combat med offered by the U.S Army, including the Medal of Honor at age 19. He also won medals from France and Belgium.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago (edited)
Then had an acting career after the war. Died at 43 in a plane crash. His wife worked at my VA clinic until 2005.
DaveR38 3 years ago
Thought I recognised the name, was he in cowboy films
Load More Replies...
Brian Jones 3 years ago
I was stationed at Fort Benning, Ga. There is a Gym on post called the Audie Murphy Fitness Center, and this picture is on a giant wall in the enterance! His MoH reads like a hollywood script come to life! Rock of the Marne!
Kusotare 3 years ago
And how is it that North Korean generals have more hardware hanging from their uniforms than this actual war hero?
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
I read somewhere that they can inherit their father's and grandfather's medals. Plus, I suppose they get medals for sycophancy.
Load More Replies...
David Woollands 3 years ago
Only knew of him after I visited my mum and dad and there was a film on tv that day - my dad told me about his military career, which I subsequently googled and have remembered him ever since!
#34
TIL that since 2004 at least 18 have people died from contracting rabies after receiving organs from infected donors. Transplanted organs are not typically screened for rabies virus, which can incubate for up to a year or more before symptoms manifest, after which time it is nearly 100% fatal.
M Rob 3 years ago
Depends on how much money you have. No money... Die and make room.
Load More Replies...
MagicJacket 3 years ago
Such a thing was featured in the excellent Scrubs episodes about the death of patient Jill Tracy, the death of three patients her organs were transplanted into, and the mental breakdown or Dr. Perry C*x.
Cynthia Bonville 3 years ago
First documented case was in Oregon, patient 0 worked in the woods and purportedly died from "Guillian-Barre Syndrome" - https://ajph.aphapublications.org/doi/pdfplus/10.2105/AJPH.74.4.370 in 1984. Two people received his corneas and subsequently died which caused the investigation. So, if you are in the woods and are in contact with rabies carriers, please get the shot series - these days it is only 4 shots on days 0, 4, 14 and 21 days (in the arm no less, not abdomen). Or walking in the capitol of Washington D.C. and come across a very friendly fox...
#35
TIL that there is a strong positive correlation between how fast someone walks and the population of the city that they're from. If a city is 10x larger than another, people will walk 24% faster on average.
Mad Dragon 3 years ago
I walk really quickly because I used to wait tables. For 12 years, I walked as quickly as possible for up to 8 hours a day. I have been out of the business for ten years, but I can’t shake the habit.
Mermaid Elle-Jaye 3 years ago
Do you still eat fast too, i scoff my food, being used to barely eating at work and if we do, we have to be quick and get back on the floor
Load More Replies...
Nubis Knight 3 years ago
Walk faster toward the person or to avoid the person?
Load More Replies... InfectedVoice 3 years ago
I grew up on a council estate, you had to move fast especially at night otherwise you might get the junkies catching up with you asking for 20p.
Dan Padgett 3 years ago
Not just the junkies but the group of lads looking for an impromptu knife fight
Load More Replies... LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago (edited)
Well, that explains why my friends in Manchester left me in their dust LOL. ( My city is much smaller than theirs.)
Thomas Ewing 3 years ago
I love to march everywhere no matter where I live. If I slow down to enjoy the view, say, I'll naturally speed back up without realizing it. 120 metronome! Hup-two-three-four!
#36
TIL that Aluminum was once more expensive than gold. It was a status symbol that emperor Napoleon III reserved a prized set of aluminum cutlery for special guests at banquets. Less favored guests used gold knives and forks.
Eric G 3 years ago (edited)
Need to build a time machine out of a DeLorean and go visit Napoleon with empty beer cans to trade for gold to buy more beer to get empty cans to trade for gold to buy more beer to.....
Toby Flenderson 3 years ago
Best possible use of a time machine I can think of too.
Load More Replies...
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 3 years ago
I will build a time machine and sell all my aluminium foil to Napoleon to gain profit then
indiecognition 3 years ago
But if time travel turns out to be impossible...curses, foiled again!
Load More Replies...
Hannah Hudson-Lee 3 years ago
In Napoleon's France, the Bacofoil Hat wearers were less conspiracy theorist and more opulent fashionista.
Izzy Curer 3 years ago (edited)
Solid lumps of it don't occur naturally in the earth's crust like gold sometimes does. It has to be extracted from bauxite ore, so the material seems to have taken us a lot longer to figure out in the first place. I say 'seem', because every once in a while they find ancient artifacts made of aluminum from times when it shouldn't have existed yet.
Maryanna Baldridge 3 years ago
I know where I'll be when the time machine is invented! The ultimate recycling!
Mondo Cane 3 years ago
Aluminium was easily found but always.combined, and pure aluminium was extremely rare. Once chemists figured out ways to extract it from the many unpure sources, bam, most of its value was gone.
Amy Watson 3 years ago
The Washington Monument in. Washington DC was capped in aluminum for the same reason.
#37
TIL that while impressed by his book "Philosophiae Naturalis Principia Mathematica", the UK's science academy couldn't publish Isaac Newton's book due to being nearly bankrupt from spending all of its money printing the "History of Fish". Thankfully, scientist Edmond Halley's funded the printing.
Kira Okah 3 years ago
And after he financed Principia, the Royal Society (not the "UK science academy", it was the Royal Society in both cases) informed Halley that they couldn't afford his annual £50 salary due to the failure of De Historia Piscium, and so started paying his salary in unsold copies of De Historia Piscium.
Haleigh Rose 3 years ago
The story of the Principia's creation and publishing is really funny and ridiculous, and poor Halley did a lot to make it happen. Bill Bryson does a good job describing it in A Short History if Nearly Everything- brilliant book
#38
TIL that in the years preceding the French Revolution, the price of bread went from costing about 50% of a laborer's daily wages to about 88% of their income.
Beck 2 years ago
Wish I could go back in time 11 months and tell you about how much eggs are about to go up for you!!
Load More Replies...
Dave P 3 years ago
That I know if false. It was never that high, not even 88% of a days labor, let alone income. Aside from the 50% was the lowest paid laborers, and a small portion of the laborers. The issue was about rights of the commoners against the Nobility and the Church. Ironically the poorest in French Society supported the Monarchy, the revolution was mostly led by the middle class.
Jackie Nettleton 3 years ago
I like how that ended up for the leaders of France and it’s not that hard to build a guillotine
julien 3 years ago
" bread (or the lack of it) was exploited as a weapon by revolutionary minds. A plot drawn up at Passy in 1789 to foment rebellion against the crown, allegedly proposed several articles, the second of which was to “do everything in our power to ensure that the lack of bread is total, so that the bourgeoisie are forced to take up arms.” Shortly thereafter the Bastille was stormed."
Jace 3 years ago
Rising prices are a common reason for a revolution/civil war. Governments, take notice.
julien 3 years ago
"The financial pressures France faced at the time were only made worse by the cost of aiding the Americans. These fiscal troubles soon spiraled out of control and played a large role in the start of the French Revolution in 1789. "
Load More Replies... RoseAnne Hutchence 3 years ago
Similarly, "1923, at the most fevered moment of the German hyperinflation, the exchange rate between the dollar and the Mark was one trillion Marks to one dollar, and a wheelbarrow full of money would not even buy a newspaper."
#39
TIL in 1993, college basketball coach Bob Knight invented a fictitious player named Ivan Renko to expose disreputable basketball recruiting experts. Sure enough, the "experts" began listing Renko as a prospect and some even claimed to have footage of the nonexistent player.
Elwood Schwartz 3 years ago
I am surprised Bobby Knight had time, since he was usually busy yelling and throwing chairs.
Gabby M 3 years ago
LOL Was just going to say that. I always wondered how was his home life .
Load More Replies... 
HarperTheCentaur (they/them) 3 years ago
I know nothing about sports. What are they being exposed about?
Nick Jeffery 3 years ago
Reminds me of when certain news outlets reported that Liverpool FC were going to sign French left-back Didier Baptiste - who was not a real player, but a character in the Sky TV show "Dream Team"...
#40
TIL that NASA was inspired by Fritz Lang's film, 'Frau im Mond', to use a countdown for rocket launches. NASA used the countdown to not only help technicians synchronise, but also found that announcing the countdown would build suspense for those watching at home.
#41
TIL screenwriter Aaron Sorkin (A Few Good Men, The Social Network) takes six to eight showers a day to get over writer’s block. If writing isn’t going well, he takes a shower, puts on different clothes, and tries again.
The Scout 3 years ago
Actually not a bad tactic. If he usually starts the day with showering, a shower will signal to his subconscious that it is a new day and thus time to start anew.
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
Like how if you always eat chocolate before studying and then you eat chocolate before your exam, it can improve your recollection because your brain associates chocolate with that information.
Load More Replies... LagoonaBlueColleen 3 years ago
I get this frame of mind. When work is going terrible for me, I'll wash my face and put on different clothes, change the lighting and get something else to drink. (wfh) When I was at the office I'd have to go for a walk or change my work station.
Katinka Min 3 years ago
For the sake of whomever lives with him, I hope he has his own bathroom!!
#42
TIL In Space there's only 9 to 12 seconds to be conscious outside airlock and humans are totally rescuable for at least 30 seconds.
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 3 years ago (edited)
And also, your body won’t explode if you go into an area with little to no pressure like inthose movies. Depending on how fast the pressure changes you may experience a very uncomfortable condition called “bends”. Divers get it when they resurface too quickly.
Bacony Cakes 3 years ago (edited)
*The Bends. It happens when your blood gets carbonated.
Load More Replies... Austin Hicks 3 years ago
No one, that's why you have to take this with a grain of salt.
Load More Replies... Great Panda Mamu 3 years ago
This, my friends, is why they say to put on your own mask before helping children on an airplane with loss of pressure. You lose consciousness astonishingly quickly. You'd think, "Well, I can hold my breath longer than that and stay awake." But it doesn't work that way.
Great Panda Mamu 3 years ago
Detailed discussion here: https://www.reddit.com/r/askscience/comments/g76sf4/why_do_you_lose_consciousness_in_a_rapid/
Load More Replies... Joseph White 3 years ago
That scene in Titan A.D. where Capt. Bill Pullman is ejected into space but survives seemed totally unrealistic to a lot of folks. But it was realistic.
Caroline Driver 3 years ago
That's why Naomi exhaled before she jumped between 2 ships in space without a suit (Expanse)
Terry Bratechelor 3 years ago
#39 and #41 are the same. In most lists there are duplicates like this. The quality checking is quite poor.
Glass Ghost 3 years ago
It's actually connection issues. Bored Panda will duplicate a picture if it couldn't load the actual picture. 39 and 41 are completely different posts for me. No duplicates. Just connection issues.
Load More Replies... Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
Actually, up to 1 minute. https://science.howstuffworks.com/question540.htm
#43
TIL in 1323, the Mexica, founders of the Aztec Empire, asked the King of Culhuacan for his daughter, to which the King of Culhuacan agreed. The Mexica then sacrificed her and flayed her skin, and invited the King of Culhuacan to a feast, during which a Mexica priest came out wearing her flayed skin.
Kira Okah 3 years ago
They asked for her so they could make her into a goddess. The way to do so was to sacrifice her to Huitzilopochtli. They believed she was transformed to become the goddess aspect Toci.
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Aztecs#Arrival_in_the_Valley_of_Mexico
Stannous Flouride 3 years ago
That's not an Aztec pyramid. It's the Pyramid of the Sun at Teotihuacan and was built around 500 BCE and long abandoned by the time the Aztecs discovered it in 1400 CE.
#44
TIL of Shi Pei Pu, a Chinese opera singer turned spy who obtained secrets from a French embassy worker for twenty years by masquerading as a woman. He even took a child and pretended it was theirs.
Cadena Norton 3 years ago
Apparently he could turn his um sack inside out to imitate Intercourse
Yugan Talovich 3 years ago
時佩璞 ~ he got a child from a doctor in Cinjiang, where a lot of the Central Asian people could pass as interracial. "Oh, doesn't Baby look like his father!"
Dolly_of TheCowboy 3 years ago
https://www.smh.com.au/national/chinese-spy-persuaded-his-french-lover-he-was-a-woman-20090705-d942.html
Susan Williams 3 years ago
Does not speak well for the intelligence of the French Embassy worker.
#45
TIL Before 2012, Pizza Hut was the largest purchaser of kale in the US, but they only used it as garnish for their salad bars.
Hedgeh og 3 years ago
Kale is great! It's definitely sturdier than some greens so needs specific cooking methods (forget massaging though); I throw mine on the cast iron griddle on high heat, a bit of high smoke point oil, and let the edges brown. Add salt at the end. DELICIOUS and EASY.
The Scout 3 years ago
Kale has been a very popular winter dish in Germany for centuries, where it is traditionally cooked with sausages or fat pork, than served with potatoes. There are even customs built around it, as the "Kohltouren" (kale or cabbage tours), where clubs, sporting teams or similar groups go hiking or doing a daytrip ending in a restaurant where the kale (known as "Grünkohl" - "green cabbage") is served, often accompagnied by a lot of beer. Unfortunately as so many rural traditions, this one is close to dying out...
renee brack 3 years ago
And where I am in the world, popcorn is used as biodegradable packing in parcels. Yet people in other places pay a fortune for a bucket of it at the cinema with fake butter and / salt and / sugar on top. And they seem to love it. Maybe if they saw Soylent Green (1973) they may think differently. Or not.
Fabian Meresse 3 years ago
Before 1992, some people used it to wipe their a....s, but stopped due to the horrid smell of it
Felicia Dale 3 years ago
I love kale! Sautéed with butter or ghee, then seasoned with maple syrup and soy sauce or tamari. Yum!
Manu 3 years ago
Unrelated, but blend kale + sponach + 1 banana. I though that would taste horrible, but it is actually tastes quite good, and gives a lot of energy
Izzy Curer 3 years ago (edited)
That does sound good, but you probably shouldn't drink it everyday. Raw greens contain oxalic acid, which build up in your system and cause health problems, and that's quite a bit of greens for a smoothie. Freezing or cooking breaks the oxalic acid down, so that would help some. The problem with greens in smoothies is it's much easier for someone to eat a ton of it than if they had to chew it normally, and people sometimes tend to drink the same smoothie recipe every day
Load More Replies...
#46
TIL that tapeworm can live inside humans for up to 30 years and grow to 80ft in size.
Buren 3 years ago
Would you take it if it has been contaminated with tapeworm egg?
Load More Replies... 
Okasan Willis 3 years ago
My grandfather was a doctor and kept a 29 ft one he removed from a patient
Ozymandias73 3 years ago
Is there a Today I UNlearned section? This should be in that section. Please.
troufaki13 3 years ago
Rumor has it that Maria Kallas used tapeworm to lose weight. She was closely monitored by her doctor of course
Is Be 3 years ago
Just Google it and they say she was treated for worms because of her fondness for eating raw meat. They say she lost weight on an iodine diet.
Load More Replies...
Pandasizing World Peace 3 years ago
Gross! How do you get something llike that diagnosed and the how in the heck do you get it removed?
#47
TIL only white cars are allowed in Boracay island, Philippines. It is a municipal ordinance that was signed in 2001.
Phill Healey 3 years ago
It's what happens when politicians get carte blanche.
Load More Replies...
Katy McMouse 3 years ago
My MIL made my FIL get rid of a car he bought because it was red and didn't match the house. She would only allow white or baby blue cars. He turned around and sold it to his oldest son, who for reasons unknown, took up residence in their house despite having his own place. All that fuss and she still had a mismatched car in her driveway that she couldn't get rid of. Needless to say, I'm a simple person and still delight in her dilemma.
Niffler_13 3 years ago
Apparently many people don't really know why the ordinance was made, but some speculate it has to do with "that they wanted the road to look clean and uniform, and given that vans used by the resorts on the island are white, that's not really a problem" ~ auto industry news
Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
You're correct! https://attracttour.com/2022/03/the-reason-why-white-cars-are-allowed-in-boracay/
Load More Replies... 
DuchessDegu 3 years ago
Being totally clueless about cars and only going by colour, I'd never be able to find my car in a car park if I lived there!
#48
TIL the most destructive single air attack in human history was the napalm bombing of Tokyo on the night of 10 March 1945 that killed around 100,000 civilians in about 3 hours.
GPZ 3 years ago
Curtis LeMay (Commander US Army Air Corp in the Pacific and later head of Stratetic Air Command) said after the war that had the Allies lost, he probably would've been tried for war crimes
Load More Replies...
Katie Nelson 3 years ago
Putin needs to realize that this isn't inspiration, it's horrifying and uncalled for. That being said, pls do not think I am disregarding Tokyo.
Mosheh Wolf 3 years ago
That is why the idea that the Japanese surrendered because of the atom bombs is wrong. More people died in the fire bombing of Tokyo than in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, and that didn't cause them to surrender. The surrendered because they knew that, if they didn't surrender to the Americans, they'd be conquered and held by the Russians, because the Russians wouldn't care if taking the Islands would cost them 1,000,000 or more soldiers.
Cecily Holland 3 years ago
And Napalm killed more Japanese than both atomic weapons combined. Last used in 2003 in Iraq
#49
TIL that a California court ruled that a man was not entitled to the $3 billion market value of his cells, which his doctor had secretly commercialized after removing his spleen.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Because it goes against the interest of the US medical industry. Imagine that they would have to share their profits with donors. It would be the first step towards a socialist health care system. The terror......
Load More Replies...
Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
The same thing with Henrietta Lacks. Her family lives in poverty. The doctor who took her cells gave them to other doctors for free, in the hopes that doctors would find cures for cancer. Now her cells are being monetized by companies. It's just all shades of wrong.
Potato Puffin 3 years ago
The book about her is called The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and theres a documentary on BBC iPlayer for anyone in the Uk. Absolutely fascinating story. And so sad! Her poor family have had a hard time. The cells are called HeLa cells if anyone wants to look up a bit more about them too. They've been involved in some remarkable experiments like being sent into space to see how our cells react in zero gravity before sending a person.
Load More Replies...
Amy Watson 3 years ago (edited)
This doesn't surprise me. There's been a long history of this, with Henrietta Lacks and the HeLa cell lines being the most publicized.
Cydney Golden 3 years ago
Similar to the story of Henrietta Lacks, a Black woman whose cells made millions (or more) for pharmaceutical companies without her consent.
#50
TIL cry rooms were an amenity movie theaters had starting in the 1940s. These were small areas at the back of a theater where those with unruly kids could continue to watch the film. The presence of these rooms declined greatly by the 1970s due to the rise of multiplex theaters.
Mike Ray 3 years ago
It was a room in the back the width of the theater separated from the rest of the theater by a large 'picture widow' so parents could watch the movie. Yea, I'm that old
Agnes Jekyll 3 years ago
My mom was escorted from Lassie Come Home for crying too hard by an usher. Her town really could have used one of those.
Load More Replies... Kathryn Baylis 3 years ago
This needs to come back. Maybe they could even add a talk and use your cellphone room as well. Then, maybe, the rest of us can finally enjoy the damn movie in peace!
Sherman Von Gee 3 years ago
Yeah we had one of these in the church I went to growing up. S**t... I felt bad for all of those parents because it was fucken hardcore in there. Kids were off the wall... they just f****d s**t up because they could. I bet most of those parents were heavy drinkers on Sunday's after church.
Izzy Curer 3 years ago
Do churches not still do that? The one I went to as a kid did, but I haven't been to one in a while
Load More Replies... Heather Steinbrink 3 years ago
I don't remember crying rooms from theaters but I do remember them from church.
Robert A Reider Jr 3 years ago
Some LA theaters still have them. Grauman's Chinese theatre in Hollywood uses theirs for private viewing rooms, normally reserved for celebs who want to see a flick without causing a scene.
Aubrie Allen 3 years ago
I worked at a music venue that used to be a theatre built in the 1920's that had one. When it became a music venue, they turned it into a little bar in the back of of the theatre we called the cry baby bar.
#51
TIL that Buddhists create sand mandalas only to destroy them, to teach the belief that nothing lasts forever.
Katy McMouse 3 years ago
While in college, I had the privilege of watching Buddhist monks create a mandala from start to finish. I've never experienced something as peaceful and serene since then, and I doubt I ever will.
Kristin Ingersoll 3 years ago
Me too. It was amazing. I took a photo, and when I look at it, i am reminded of how long it took them to make and how quickly it was destroyed.
Load More Replies...
#52
TIL the story of the film “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly” was improvised in a meeting. After the Italian director had a meeting with American movie executives, they asked him what film he had in mind, and in the span of a couple minutes, they quickly improvised the whole entire story of the film.
Sherman Von Gee 3 years ago
I read somewhere that Hank Williams used to say "if it takes you longer than 10 minutes to write a song, you're doing something wrong" and he would explain how all of his hits were written In under 10 min. Which is awesome because some of his songs are so witty n funny that it shows just how creative he was. "I'll never get out of this world alive" I mean... cmon! That's hilarious. That's my favorite hank song.
#53
TIL a man ate over 2000 meals at Six Flags Magic Mountain over seven years by spending $150 on an annual unlimited meals pass.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
And recently Six Flags did away with this meal plan, though they claim the man (and the viral post/news stories) had “nothing” to do with their decision XD
Reece Aster 3 years ago
I've read of a number of people doing this at parks. If you're close enough it makes sense.
#54
TIL David Vogel, then-president of production at Disney, read M. Night Shyamalan's spec script for The Sixth Sense and loved it. Without corporate approval, Vogel bought the rights for $3mil. Disney then dismissed Vogel from his position. The film went on to spend 5 weeks at number one.
#55
Til ex-Miami Dolphins RD Rob Konrad swam 16 hours to shore after falling off his boat in the ocean.
User# 6 3 years ago
Unless there's a rope or a ladder hanging down, you're not going to be able to climb back in.
Load More Replies...
#56
TIL that within the gaming industry, mobile gaming excluding advertisements ($93.2B) is worth more than PC gaming ($37.2B) and console gaming ($50.4B) combined.
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Doctors are recommending everyone over 40 play this game for at least 5 minutes a day.........
Load More Replies... J. F. 3 years ago (edited)
Probably due to having a larger audience. Women, as example, seem to prefer mobile games over games for stationary systems according to different studies
Candia Lee 3 years ago
Don't have to buy or learn the hardware. My current fave game is mobile tho I used to play mostly PC games.
Load More Replies... Austin Hicks 3 years ago
I've read they're consumed by the Chinese population, which has extreme commutes every day. It makes sense, sorta.
#57
TIL that in 1966, Frank Sinatra threw a phone at Frederick Weisman, breaking his skull and putting him in critical condition for 48 hours. Weisman had asked Sinatra and his friends to quiet down.
oktopus 3 years ago
For young people: this was back when a phone was a large solid object permanently connected to the wall via a cable.
#58
TIL in 2011, Jayme Gordon tried to sue Dreamworks after falsely claiming he created Kung Fu Panda. During the trial it was revealed his evidence was fabricated from a 1996 Lion King coloring book. He was sentenced to two years in prison for fraud and perjury.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
I’m trying to picture this “evidence”, and all I’m seeing in my head are badly crayoned drawings of pandas squeezed onto the pages in the spaces around the printed Lion King characters.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago
Ah, but The Mouse and its subsidiaries must thoroughly squash any opposition.
Load More Replies... #59
TIL about the correct way to dispose of a tattered Canadian flag: unceremoniously burn it (if natural) or respectfully cut it apart colour-wise and put it in a garbage bag (if synthetic).
AilouRos 3 years ago
To symbolize respect for the flag and therefore the country
Load More Replies... #60
TIL that during the Fall of Tenochtitlan, the Conquistadors were joined by thousands of native allies who resented the Aztecs.
Ozacoter 3 years ago (edited)
Because (unlike some people pretend) all big civilizations commited attrocities, not only the european ones. All big cultures are based on conquering, killing, raping and slaving others. The Aztecs were not a peaceful people. Not that the Spanish were, they did horrible things at the time. But they were not the only ones.
aaaggg hhh 3 years ago
The Aztecs were bronze-age Brownshirts. No one shed a tear over their extinction.
#61
TIL blood type "O" is the primary blood type among the indigenous populations of the Americas, in-particular within Central and South America populations with a frequency of nearly 100%.
User# 6 3 years ago (edited)
Fun fact: it was originally called 0 (naught or zero) because it has neither A nor B antigens. But since it's hard to distinguish between 0 and O and the other three types were letters, people called it O.
#62
TIL that Texas Instruments has gone back and forth on how their calculators handle implicit multiplication with ambiguous notation, e.g. 8÷2(2+2). Different products will give different answers.
Rahul Pawa 3 years ago (edited)
16. Start with the part in parentheses, then do the multiplication and division from left to right. 8/2(2+2)->8/2(4)->4(4)->16
Load More Replies...
Sheepdude 3 years ago
Using pemdas, you ALWAYS start with parentheses (that's what the p stands for) so (2+2=4) and by default if there is no specified operater (+-÷×) then it's set to multiply, so you get 8÷2×4 and from here since multiplication and division are on the same step on the PEMDAS ladder, you just go from left to right. So 8÷2 is 4 and 4×4 is 16. Hope this helps.
#63
TIL out of Qatar's population of 2.6 million, only the 12% have Qatari citizenship. 88% of their total population consists of expats, migrant laborers, mainly from South Asia.
User# 6 3 years ago
^This. The entire middle east is an enormous shithole when it comes to human rights, but nobody says anything about it because oil.
Load More Replies... Mermaid Elle-Jaye 3 years ago
Have heard stories from Filipino family members and it’s scary how they are treated there, lucky to be back in Australia they are.
Cecily Holland 3 years ago
Horrifying. Beatings, rape, starvation, wage theft and murder
Load More Replies... #64
TIL about the U.S. military's "birth control glasses" which were a nickname for an unfortunate looking pair of issued glasses. The thick brown frames and shape were extremely unpopular and equated to birth control because of how unattractive they looked. The frames were retired in 2012.
Brandy Grote 3 years ago
Theeee military didn't have "brown" frames in the 80s... bcgs were black plastic.
Trevor Nicholson 3 years ago
I looked at the wikipedia and these look very similar to my actual glasses and I have never felt more attacked.
Duane Ringlein 3 years ago
In 1971 was issued military glasses and mine were black, but still called "birth control glasses"
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Hipsters love them now, saying that I have a pair of glasses that look not that dissimilar to the old NHS specs they gave kids for free.
#65
TIL that Mariah Carey demanded a $50 million inconvenience fee from ex-fiancee James Packer after they broke up. She received a multimillion dollar settlement and kept her $10 million engagement ring.
Alicia M 3 years ago
I don't understand why the extraordinarily rich always want more money. How much does a person need? Guess that's why I'm not rich.
Candia Lee 3 years ago
Reasons to be rich: rich parents, fame, "aha" product/idea/discovery, smart investment, crime
Load More Replies... Mermaid Elle-Jaye 3 years ago
That whole thing was so sad. I felt so bad for that man, she just played him big time throughout the whole “relationship”
#66
TIL that the ghost town of Kolmanskop, once a German, diamond-mining settlement in Namibia and one of the wealthiest cities in the world, had a hospital with the first X-Ray unit in the southern hemisphere.
Firkin Dirkin 3 years ago
Which they used to scan miners after their shift to see if they had swallowed diamonds. The black workers recieved massive doses of radiation and no aftercare.
#67
TIL the Osage Orange is an anachronistic tree, which evolved to depend on extinct megafauna like mammoths and ground sloths. It survived their extinction due to its wood being good for making bows.
DE Ray 3 years ago (edited)
Imma call BS on this. Osage Orange, also called Bois D'arc, spreads prolifically in areas where it is native. In the 1920s someone decided it was an ornamental plant, so it got spread well beyond its native range. They might be hard to propagate in lots of places like New York or California, but believe me when I say in western Arkansas you can't get rid of them.
Kira Okah 3 years ago
It was called Bois D'arc ("bow-wood") because the French observed that the Native Americans grew it specifically to make their bows with, and are most likely the ones who propagated its spread for this reason. It is an anachronistic tree with its fruit designed for megafauna, its history didn't start in 1920.
Load More Replies...
Izzy Curer 3 years ago
Aren't a lot of plants evolved to exist around animals that are now extinct? Cycad palms have those giant orange seeds that are poisonous to kids and dogs, but I can't imagine they evolved them to not be eaten by something for dispersal.
DE Ray 3 years ago
Humans can eat the seeds. They're not good, but they are edible. I've also seen birds picking through the smelly, latex laden flesh to get to the seeds - if they're really desperate.
Load More Replies...
#68
TIL that the left side of the ship was originally called "larboard" or the "loading side" of the ship, opposite "starboard," or the "steering side" of the ship. Because they sound too similar, the left became "port" since that was the side that was against the dock for loading.
Mark Howell 3 years ago
Also the saying 'Ship shape and Bristol fashion' came because they docked on the other side in Bristol UK
APL 3 years ago
Nope. Simply because Bristol was a major international port, so if something was "Bristol fashion" it was good enough to be seen in Bristol.
Load More Replies...
aaaggg hhh 3 years ago
In Victorian days, booking a cruise to India was very popular. However the heat of the sunlight on those iron ships made being on the sunny side very uncomfortable. The ones who paid top money went South on the Port side of the ship and then on the Starboard side on the way Home. Port Out Starboard Home. Hence is where the word "POSH" came from.
APL 3 years ago
Nope. Folk etymology with no evidence. As a rule of thumb, words that aren't military/scientific in origin, and pretty much any word that was coined before the twentieth century, do not come from acronyms.
Load More Replies... #69
TIL that gelatin is obtained by boiling cattle and pig carcasses.
Oki 3 years ago
Also fish (this is important for people who keep Kosher). This is why a good broth will coagulate when refrigerated.
Dave P 3 years ago
and there are vegetable substitutes which is what most kosher products use, not fish due to religous issues with fish mixed with meat, etc
Load More Replies... Mondkatze 3 years ago
Yes. As long as we use animal products, we should use as much as possible and don't Waste stuff. And i am not against animal products because it is one way to save them from extinct. If the humans no longer need animals, there would be no place for them. Humans always use as much space as possible. BUT of course it is very important to allow the animals a good life and a quick death. My mom has sheeps from a breed, that the Industrie does not want. She and a few others keep this typeof sheep alive, which means, you have to "use" them. As living fertilizer for meadows (or something like this), then for wool (although this wool is not that good and Hard to sell), then for meat. If she would not give them to the butcher from time to time, they would overpopulate. My mom always say something like "save them by using them". And it is expensive. I hope I don't just inherit debt......and sheeps....
Load More Replies... Chinmayee Kalghatgi 3 years ago
This is why I can’t have marshmellows that are made of gelatin because I am a vegetarian
Brandy Grote 3 years ago
Real marshmallows are made of the marsh mallow plant, and do not contain gelatin. And there is vegan gelatin now, made from agar agar, a seaweed. Make your own! https://www.tasteofhome.com/article/vegan-marshmallow-recipe/
Load More Replies...
Wednesday 3 years ago
although I understand there is a vegan gelatin alternative these days for those interested. Otherwise, using the whole animal if we're gonna slaughter it for meat, is sensible.
Load More Replies...
#70
TIL In 1976, 3 men kidnapped a school bus with 26 children aboard. They then buried them alive inside a box truck to try and get a $5,000,000 ransom.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
According to Wikipedia: After about 16 hours underground, the driver and children dug themselves out and escaped.
Sherman Von Gee 3 years ago
DUDE WHY THE F**K WOULD THEY LEAVE THAT PART OUT! That's a day ruiner right there.... n they just said "nah.. we're going to F**k up everyone's day by NOT telling the full story n leaving out the best part!"
Load More Replies...
Trevor Nicholson 3 years ago
I just read about this one because the one dude is up for parole and the survivors are obviously furious. The other two have already been paroled.
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Thankfully there were incompetent dicksplats and everyone got away alive.
#71
TIL about Tojo, the monkey mascot of a WW2 US Air Force crew who crash landed in neutral Ireland, and who became such a local hero that he was given a full Irish wake and military funeral after he succumbed to a few days of solid Irish hospitality.
#72
TIL that in December 2013 a sophomore at Harvard University sent several bomb threats through the Tor network to cancel a political history exam he was unprepared for. He succeeded, but was caught that same day.
Lori Sandoval 3 years ago
I used to be on staff with physical plant (building maintenance) at UC Berkeley. Fire alarms being pulled multiple times all over campus during finals week was standard. Fire department still had to come check it out.
#73
TIL that Hidetaka Miyazaki the creator for the Dark Souls series was inspired to design its summoning based off from an experience he had when his car got stuck in the snow on a hill and a bunch of strangers came helped push his car to the top before vanishing.
Austin Hicks 3 years ago
Then a dark spirit invaded and pushed his car off a cliff then pointed down.
#74
TIL South of the Border in South Carolina, just south of the North Carolina border, is a faux-Mexican themed tourist attraction. The mascot is a caricature of a Mexican bandido named Pedro. All South of the Border employees, regardless of race, are referred to as "Pedro".
Stephanie A Mutti 3 years ago
This place is a politically correct nightmare but it's still kinda fun in a 'bunch of crap you want to buy but don't really want' way. Mostly silly
Kimi Tomminello 3 years ago
Definitely waaaaaay past it's heyday. Only things left operating are a package store, a gift shop and a fireworks store. Restaurant might be open now but only the snack shop was just before the pandemic. The old amusement park is long abandoned but makes for some creepy looking photos. The everybody being called Pedro thing was only used by tourists, name tags weren't all Pedro. Makes for ok tourist photos but definitely disappointing if you're looking for a tourist experience.
#75
TIL those charities that collect 'Pop Tabs' from soda/beer cans make money via the recycling value of the metal. 23 tabs are worth 1 cent. 1lb of tabs is worth 50 cents.
Izzy Curer 3 years ago (edited)
I looked it up: "There are rumors that the pull tabs on cans are the only part of the can made from pure aluminum. According to Alcoa, aluminum from recycled cans, tabs included, is identical to aluminum smelted from virgin ore. The can itself is every bit as valuable and recyclable as the tab."[...] "Many national and local charities opt to collect only aluminum tabs. Reasons for collecting only tabs include less storage space and no beverage residue mess to clean up. For many people, especially children, it’s fun to see the number of tabs piling up in the collection container like pennies in a piggy bank." https://oureverydaylife.com/recycling-aluminum-tabs-vs-cans-5135799.html
Load More Replies...
Weed in the Garden 3 years ago
It takes about 32 aluminum cans to make a pound. It takes roughly 1,128 pop tabs to equal one pound. The weight of a can fluctuates with various brand designs, but they tend to be around a half-ounce per can. A tab is worth about $0.0004. In other words, you need 23 tabs to earn a penny. At roughly 59 cents per pound, that makes a single can worth about 1.8 cents.
Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
https://rmhcsc.org/longbeach/page/pop-tab-collection-program Very mythical. Yes. Absolutely doesn’t exist.
Load More Replies...
#76
Til in 1993 burger king briefly offered table service during dinner hours, offering popcorn as a table appetizer.
Cecily Holland 3 years ago
No Burgerking was sued by Hungry Jacks for breach of contract and they had to hand over the Burger King stores to HJs as compo and go home. They weren’t supposed to open any Burger King stores it said in the agreement. It was one yank take over that back fired big time
Load More Replies... aaaggg hhh 3 years ago
I remember there was a Jerky Boys gag about BK's popcorn. They called and asked the manager to describe to them how crunchy and buttery it was.
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
I will never eat that plastic crap again in my life, or Mcdonalds after their behaviour lately.
#77
TIL that after a mention that Paul McCartney liked Jelly Babies, fans started throwing them at the Beatles during live concerts. In the USA, fans started throwing jelly beans at them after mistaking them to be the same thing. One concert had to be stopped twice because the Beatles kept getting hit.
DuchessDegu 3 years ago
And it was George Harrison who said he liked jelly babies
Load More Replies... Lakota Wolf 3 years ago
They’re so much cheaper than the full-sized ones!
Load More Replies... aaaggg hhh 3 years ago
A lot less painful than the time some wanker threw a lollipop at David Bowie and nailed him in the eye with the stick end.
MagicJacket 3 years ago
If only those fans in the US had sucked off the hard candy coating of the jelly beans before throwing them.
#78
TIL Sony Pictures Entertainment admitted that a highly positive review written by a critic named David Manning to the 2000 American epic historical war film The Patriot, was a product of the studio’s advertising department, as the reviewer never existed.
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Sony at least admitted that they wrote positive reviews. Proves just once again that you can't trust anything without checking multiple sources.
Display Name 3 years ago
Most reviews are paid for positive review. IMDb is full of fake reviews.
#79
TIL actress Thandiwe Newton decided to correct her name in April 2021 after a 30 year long career of going by Thandie due to a misspelling in the credits of her first film.
Leeds Lass 3 years ago
She said she wanted to reclaim her 'real' name and heritage - her first name is actually ....Melanie!
Minimo 3 years ago
So.... success? Considering she was born in Westminster? 😂
Load More Replies... Brandy Grote 3 years ago
Changed, not "corrected". She wasn't wrong in how to spell her own dam name
Rahul Pawa 3 years ago
I think they're saying she finally corrected everyone else.
Load More Replies... #80
TIL Tom Cruise saved the American release of 'Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels' by endorsing it at a buyer screening, launching the careers of Jason Statham, Guy Ritchie & Matthew Vaughn in the process.
Cecily Holland 3 years ago
Then tried to recruit them into Scientology which Stratham got really pissed about
Sherman Von Gee 3 years ago
I really wish this wasn't true... I hate this man so much but I love that move even more than I hate him.
#81
TIL in the 1990s, the New Jersey Nets asked the NBA to change their name to the Swamp Dragons. The league spent $500,000 to protect the name. The NBA owners voted 26-1 to approve the change. The Nets were the lone no vote, who changed their mind, infuriating then commissioner David Stern.
#82
TIL - David Lee Roth (Front Man of Van Halen in the early 80's) paid his road crew $100 for every woman they brought him backstage
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Not really, woman loved DLR and they were all up for banging him, all consenting adults having a great time.
Load More Replies...
Minimo 3 years ago (edited)
Easy money. I wonder how often "wanna go backstage and meet the band" was met with "no thank you!"
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Probably not many, watch any footage of rock and glam bands in the 80s, the woman were wanting to bone those dudes just as much as the dudes wanted to bone them, fair play to everyone.
Load More Replies...
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
All the women knew exactly what they were there for and consented to it, it's pretty insulting to say a woman can't make that choice to sleep with whoever she wants, if she wants to be a groupie go for it, I imagine they all had a great time.
Load More Replies... Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
K- THULU 3 years ago
Today I learned that a list looks more impressive if you repeat the same stories multiple times!
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Won't be long before we just get a list of links to previous posts.
Load More Replies...
Milan 3 years ago (edited)
Can somebody explain me please, why is word “dead” or “die” nowadays not OK? It is have something to do with political correctness, or it is now offending to be dead or what the heck? I really mean it. Thank you so much 🙂
BorPand8 3 years ago
They censor stuff because advertisers don't like it. No advertisers no free content.
Load More Replies...
Mondo Cane 3 years ago
TIL Einstein was a real person! I always thought he was a theoretical physicist.
K- THULU 3 years ago
Today I learned that a list looks more impressive if you repeat the same stories multiple times!
WilvanderHeijden 3 years ago
Won't be long before we just get a list of links to previous posts.
Load More Replies... Milan 3 years ago (edited)
Can somebody explain me please, why is word “dead” or “die” nowadays not OK? It is have something to do with political correctness, or it is now offending to be dead or what the heck? I really mean it. Thank you so much 🙂
BorPand8 3 years ago
They censor stuff because advertisers don't like it. No advertisers no free content.
Load More Replies... Mondo Cane 3 years ago
TIL Einstein was a real person! I always thought he was a theoretical physicist.
You May Like 41 Intriguing “Today I Learned” Facts That Show How Little We Actually Know (New Facts) 60 Interesting Facts That Are Better Than Watching The News 46 People Share Mildly Disturbing Facts You May Have Never Heard Before
Evelina Šiukšterytė
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Related on Bored Panda
