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Learning is a lifelong process. And it can bring so much joy. But schools, workplaces, and all the compliance drills that come with them can make us associate it with arbitrary pass/fail cut-offs and other sinister consequences.

Luckily, you can still acquire new information just for the sake of it.

There's a subreddit called r/TodayILearned. This online community has 24.9 million members, constantly sharing the most interesting random facts they have stumbled upon, and it has become such a vast catalog of trivia, it's easily one of the best "encyclopedias" online.

So dust off your brain cells and keep scrolling—below are some of the posts that recently went viral on the subreddit. And if you're like Tai Lopez and can't get enough of knowledge, check out Bored Panda's earliest articles on r/TodayILearned here, here, and here.

#1

People-Share-Today-I-Learned-Amazing-Facts

After the 2011 Japanese nuclear plant in Fukushima was disabled by an earthquake tsunami double whammy, elderly Japanese people volunteered to do repairs to save young people from radiation exposure.

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#2

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After Universidad del Mar was closed by Chilean government due to major financial irregularities, artist Papas Fritas managed to enter its vault and burn tuition contracts amounting to $500 million, making difficult to prove students owed the university this money

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Jo Johannsen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He called himself fried potatoes? Kudos for originality and for humanitarian act.

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#3

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Some elephants eat off a specific tree to induce labor - the same tree which kenyan women brew a tea of for the same purpose

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#4

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The Curie family is the family with the most Nobel Prizes. Marie Curie won two Nobel prizes in physics and chemistry. Her husband Pierre Curie won a Nobel in physics. Their daughter Irène Joliot-Curie won a Nobel prize in chemistry.

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Linus Nilsson
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Imagine being Ève Curie, the second daughter... "Where's your Nobel-price? Why couldn't you be like your sister?"

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#5

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An 11 year old girl could not afford running shoes, so she wrapped her feet in tape and drew a Nike logo on it. She won several gold medals in local competitions.

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#6

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Penguins can drink saltwater because of glands near their eyes that remove salt from their bloodstream and then they can sneeze out the extra salt.

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#7

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Elinor Powell was a black nurse who served during WWII. She was assigned to work at a POW camp, like most African-American nurses at the time, and fell in love with a German POW there. They married and had children despite it being illegal in both the U.S and Germany during this time period.

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#8

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In 1936 Orson Welles produced and directed a version of Shakespeare's Macbeth with an all-Black cast.

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Aayse
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

in 1939 ? that is great. yet it took some people so long to learn how to live in a world without discriminating anyone anything

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#9

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Genghis Khan would marry off a daughter to the king of an allied nation. Then he would assign his new son in law to military duty in the Mongol wars, while his daughter took over the rule. Most sons in law died in combat, giving his daughters complete control of these nations

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#10

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Whoopi Goldberg is the only person in the world to have won an Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, Tony, and Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Award

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#11

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Aboriginal Australians often traveled to Indonesia for trade, and when British explorers first visited inland Australia they met an Aboriginal man who had already learned English from his visit to Singapore.

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#12

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A species of Australian Nocturnal Ground Parrots thought to be extinct for 100 years were found by one man after 15 years of searching. His search began when he found one feather of this bird on a truck and traced it back to the farm of an Old Indigenous Gentleman.

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#13

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Researchers found that a blood test called PanSeer detected cancer in 95% of patients up to 4 years before they got a conventional cancer diagnosis. The test determines if the DNA in blood plasma was shed by tumours based on precence of particular methyl groups.

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Jo Johannsen
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Has this become a diagnostic tool or has it been left foundering as an interesting sidenote?

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#14

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The search to recover debris from the Challenger disaster in 1986 also resulted in the discovery of 13 shipwrecks, two lost airplanes and 25 kilos of cocaine

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Foxxy (The Original)
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Here is another NASA fact. NASA was fined $400 by the Esperence council for littering after parts of Skylab were discovered after breaking up. It was all in jest but a radio host raised the money and paid it.

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#15

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In 2015, a plane made an emergency landing after the crew received an indication of smoke in the cargo hold. It turns out to be caused by the 2,186 sheep farting onboard.

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varwenea
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Folks generally forget planes are used to transport everything. I worked in Boeing before, and the engineering team in support services group are contacted by airlines asking for repair instructions for the belly or storage area where animal urine has corroded the metal. Gross.

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#16

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Apple's policy of refusing to repair phones that have undergone "unauthorized" repairs is illegal in Australia due to their right to repair law

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#17

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New Zealand is not part of of any of the world's seven recognized continents, and is in fact situated upon the submerged continent of Zealandia.

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Sum Guy
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I keep telling people that New Zealand is a fantasy land that doesn't exist

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#18

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Agatha Christie is the third most widely published author of all time, outsold only by Shakespeare and the bible. Her books have sold more than a billion copies in English and a billion more in 100 different languages.

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Donkey boi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

She also went missing for 11 days and (allegedly) had no memory of what happened.

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#19

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The West Indie's top cricketer Kraigg Brathwaite was scrawny as a kid, and got bullied by his Combermere School (Barbados) bus mates. A girl, 4 years his senior, protected him. She beat up the bullies & took Kraigg on her lap. Her name: Robyn Fenty, a.k.a. Rihanna.

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William Faulk
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

whoa, just imagining that is crazy! but I always think, all these people that met others before they were Pre-Famous would be kind of cool.

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#20

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Paul McCartney let a stranger claiming to be Jesus Christ sit in on a Beatles recording session in 1967. McCartney figured, "Well, it probably isn’t. But if he is, I’m not going to be the one to turn him away"

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#21

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Whenever we sleep in unfamiliar surroundings, only half your brain is getting a good night's rest while the other half stands guard.

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Nicola Roberts
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've lived in my current home for almost 20 years, and I swear it still does that!

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#22

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Babies can acquire sign language just like they would acquire any language and follows the same patterns as vocal language acquisition, where deaf infants (if exposed to sign language early) start to "babble" 1-2 sign sentences around the time their hearing counterparts start to "babble" words.

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H Edwards
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Some parents of hearing kids now do baby signing, as they can make meaningful gestures before they can form words. I don't know much about it, but it sounds interesting.

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#23

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Mexico was the only country to protest against the German annexation of Austria

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#24

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There is a clear ceramic made out of Aluminum that is stronger than bulletproof glass, and has a higher melting point than stainless steel. It is called ALON, and is used for armored windows

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#25

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The USS New York is a ship in the US Navy forged partially from steel that was salvaged from the World Trade Center after it was destroyed in 9/11. The ship's motto is "Strength forged through sacrifice. Never forget."

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Donkey boi
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The recycling aspect is good and the sentiment is there, but is 'sacrifice' really the right word? To me that seems to imply that they chose to let those people die.

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#26

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Oxford University is so old that they don’t even know when exactly it was founded and that the earliest evidence of teaching there goes back to 1096.

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Jon S.
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Pfft! Oxford was just a muddy river crossing when they started teaching at Durham. (For backstory I'm slightly bitter that when I say I went to Durham, people frequently comment 'oh, so you couldn't get into Oxford then?')

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#27

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Theodore Roosevelt's daughter Alice had a pet snake named Emily Spinach. She liked to carry it around the White House in her purse and take it out at unexpected moments.

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#28

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Eight years after JFK’s assassination, Jackie Kennedy avoided the public unveiling of their White House portraits, but the Nixons graciously agreed to a secret, private tour for her and her kids. It was her only return visit

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Yugan Talovich
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Back in the days when Presidents respected their predecessors. Actually, though, as young congressmen, Kennedy and Nixon we're good friends.

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#29

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Aquariums aren't allowed to pay to get animals from other aquariums as it encourages poaching. So there is a barter system in place where they swap animals. A New England aquarium traded a dozen penguins for 800 mackerel and their basic unit of trade is the jellyfish

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Luna
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

“I’ll give you a seal for an eel!” “But that’s an unfair trade.” “I don’t care it rhymes”

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#30

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Payless once opened a fake luxury store called "Palessi" and invited influencers to see how much people would pay for $20 shoes. Top offer: $640. A markup of 1800%.

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Uisgea Beatha
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As my father used to say, "A thing is worth whatever you can persuade some sucker to pay for it."

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#31

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Ed Sheeran granted a dying fans wish, which was to hear him sing, by singing to her minutes before she died

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#32

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Poncke Princen, a Dutch anti-Nazi fighter who was later sent to Indonesia to suppress an anticolonial rebellion. Princen, after witnessing Dutch war crimes, defected to fight with the guerrillas in 1948. He later helped expose the anticommunist massacres of Indonesian dictator Suharto.

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#33

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Surya Bonaly, a French figure skater, landed a backflip on one blade in the 1998 Nagano Olympics. This was banned in 1976 and Bonaly did it despite knowing that it would negatively affect her score. It has not been repeated in the Olympics since.

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Saint Thomas
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Who could've guessed that figure skating had forbidden techniques, like some martial arts in movies !

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#34

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Duct tape was invented by Vesta Stoudt, a factor worker during WWII and the mother of 2 sons in the Navy. When her supervisors at the factory dismissed her idea for a stronger cloth-based tape, she wrote a letter to President FDR, who then ordered Johnson&Johnson to manufacture her idea.

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#35

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The original drummer of The Offspring became a gynecologist, and during the initial stages of a malpractice trial, he performed CPR and used a defibrillator to save the life of a potential juror. The judge had to declare a mistrial because the rest of the jury would likely be biased in his favor

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#36

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After denied rights to use "Another One Bites the Dust" for Rocky III, Sylvester Stallone hired Survivor to write an original song instead, which turned out to be "Eye Of The Tiger"

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#37

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The skeletons of medieval English archers were deformed from years of archery. The high poundage of war bows, coupled with years of training in their use from a young age, led to skeletons having over-developed shoulder and arm bones to compensate for the growth of muscle around those areas.

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#38

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An ancient Roman oracle once prophesied that "Caligula had no more chance of becoming emperor than of riding a horse across the Bay of Baiae". After becoming emperor, Caligula ordered ships to construct the largest pontoon bridge in history, and rode his horse across the Bay of Baiae

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#39

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Neil Armstrong's heart rate spiked to 150+ when NASA turned the control over to him for the moon landing.

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#40

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Before proposing to Emma Wedgwood, Charles Darwin made a list of marriage pros and cons. Pros- better than a dog, charms of music & female chit-chat. Cons - Anxiety & responsibility, less money for books.

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Laura Mende
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Less money for books??? Better than a dog??? Charlie, you are a true nerd! 1800's Sheldon Cooper...

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#41

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Koi carps bred outside of Japan live on average 15 years, while the average age of Japanese koi is 40 years and the oldest recorded lifespan is 226 years (the Koi named Hanako lived from 1751 to 1977).

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Marcellus the Third
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Given that Japan was closed to foreigners until the Meiji Restauration (1868 or thereabouts), even if we'd have bought a baby koi then it'd only be 150y old or so! Bit unbalanced comparison of a mature situation vs fashion. Also we call any carp in a pond "koi" while in Japan those tracked by age are in a very different price bracket.

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#42

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Charlie no-face is an urban legend of a monster who takes walks during the nights of Pennsylvania, in reality the man (named Raymond Robinson) had a severely disfigured face because of a childhood accident that he couldn't go in public without causing a panic, so he took night walks.

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#43

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South Park co-creator Trey Parker begged his show's executive producer not to air one South Park episode because he was afraid it would ruin South Park. That episode was "Make Love, Not Warcraft" which received critical acclaim and earned a Primetime Emmy Award

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#44

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The Python programming language is named after the BBC show “Monty Python’s Flying Circus” and has nothing to do with reptiles.

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#45

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When Ratatouille was being animated, one of the Pixar employees jumped into a pool in a cook's uniform and apron so that the team could see how the clothing looked when wet.

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#46

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There's a spy themed restaurant called the SafeHouse. It was founded in 1966 and it has a hidden location with a secret entrance. A password is needed to enter and if it's not given, patrons will have to do silly tasks that are broadcasted to people inside the restaurant in order to enter.

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#47

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The former CEO of Coca-Cola, Roberto Goizueta, was the first person to become a billionaire by being an employee and not a company founder (or heir).

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#48

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The movie Independence Day still holds the record for most miniature models to appear in one film. Approximately 95% of the movie's special effects were shot using miniatures and due to the advances in digital technology this record may stand forever.

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#49

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When Don Cheadle was first offered the role of War Machine in the Marvel Cinematic Universe, he was told he only had an hour to decide on the 12-year commitment. When Cheadle responded that he was at his kid's birthday party, the Marvel rep said, "Oh! Oh, take two hours"

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#50

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To clean out the sewer pipes that tended to block, the mayor of the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe instituted a synchronized flush. Residents who did not comply were fined.

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Helen Haley
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We can't get people to wear masks, let alone synchronized flushing.

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#51

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See-through wood is treated to become as clear as glass and is a potential alternative to regular windows. It is 5 times as insulative and 3 times as durable while also being lighter, making it perfect for cold weather structures.

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#52

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Ethiopia adopted Christianity in 330 AD, just 17 years after the Roman empire. Despite the rise of Islam, fall of the Byzantine Orthodox Church, and being cut off from all other Christians for centuries Ethiopia remained Christian. They remain the only majority Orthodox Christian African nation.

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Dhukath
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

they claim to have the ark of the covenant, but it's locked in a church that only one priest can entre, until he does and a successor takes over!

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#53

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Rye and oats were originally weeds which grew in wheat fields, over time their seeds evolved to mimic wheat kernels so closely, they inadvertently became a crop themselves.

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#54

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Just 29 days after the Titanic sank, a silent film was released chronicling the event. It starred Dorothy Gibson, an actress who had survived the sinking. To add to the film's authenticity, she wore the same clothes that she had worn on the night of the disaster.

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#55

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Tu Youyou, a Chinese Nobel Laureate, discovered a treatment for malaria by reading an ancient Daoist text from 340 CE describing an herbal remedy for "intermittent fevers"

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#56

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Yoshie Shiratori escaped Japanese prison 4 times. The first time he picked some simple locks, the next time he climbed up a wall and broke a skylight, the next time he dislocated his joints to escape through a small hole, and lastly he dug a hole with a bowl. Every time was different.

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WilvanderHeijden
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

He may have been good at escaping but he was a lousy fugitive.

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#57

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J.R.R. Tolkien considered a sequel to the LOTR trilogy called The New Shadow. Set 100 years later during the Age of Man, he quickly abandoned the idea because “it proved both sinister and depressing.”

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#58

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The Worlds oldest mummies are not from Egypt. They are from the Chincorro people of the Atacama Desert, present day Chile, dating back to 5000 BC, nearly 2000 years before the Egyptians

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Roadkill The Brave
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's the world's oldest man-made mummies. The oldest natural mummy ever found was in Nevada if I remember correctly. Scientists and the Native Tribes got into a massive fight over him because the Tribe claimed him as theirs and per laws in place if it's Native remains found the tribe gets to re-bury them. This actually went to court because the scientists believed it was older than indigenous peoples. They did a test on a tooth and compared it to the Tribes DNA and learned two things, yes he was a ancestor of their and that the ancient man had no markers showing he or his people crossed the land bridge. There is no markers showing any ancestors of his coming from across the pacific ocean. They told the tribe this and they still refused to let them do anything to the mummy. He, and a child that was found with him, were re-burried according to tribes customs. The scientists were even there for the funeral.

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#59

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Jeopardy! Contestants stand on adjustable platforms so that they all appear to be the same height on camera.

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#60

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The oldest known written complaint in the world - around 1750 BC a man in Babylon named Ea-nasir sold substandard copper ingots to a man named Nanni and treated Nanni's servant rudely. The tablet is one of several found in the same building, all of which are complaints about Ea-nasir.

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Busy_D
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I saw this on tumblr, Apparently he sold really shoddy copper and kept the complaints in his basement until we dug them up.. Honestly it's really funny.

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#61

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98% of all Japanese adoptions are employers adopting the adult men on their staff, not children. By doing this, they are able to choose the person they wish to run their company when they no longer.

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#62

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In 408BC an actor named Hegelochus mispronounced a word and, instead of saying "after the storm I see again a calm sea," accidentally said "after the storm I see again a weasel." This mistake was so mocked by other Ancient Greeks that over two millennia later we still know his name.

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#63

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In 1921 a Danish geologist discovered a tiny island on the northern coast of Greenland and named it "Kaffeklubben Island" after an informal academic club held at the Copenhagen Mineralogical Museum. He didn't know that he had just named the northernmost point of land on Earth after a coffee club

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Shelp
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Still less boring that another "King Christian XIX island"!

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#64

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F1 teams don’t own their tires, and at the end of each race teams have to return the tires to Pirelli. Even used tires must be returned to prevent industrial espionage.

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William Faulk
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dang, so does that mean, if the tire got destroyed in a crash, are they paying a huge fine or something?

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#65

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There's a beach in Finistère polluted since 1983 by Garfield telephones coming out of a sunk container

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Louise B
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This reminds me of the shipment of thousands of rubber ducks that were lost at sea. IIRC there was a bit of a silver lining, in that scientists were able to get valuable information about currents etc by tracking their movement. I only remember this because someone wrote a book about it and called it 'Moby Duck' which I think is really funny.

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#66

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A town in Colorado offers an open air funeral pyre as an option instead of cremation or regular burial

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#67

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In 1964, three physicists who just got their PhDs were tasked with developing a working design for a nuclear weapon using only unclassified information. The goal is to see if a country can develop a nuclear weapon without aid. They accomplished it within 2 and a half years

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#68

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Alejandro Jodorowsky set out to make a film adaptation of Dune that would star Mick Jagger, Orson Welles, and Salvador Dali with a score by Pink Floyd, concept art by Moebius and H.R. Giger, and a run time of 10 to 14 hours. Dubbed "the greatest movie never made", it failed to secure funding.

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#69

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The owner of a brand name can lose their legal protection for it if people started using it as the common or generic name for a type of product or service. This is what happened to Cellophane, Escalator, Flip Phone, Frisbee, Hovercraft, Kerosene, Sellotape, Trampoline, and Videotape.

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Radek Suski
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

That's why Google opposed the inclusion of the term "to google" in the German dictionary

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#70

People-Share-Today-I-Learned-Amazing-Facts

The excess skin/fat on a cats belly is called the 'primordial pouch' and apparently it's is to protect a cats organs in a fight

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#71

People-Share-Today-I-Learned-Amazing-Facts

That in Canada coins are only considered legal tender up to a certain amount. For instance, if you attempt to pay for a $50 purchase with a wheelbarrow full of nickels, the local authority can refuse to accept the payment.

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#72

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Kevin Budden, a 20 y.o. amateur herpatologist died in 1950 when he was bitten by the taipan snake he captured for antivenom research. News of Budden's death inspired others to capture additional snake species, resulting in the development of five new antivenoms within 12 years of Budden's death.

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#73

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NYC once had a "Divorce Coercion Gang" made up of Ultra Orthodox Jews who would kidnap and torture Jewish men who were refusing to divorce their wives

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Debbie
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They can refuse divorce which keeps the wife in limbo as they don't live together and pay nothing,. Themselves they often start a new relationship which the woman can't.

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#74

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Torakusa Yamaha founded Yamaha in 1887 due to his obsession with western technology and science. After successfully fixing a school’s reed organ, he realized the business opportunity of instrument brand, since at the time there were no Japanese makers of Western instruments

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DC
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So, now that's why my bike sounds so incredibly well-tuned...

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#75

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Kraft Foods introduced its boxed macaroni and cheese in 1937 when America was in the throes of the Great Depression with the promise that buyers could feed a family of four for 19 cents. Kraft sold 8 million boxes of its quick-and-easy macaroni and cheese the first year

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Michelle Geiger
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

People give these boxes to food banks and think that they are helping but the recipe requires milk and butter.

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#76

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John II of France, who was captured by the English, in the Hundred Years War, and held hostage in London. An exchange of hostages occurred, with his son, Louis, taking his place. When John II was informed that Louis had escaped from captivity, he voluntarily returned to England as a hostage.

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#77

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A week after Jim Croce died at 30 in a plane crash, his widow received a letter from him promising to stop performing, get a master's degree, and write short stories and movie scripts. It ended "it's the first sixty years that count and I've got 30 left."

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#78

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In the 1930s, bridge construction projects expected one fatality for every $1 million in cost. So, the Chief Engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge enacted the most stringent safety measures in history. He even formulated diets to help fight dizziness and sauerkraut juice “cures” for hangovers.

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#79

People-Share-Today-I-Learned-Amazing-Facts

Disney composer Alan Menken came from a family of dentists and trained at medical school. He was a poor student, "wild hippie" and barely finished NYU. 8 Oscars, 10 Grammys, 7 Golden Globes later, Menken is now a star at NYU with a doctorate and scholarship in his name

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