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30 New ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Learn Something New
We have long heard about the power of learning new things. It keeps us motivated, confident, and curious about the world around us. No wonder science has shown time and again that learning plays an important role in improving the brain's ability to cope with damage.
It can also prevent memory loss, and possibly even prevent us from developing dementia. Researchers at the University of Michigan found that the dementia rate in Americans decreased by a staggering 24% from 2000 to 2012. Scientists believe that more years of education are directly linked with this decline.
And although not everyone has time (or need, for that matter) to take on learning things like chess or language, or memorizing verses from Homer’s Iliad (although this is what high school students do in European countries!), we can keep our mind open for bits of information that get those brain cells tingling! And there’s nothing that does it better than our beloved TIL posts, thanks to Reddit's powerhouse community known as the ‘Today I Learned’ subreddit where 26.6 million members share facts and factoids to fill your idle or bored mind.
Get your cuppa ready ‘cause below is a freshly baked collection full of TIL amusement, and after you’re done, be sure to check out our previous posts with things to learn today here, here and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL about Tim Wong who successfully and singlehandedly repopulated the rare California Pipevine Swallowtail butterfly in San Francisco. In the past few years, he’s cultivated more than 200 pipevine plants (their only food source) and gives thousands of caterpillars to his local Botanical Garden.
Amelia Bedelia 4 years ago (edited)
What beautiful butterflies! They remind me of watercolors.
Jules 4 years ago
These are stunning. What a tragic loss it would have been of they had disappeared were it not for this man's work
Otter 4 years ago
The species wasn't endangered, they're actually seen over most of the southern USA, and they're moderately common 100 miles away where I live. But they'd vanished from San Francisco, until one man decided to change that.
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New Year is just around the corner and that means it's time for New Year's resolutions. Apart from the classic ones, like ditching sugar or (insert your own), we can also think of ways to give some food for the soul and learn something we never knew we could. So we reached out to Helen Marlo, a licensed clinical psychologist and Jungian psychoanalyst who is also a Professor of Clinical Psychology at Notre Dame de Namur University, to talk about power learning and how we can benefit from it if we make it our goal.
RELATED:
#2
TIL when the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) denied permission to Marian Anderson for a concert at Constitution Hall under a "white performers-only", First Eleanor Roosevelt resigned from the DAR and arranged for Anderson to perform before an integrated crowd of more than 75,000 people.
Dave P 4 years ago
Why not? the DAR back in the 1800s allowed Blacks and Jews to be members, it was in the early 1900s when they were infiltrated by the KKK that is changed.
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Dorothy Parker 4 years ago
Marian Anderson was so talented and didn't let racism deter her. She became good friends with Albert Einstein. She stayed at his home as a guest when denied hotel accommodations because of her race, despite performing in that city.
LONECOOLMAN 4 years ago
WOMEN ARE A FORCE, YOU TRY TO INTERUPPT THEM; STEAM ROLL TIME FOR YOU!
CrunChewy McSandybutt 4 years ago
Elenore Roosevelt was a woman to be admired. Extremely progressive for her time.
Fester Sixonesixonethree 4 years ago
The integrated crowd was in front of the Lincoln Memorial.
L.a. Williams 3 years ago
Unfortunately it seems like the old southern racism is alive and growing. Was on reading app that had a warning that it had a biracial romance. It's 2022 people get over it.
#3
TIL about environmental activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill who lived in a 1500 year old California redwood tree (known as Luna) 180 feet (55 mm) off the ground for 738 days in order to prevent it from being chopped down by Pacific Lumber Company. She successfully saved the tree.
Grant Barke 4 years ago
That's brave of her, proving one person can make a difference. 55 metres up a tree would give me the w*****s.
Cactus 1549 4 years ago
Why is that word censored? I typed it out and it did the same thing (that’s why my comment below is deleted, but it makes no sense why the computer is programmed to do that.
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jimmy pop 4 years ago
In protest of deforesting one of the last prehistorical forests with high ecological value (housing rare and protected species) in Germany, including the destruction and resettlement of several towns nearby, of which large amounts had already been destroyed (4100ha initially to 500ha) by brown coal energy company RWE, groups of several people have set up camp in the forest multiple times for months since 2012. Police stepped in several times to dissolve the protesters, only for them to return a while later. Situation worsened over the years, protesters became more violent against the police, in 2018 a person died during another eviction. The conflict received high media coverage and became a symbol for the protest against coal power energy and against the destruction of fossil energy companies. > 30000 people showed up from Belgium to Poland to an organized peacful protest next to the forest, finally a provisional stop of the forest clearing was decided upon.
Anastasia Beaverhausen 4 years ago
Actually 55mm is 5.5cm... but it's like half a decimeter!
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Marek Yanchurak 4 years ago
From wikipedia: "Vandals later cut the tree with a chainsaw. A gash in the 200-foot (61 m)-tall redwood was discovered in November 2000 by one of Hill's supporters.[15] Observers at the scene said the cut measured 32 inches (810 mm) deep and 19 feet (5.8 m) around the base, somewhat less than half the circumference of the tree. The gash was treated with a herbal remedy, and the tree was stabilized with steel cables. As of spring 2007, the tree was doing well with new growth each year. Caretakers routinely climb the tree to check its condition and to maintain the steel guywires.[16]" What the effing eff?
“Having a goal of learning can be wise since learning is a process that one can fulfill in small steps or in various forms,” Helen said and added that “Learning something new can be associated with having a “growth mindset,” a mindset that is focused on the process of learning rather than the outcome.”
It turns out that staying focused on the process of learning has profound outcomes on a personality. “Staying focused on the process of learning allows one to focus on being committed to bringing less concrete but more influential qualities like openness, receptivity, curiosity, effort, and determination which are more often associated with success and mastery.”
#4
TIL that Javier Bardem's performance as Anton Chigurh in 'No Country for Old Men' was named the 'Most Realistic Depiction of a Psychopath' by an independent group of psychologists in the 'Journal of Forensic Sciences'.
Kat Rob 4 years ago (edited)
Most mental disorders don't have a "look". The super attractive and charismatic can be the worst of the worst. It's a rather dangerous notion that unattractive = bad and attractive = good. Dangerous and untrue.
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DennyS (denzoren) 4 years ago
This movie was excellent and his performance was truly chilling.
Jessica Cifelli 4 years ago
Still can't believe this is the guy they got to play Desi Arnez. I mean clearly the resemblance is uncanny!🤣
Holly Hobby 4 years ago
I just watched that last week. It took me a few minutes to figure out who he was and I was like Oh! No Country for Old Men! He really did look like Desi
Load More Replies... L.a. Williams 3 years ago
I really hope he doesn't have a real mental health issue to draw from.
#5
TIL: When the Titanic rammed an iceberg, William Murdoch, the officer in charge, was portrayed in the film as shooting a passenger and then committing s**cide. In reality, he was last seen trying to fill as many lifeboats as possible and heroically went down with the ship.
F. H. 4 years ago
Censoring suicide? Come on BP mods, what kind of policy are you following here? Trying to deny reality?
KatHat 4 years ago
It seems more likely that it was spelled that way in the original post, since we can write "suicide" here in the comments with no stars added.
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KatHat 4 years ago
I learned recently that it's better to use a phrase like "died by suicide" as "commit" is often used with crimes - using it with the word "suicide" further demonizes a very sad act and the person who has made that choice.
Auntriarch 4 years ago
It used to be a crime, it's not now, but the word commit stuck
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Luis Hernandez Dauajare 4 years ago (edited)
Director James Cameron did declare that he knew the depiction of William Murdock committing suicide and also of White Star Line director Bruce Ismay cowardly getting in a lifeboat were not true (in reality Ismay was forced into a lifeboat by one of the officers, after helping many people), but Cameron decided to include those in the movie because the audience would be expecting them, as they are really popular myths.
Marco Conti 4 years ago (edited)
I'd find it easier to change the myths yet again and have two made up characters do the same acts. That way they are in the movie, people get their drama, and the real people don't get their memories stained yet again by a movie seen by pretty much 90% of the world population (except me, it seems).
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Auntriarch 4 years ago
Art apparently. I watched a talk show where a descendant of the slandered man asked a person who worked on the film why they had maligned him. The film person said it was just story telling. Story telling is when you don't know the facts. We did in this case, if they had wanted that storyline they could have invented another character. But to lie about a known person? Shitty, and lazy
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L.a. Williams 3 years ago
Yeah but for most it can be can scary or overwhelming. I think to help people need to accept mental health. As a just a health problems.
Marco Conti 4 years ago
OMG, this is the very first time I hear that a movie takes liberties with the stories and actions of people long dead. Shocking.
#6
TIL GM recalled 800k cars in 2014 for faulty ignitions. The cars would shut off while being driven which meant drivers lost power steering/brakes, and the airbags wouldn't deploy. They knew about the problem since 2005 but never fixed it because it would be 'too expensive'. 124 people died.
MyOpinionHasBeenServed 4 years ago
Yes a $595M settlement, and I think a few others involving the same or similar issue. There's been a $121.1 M lawsuit last year, a $575M shareholder lawsuit, a $120M lawsuit with DC for hiding their switches and defects from regulators. Quite the track record. GM has paid about $1B in lawsuits.
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Kenny Kulbiski 4 years ago
I had a vehicle that was included in this recall. The "fix" was a new key and took about 15 minutes. A couple of weeks ago I got a check for $73. I'm betting the 8 year delay saved them millions. I'm also betting the recall lawyers got rich enough to retire.
Glynna Bowood 4 years ago
Seems like it would have been cheaper and better for everyone to Stand Up and Admit so it would save lives!
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Yvette Desmarais 4 years ago
Not the first time. Won't be the last that corporate greed comes before safety.
Vicky Z 4 years ago
What the hell??? How can these people sleep at night? Do money worth so much more than lives??
Lyuben Petkov 4 years ago
Same like Boeing flying coffins and what Pfizer have done in Kano, Nigeria
Orion Red 4 years ago
I still drive a car affected by this recall! Was a mistake by one person who didn't update the part number when the lengthened a small pin in the ignition switch when the parts were being made. I had already replaced mine because the grease inside of it would freeze at about 40 F.
Jj321 4 years ago
I had one of these cars, and mine did shut down on the middle of driving. Fortunately, I had a tire go flat and my dad and I were just driving the local back roads to see how the patch was doing. If that tire didn't go flat, I was going out that night and things could have been a lot different.
According to Helen, a goal that commits to learning is something completely different from a goal that's concrete, although people more often stick to them. “Having a goal that commits to learning supports one's efforts to stretch themselves and be outside their comfort zone. This is in contrast to other kinds of concrete goals, for example, like losing 20 pounds or giving up caffeine, which does not give one the opportunity to be committed to a growth-oriented process,” the professor explained. And this growth mindset has a much more profound effect on our lives and personalities.
#7
TIL that people with dementia think that stuff like a black doormat isn’t a doormat, but a deep hole in the floor. Due to these visual perception problems, people with dementia avoid stepping the doormat, and this is sometimes used to keep them from leaving their care facilites.
F. H. 4 years ago
Some facilities also have fake bus stops on their grounds. When a person leaves, they can often be found there waiting for the bus.
Marek Yanchurak 4 years ago (edited)
I've heard that used in one instance for Alzheimer's patients. They'd let this one patient go to wait for "her bus", then some amount of time later, come out and say something like "how was your trip"? so they'd be very prone to think they had just returned from somewhere and could be easily led back to their room. It came across as very compassionate. Healthcare is best when people actually, ya know, care (not that I have any desire to dis on healthcare workers, mind you).
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LuckyL 4 years ago
I the care facility my grandpas friend was in, the door was decorated like a book shelf. And you had to press a button to be able to use the door handle
Huddo's sister 4 years ago
Most I've seen just have a code to get out, with it written in a place not immediately visible
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Mila Kulash 4 years ago
It might work for some people but I've worked on a dementia ward for 11 yrs now and those things (like the doormat or the fake bus stop etc) never worked on any of our patients who had/have the tendency to run away. If one has a very strong urge to go home or go to work or school or whatever, in my experience there's not much that can really stop them and if they try to find an exit but can't find a way out they often get even more desperate and aggressive.
Kines Tezja 4 years ago
Shortly before her death, my great-grandma was terrified by a conifer behind her window. She thought it will come and take her away. Don't know if it was dementia or some pre-death condition. Anyway, my grandpa cut the tree.
UpQuarkDownQuark 4 years ago
The first time I ever visited a dementia care facility it broke my heart. There was sign next to the door they said “the passcode is 1234 backwards”, and that was enough to keep the residents from figuring out to open the outer door.
rehanne garvey 4 years ago
Ive worked with dementia for 5 years, they could definitely figure this out
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QueenRhye 4 years ago
Trying to step over could cause a lot of (potentially fatal) accidents. The elderly have balance issues anyway. Alzheimer's/Dementia units are sad places.
Chris Zaydel 4 years ago
More bittersweet, IMO. The wonderful people that work there are an inspiration.(in my experience)
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Will Muhovich 4 years ago
I recall one I had visited/worked in had the exit door painted as a hearth complete with big painted fire in it to keep the patients away from the door.
#8
TIL that “Baby, It’s Cold Outside” was written by composer Frank Loesser in 1944 for he and his wife to sing at the end of their housewarming party as a way to tell guests it was time to leave. Afterwards, they were invited to tons of parties with the expectation of the song being the closing act.
Dave P 4 years ago
Actually it isnt, and very progressive if you understand the terminologies from the time https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/movies-tv/you-cant-understand-baby-its-cold-outside-unless-you-understand-when-it-came-from
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Kirk Mckeever 4 years ago
This song is NOT sexist or misogynistic, or anything else that SOME people think....when done correctly--which is astonishingly rare---it is a FLIRTING song, full of soft humor and obvious warmth between the singers.....way too many versions miss this completely, and I cannot fathom why.....( retired vocalist/musician )
Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
i love this song, Tom Jones/Cerys Matthews version ! (and never found it misogynic ..). Also, write a song to make people leave who ask them to stay, it's hilarious :D
Meg Curry 4 years ago
I've never met anyone else that has heard this version! It's my favorite!
Load More Replies... Hannah Edwards 4 years ago
It became far more popular than the song that they wrote the following Christmas, “It’s Time For You To All F**k Off Now.”
Nigel Rodgers 4 years ago
Nuance. Nice guy wants girl to stay and be safe but girl can't stay because other men will call her promiscuous. She'd rather be socially acceptable than safe.
Olga Dremina 4 years ago
Not T but IL that Carrie Fisher used a final song from "Star Wars Christmas Special" , "The Day of Life" when she wanted guests to leave. She thought it was awful.
Ashley Conover 4 years ago
I never thought of it as a good song towards women. It was about a man and a woman so I'm going off those gender stereotypes. You don't go tell someone.. Let me give you some more alcohol to prevent them from driving away. You don't tell them that if they keave they're hurting your pride.
#9
TIL: A camel after standing in 109 F (43 C) heat all day decapitated his absent-minded owner after he remembered to untie him.
Bob D. Lin Quint 4 years ago
How does a camel decapitate someone? I'm imagining one big chomp, but I really wanna know.
Kira Okah 4 years ago (edited)
The news sources I've seen use the word "chewed", so in this instance, slowly.
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Lord Mysticlaw 4 years ago
TIL not to piss off a camel (although i totally support the camel in this case)
Hannah Edwards 4 years ago
I don’t think camels are known for their forgiving natures at the best of times. This is pretty much what I’d expect from one that’s received abusive treatment.
Marco Conti 4 years ago
THis one must be a legend in the Camel community. Joe Camel: "...and my owner, Omar the Bedouin, said, 'sorry camel I will not beat you with a stick anymore' and he never did again". This camel: "You think that's bad? Let me tell you what I did to the guy that tied me up in 40 degrees heat..."
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Lisa Lowe 4 years ago
Everybody is imagining the camel has literally chomped the guys head off. Your head can still be attached and still classed as decapitated. If the camel has chomped the back of his neck it would have very easily broke the cervical vertebra.
Kira Okah 4 years ago
In this instance, the camel actually spent time chewing the guy's head off. Reports say the head was severed.
Load More Replies...And this doesn’t end just there. The clinical psychologist explained that “having a goal of learning also helps us to align with a central, lesser known drive in humans to be curious and learn, otherwise known as “the epistemophillic instinct.” It is posited that this drive to be curious and learn is central in humans. It is associated with playing which is also central for learning and growth as humans.”
Meanwhile, failing to nurture this drive may have serious implications. “When we fail to manifest or exercise this drive, which can happen when we become too focused on external achievements and outcomes rather than the process of being curious and learning, we rob our brains and psyche of being in touch with this life-giving, epistemophillic instinct,” Helen said.
#10
TIL When Neil Armstrong first stepped on the moon, inside his pocket was a small piece of fabric from the 1903 Wright Flyer
ZAPanda 4 years ago
The same honour was paid to the Wright brothers with the current mars rover helicopter. It bears a piece of the wright flyer as well.
Marco Conti 4 years ago
If we keep going to other planets, the poor Wright flyer is going to need to hide under a tarp to cover its nakedness.
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Gavin Johnson 4 years ago
Fabric from the upper left wing and a piece of wood that was part of the left propellor. Now kept in the Smithsonian Air & Space Museum. Thanks to a fellow BP contributor I now know it first flew at Kill Devil Hills and Kitty Hawk is just the nearest town. Learn something new every day 😀
J. F. 4 years ago
Edwin Aldrin had an olive branch in his pocket to leave on the moon - which he nearly forgot and threw out while entering the lander for the return
Rajnish Dadarwal 4 years ago (edited)
I actually knew that. What I learnt was that is was called the “Wright Flyer”…
#11
TIL of the Deep Lake Water Cooling System (DLWC), a natural cooling system that extracts cold water from deep within Lake Ontario, and then transfers it through a system of pipes and exchanges to cool downtown Toronto. Compared to a traditional air conditioning system, it uses up 75% less energy
KatHat 4 years ago
Things like this are just brilliant. We need more lateral thinking solutions. Of course, we're past the point when we can just look for low-cost solutions. The costs of inaction on the climate crisis will be many times the cost of action at this point.
Nicholas Kraemer 4 years ago
Well luckily it seems that BP commenters have all the answers to every issue... Now if we can just get them out of the comment section and into industry, we'll be all set
Load More Replies... Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
On a large scale, wouldn’t that have an effect on the dynamics of the lake ?
Pungent Sauce 4 years ago
The permanent reservoirs of dense, cold water at the bottom of Lake Ontario are replenished each winter, ensuring this solution will always be viable. Additionally, since the City of Toronto DLWC solution uses water that had already been earmarked for potable water consumption, and therefore does not push the heated, processed water back into the lake, it is an entirely sustainable solution for air conditioning. Because the water is from the depths of the lake (83 meters deep), it is free of odors and impurities, reducing the need to chemically treat the water for drinking. The DLWC system also avoids nearly 45,000 kilograms of chlorofluorocarbon (CFC), a common refrigerant used in standard air-conditioning systems, which has been found to deplete the ozone layer.
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Erik Granqvist 4 years ago
In Sundsvall, a city in the nkrth of Sweden, they cool the hospital down during summers with the show the city clears during the previous winter. Sinfe the show needs to be carted away anyway, they built a facility to use all those thousands of cubic meters of snow melting to cool down rhe whole hospital. It has been a success and people have come from other cold climate countries to study the thing.
Cactus 1549 4 years ago
There is an aquarium in Alaska that uses the (extremely cold) sea water for a heating system. https://www.csmonitor.com/Environment/2016/0424/Using-seawater-for-heating-Alaska-aquarium-takes-the-plunge
Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
Just a giant sized water-coupled heat pump. We ALL have access to technology this clever if we wanted to bother not f'ing up the planet.
Layla Corman 4 years ago
Living 15-20 minutes from lake Ontario, I can say with 100% certainty that: Even in the middle if a brutally 🌞 HOT 🌞summer and on a hot day, that lake is ❄FREEZING❄. It is also incredibly beautiful and massive. For years I believed it was actually an ocean!
Jo Davies 4 years ago
This reminds me of when me and my younger sister were swimming in a dam. She asked me what some pipe were and I told her the cold water went in one, and the warm water went in another and that is how we got hot water for our baths! My dad was a plumber and backed me up, so she totally believed it for years.
#12
TIL in 1997 a Danish woman visiting New York City was arrested and strip-searched for leaving her baby in a stroller outside a restaurant while she and the baby's father dined inside, a common practice in Denmark. She later sued the city and was awarded $66,000.
MyOpinionHasBeenServed 4 years ago
Although a bit extreme of the police, foreign visitors should do their research on the laws of the countries, and regions they are visiting, and pay attention to what the locals do. Don't see babies being left in strollers on the street? Don't assume it's acceptable.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
Agreed but I think strip searching someone is such a flagrant violation of dignity that I'd fire the officers concerned and pay her at least $1m compensation for the humiliation. In no civilised country is stripsearching or body cavity checks acceptable.
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Big Blue Cat 4 years ago
Sure and we all had internet in our pocket 1997 to talk about customs with natives in social media. Oh wait!
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Inge Antje Voigt 4 years ago
We still do it in Denmark. Also in the capital of Denmark. And children do not get abducted....
Marco Conti 4 years ago
Ok, so there was a cultural dissonance. But why the strip searching? Did they want to make sure she wasn't hiding other kids in the folds of her coat? And why not strip search the father? Men's clothes usually have more pockets to hide newborns in.
Aliquid 4 years ago
It is amazing how well Americans are conditioned to be afraid all the time. "Bad people are going to do bad things to me! It is dangerous out there!!". It is extremely rare for a child to be abducted by a stranger. It is literally more common for people to be struck by lightning in the USA than children being abducted by strangers.
Sandhya Boyd 4 years ago (edited)
Except that child abduction actually does happen? It's not a daily occurrence but 100 kids a year are abducted by strangers. Maybe you say "that's not a high percentage" bit who cares about percentages when it's your child? Not a chance I would take with my own.
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Simon Lyngbo 3 years ago
Probably big tits, and a male cop with to much power to handle.
Load More Replies... pebs 4 years ago
This woman and her husband seem to me rather naive, to use euphemism. I would never have left my son outside the door of a New York restaurant. And not because it's New York: I would never have done so in London, in Paris, in Rome, in Milan etc. I don't know how it really works in Denmark and if the newborns are left out of the door even in cities and not only in small villages where everyone knows each other.
Frankenfrog 4 years ago
It's normal in Denmark to do so, because people aren't paranoid and kidnapping loonies
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So since we figured out the power of having a goal that commits to the growth mindset, the question remains how exactly we can stimulate the brain. Helen shared a couple of very useful insights. “One of the best ways to stimulate your brain and mind is to start with an honest appraisal of your strengths and weaknesses. Commit to learning something new in an area that aligns with your strengths. This helps set yourself up for success rather than failure.”
For anyone who’s wondering how important it is to step out of their comfort zone when learning something new, the professor assured us that it is indeed helpful if it is a little outside your comfort zone. However, it shouldn’t be too unattainable.
“When you think of starting on this path, consider if you can bring a spirit of play to the learning? Consider if it evokes more curiosity or wonder in you? Committing to learning something that evokes qualities of wonder and play makes the experience more affirming and encourages one to stay with the process,” the professor explained.
#13
TIL Isaac Asimov wrote or edited more than 500 books, 380 short stories and an estimated 90,000 letters and postcards. He was a professor of biochemistry at Boston University. He had a triple bypass in 1983 during which got HIV from a blood transfusion which was kept secret 'til 10 years after death
Debrina Blackmoon 4 years ago
Yes, I found some robot novels in my hs library! Very cool!
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Kathy Smith 4 years ago
He personally replied to fan mail! I got a postcard from him, and it’s one of my prized possessions!
Tiny Dancer 4 years ago
I cannot relate to this picture, only ever knew him with his glorious mutton chops. Isaac-Asim...f2c19f.jpg 
Stannous Flouride 4 years ago
His "Asimov's Guide to the Bible" is amazing. He used various sources, including written Babylonian and Egyptian texts, etymology, and cultural traditions to analyze the stories. It's in two volumes for the Old & New Testaments.
Sonnovab Kegeles 4 years ago
His niece Nicolle is a great reporter for the San Francisco Chronicle. Has been for years now.
#14
TIL Jurassic Park was meant to use stop motion instead of CGI, but two artists worked on a CGI T-Rex in secret, and once they finished it, they quietly put a video of it on screen when Kathleen Kennedy visited their office. the video convinced Kennedy, Spielberg, and the rest of the team to use CGI.
von Funnyname 4 years ago
except it was/is very well documented that the T-Rex in Jurassic Park is the worlds largest animatronic to date on any production...
Chriek 4 years ago (edited)
There is less than 5 minutes of CGI in Jurassic Park. The rest is animatronics and actors reacting to the dinosaurs.
Bernadette Circle 3 years ago
But those 5 minutes on screen took months of work
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Conny Dickow 4 years ago
And they are still better done than half of the all-CGI monsters in movies nowadays.
Jos Tiguidou 4 years ago
For those interested, the Netflix documentary "The movies that made us" has a segment on this very subject. That whole series is a blast and i highly recommend it.
Kantami Blossom 3 years ago
Wrong, as a proof of concept the computer group created footage of running dinosaurs to show that CGI had advanced enough to be able to create realistic moving dinosaurs that could be done quicker than Phil Tippet's stop motion process(Tippet whilst disappointed that he wouldn't be doing the dinosaurs in stop motion stayed on production to help the CG crew get the movements right, he still works in the industry doing both stop motion and CG animation and is considered a legend).
Susan Trevaskis-Owen 4 years ago
And in the case of the velociraptors, men in costumes: https://www.stanwinstonschool.com/blog/jurassic-park-evolution-of-a-raptor-suit
#15
TIL The prototype of the Rolls Royce Ghost was so quiet inside that it made test drivers sick. The engineers had to remove some of the noise isolating material, and create seats that vibrated at specific frequencies to introduce some noise into the interior.
Gavin Johnson 4 years ago
There’s an anechoic chamber (silent room, that absorbs all sound waves) in Minnesota that you can’t stay in for longer than 45 minutes. It’s so quiet that you can only hear your own noises, heartbeat, lung function, and you lose the ability to balance. It’s reputed to send you a little bit mad. Having been in one (at an R.A.F. testing facility) for less than ten minutes I can confirm that it’s VERY unnerving.
SpookyPanda 4 years ago
As a deaf person, I’ve always wanted to try this chamber. I wonder if it would affect deaf people differently.
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Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
or singing our lungs out, for once it’s isolated
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Oopsydaisy 4 years ago
I think once they become common there will have to be some sort of noise. They need to be heard on the road. I was wondering the other day how cities and suburbs will change when EVs become common. We are so used to the background noise of traffic it might be a bit odd when it's not there. Imagine being able to hear birds and the wind whistling in the middle of a city!
Load More Replies... Tiny Dancer 4 years ago
I haven't seen this new Rolls Royce. How incredibly disappointing. It was always my dream-that-will-probably-never-come-true to own one of those BIG gorgeous Rolls Royce models of the 60s and 70s (like the Phantom). They took up a whole city block and told the world you'd arrived! I defy you to pick this puppy out at the mall parking lot. Sad.
Grant Barke 4 years ago
You can get a 70s Rolls for 20 to 35 grand in Australia. Wouldn't advise it though, most are money pits to maintain.
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Tonk Terrier 4 years ago
There is a video of this on Veritasium. It's an over exaggerated effect. It doesn't really have any impact on your psyche
Lady of the Mountains 4 years ago
These cars are cool-very cool- but make me, as someone who is usually a pedestrian, very nervous
Another way to stimulate your brain is, according to Helen, to commit to exercising that epistemophilic instinct daily. “Having a commitment to learning something new—whether you can manage this daily or once a week—primes your brain and mind to be committed to discovery and learning. “ Turns out, that fidelity to this commitment is absolutely vital to learning since it encourages further learning and keeps us growing.
To conclude, Helen shared this beautiful quote about learning for us all to reflect on:“'The best thing for being sad,' replied Merlin, beginning to puff and blow, 'is to learn something. That's the only thing that never fails. You may grow old and trembling in your anatomies, you may lie awake at night listening to the disorder of your veins, you may miss your only love, you may see the world about you devastated by evil lunatics, or know your honour trampled in the sewers of baser minds. There is only one thing for it then — to learn. Learn why the world wags and what wags it. That is the only thing which the mind can never exhaust, never alienate, never be tortured by, never fear or distrust, and never dream of regretting. Learning is the only thing for you. Look what a lot of things there are to learn.'” (T.H. White, The Once and Future King)
#16
TIL the nurse,Caroline Hampton, helped popularize surgical gloves. She almost quit her job as a surgical nurse at John Hopkins due to severe hand eczema caused by surgical disinfectant until her boss bought her custom rubber gloves. Other staff members copied this and found they made work easier.
pebs 4 years ago
Virtually every time the name of this hospital is written, anywhere, the same error is committed. At this point it would be easier to change the name of the hospital :)
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Otter 4 years ago
And that was before they learned about bloodborne diseases being transmitted during surgery!
F. H. 4 years ago
That was way after we learnt of bloodborn diseases. Doctors just thought they just had to be careful and when they'd cut themselves, they'd cut through a glove anyway. Dentists often didn't use gloves until the 1990s.
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Debby Keir 3 years ago
And unfortunately, those with eczema/occupational dermatitis (as was her allergy to the disinfectant) will often react to the latex. Before nitrile gloves came in, the gloves themselves were a problem for a significant minority of theatre staff.
Ellie Rosser 4 years ago
But you still use the scrub UNDER your gloves because they could get a hole so I don't see how this solved her problem.
Kendra Miller 4 years ago
They were the first generation made of rubber and very thick.
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Marnie 4 years ago
And nowadays far too many nurses don't understand what gloves are for or how to use them. Went in for my flu shot. Nurse put on the gloves, then proceeded to touch a bunch of things in the room like the armrest and the computer before then using said gloved hands to do her thing. It was just a shot so I didn't say anything. Yet in her mind, she was being "sanitary" so she might do it in a situation where spreading germs could be a much bigger risk. I see this all the time with people wearing gloves. They don't understand the purpose. They are not magical germ-killing surfaces. They can carry germs from one place to another just like hands.
Cigdem Kanburoğlu 4 years ago
sterile gloves and nonsterile gloves are different. You are an example of knowing a half of it and still comment. Non sterile gloves are to protect nurses from your body fluid. No need to wear sterile gloves to do a shot.
Load More Replies... #17
TIL if a camel rejects her new-born or there's a need to adopt an orphaned calf, Mongol herders use a chanting ritual accompanied by fiddle or flute to coax her into accepting the calf. The camel mother may act aggressive initially, so the herders will change the melody depending on her behavior
Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
For the most part, animals reject their offspring for a good reason. I would also accept any child to make them stop whistling at me :/
Frau von Düh 4 years ago
Rejecting in mammals is often caused by a lack of experience in the mother. Second offspring will be rejected less often than first offspring. Other reasons can be lack of feed and danger/stress for the mother.
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Tracy Sellars 4 years ago
Considering what happened to the last guy who annoyed a camel, these herders had balls.
Connie Martin 4 years ago
Here's a lovely film about a story like this. Just beautiful people and animals. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_the_Weeping_Camel
Patti Vance 4 years ago
there is a documentary regarding this. the title of it is something with '...weeping camel'. very interesting
Richard Portman 4 years ago
The Story of the Weeping Camel. That is a beautiful movie. Our library had it so i borrowed it. It is a good film.
#18
TIL of Daniel Kish. Blind since the age of 13 months old, he taught himself to navigate by clicking his tongue and listening for echoes, similar to echolocation in bats. Kish and other researchers believe that echolocation produces images similar to sight.
Jo Choto 4 years ago
I saw a documentary about this guy. He was able to walk freely through a room that had all kind of obstacles in it, easily going around them. He could even ride his bike through the streets and use his clicking to not hit anything.
HarriMissesScotland 3 years ago
My best friend and her son are visually impaired, and I am a klutz. But they still prefer me over their canes. I admire him so much. I just hope he doesn't try to ride his bike in Florida. We have the highest death for cyclists and pedestrians in the country.
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OhForSmegSake 4 years ago
I saw a documentary about a young guy in the US that does this too. He's a skateboarder and skates around clicking to navigate/orientate himself. Impressive kid
Layla Corman 4 years ago
I need to find and watch all of these documentaries! Humans are really incredible at adapting! I also need to add that his eye color is stunning!
#19
TIL that nature has evolved different species into crabs at least five separate times - a phenomenon known as Carcinisation
Thorfin Wolfsbane 4 years ago
Hear that people!? We need to behave or nature will turn us into crabs!!!
Jo Choto 4 years ago
It's not quite as exciting as it sounds. It's basically creatures that are already a bit crabby to begin with becoming a lot more crabby.
Layla Corman 4 years ago (edited)
I'm a cancer. ♋ (The zodiac. The disease can go F**K itself to Hell). Anyways, I had dreams for many years that I could breathe under water. Sometimes I was in a pool, lake or ocean, but many times I was just in familiar rooms (the laundry room in my childhood home was an often reoccurring one) that were completely filled with water. They were awesome dreams, so fun. I was never nervous or scared. Just fun swimming. After several years, in one of these dreams I asked someone (a random in the dream I did not know and this happened out of the water) WHY I could do this. They told me that in my very first life, I was a crab. I woke up from that dream and never again had an underwater dream again. It makes sense to me, but I wish I never got the answer because I miss those fun dreams terribly. TL:DR- I found out, via dream, I was a crab in my very first life.
Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
when a model is effective ...! :D We often see it with French cars, some models of different brand are identical
Caroline Driver 4 years ago
So H G Wells wasn't far wrong at the very end his Time Machine travels
#20
TIL Ian Fleming originally wanted Bond to be an extremely dull, uninteresting man to whom things happened. He chose James Bond because it was the dullest name he had ever heard.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
In the novels he is quite dull and uninteresting apart from violence. He's also not superhuman in the novels, frequently coming close to death, being severely beaten, etc. He's also much more like connery in the novels - a blatant sexist with little regard for women. As such, he definitely is uninteresting.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
And yet, Roger Moore, who one could not logically call dull or uninteresting, was Fleming's choice to play Bond.
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Orion Red 4 years ago
James Bond was the name of the author of a birdwatching book on Flemming's shelf. In one of the Brosnan films, he picks it up off the desk of the guy in Cuba as an Easter egg.
Fat Harry 4 years ago
They make reference to that in Agatha Christie's "Marple" - A Caribbean Mystery where a young Fleming is watching a presentation by an ornithologist called James Bond! Not sure if it's in the book, but it's in the TV adaptation.
Load More Replies... Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
It seems to me more than logical, obvious. The spy movie version has always seemed as plausible as a neon sign on a main street for a cocaine dealer
Ray Martin 4 years ago (edited)
Ian Fleming's Bond adventures were semi-autobiographical. There was obviously a lot of embellishment, but his description of Bond was essential to the character's success as a spy and assassin. Unfortunately the films turned him into a cliched cartoon character, but in my opinion at least, Daniel Craig is the best of the bunch.
pat hayes 4 years ago
craig is,absolutely, the BEST Bond ever.....i will miss his character...
Load More Replies... John Dilligaf 4 years ago
i would think you would want you secret agents to appear dull and uninteresting. A world-famous secret agent whose name and face everyone recognizes is a pretty useless secret agent
Marlowe Fitzpatrik 4 years ago
You might want them to have a dull job, too. Like... tailor, maybe?
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Allison Gilbert-Heron 4 years ago
James Bond was a birder in St Mary , Jamaica. Ian Fleming visited Sir Noel Coward at his properties in St Mary, Blue Harbour and Firefly which overlook James Bond island. Ian Fleming had a villa in Jamaica named Goldeneye where he wrote the novels.
Layla Corman 4 years ago
Long time bartender, bartender instructor and bar consultant here (Just like the show Bar Rescue!) Because James Bond's line, "Shaken, not stirred" many bartenders who do not have the proper training actually shake a martini, thus brusing the vermouth and changing the taste.
Analyn Lahr 4 years ago
Hold up, James Bond is duller than John Smith? Whatever you say, Fleming.
#21
TIL that in 2002, two airplanes collided in mid-air killing everyone aboard. Two years later, the air traffic controller was murdered as revenge.
M M 4 years ago
The murder was a revenge: the murderer was a relative of one of the victims. And the murder victim was exhausted at work because he was working far to much which caused the accident.
angry_waffle 4 years ago
so essentially under staffing caused the deaths?
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snipergun 4 years ago
The files are available online as for all NTSB investigations which can be published online. Traffic controller had only partial responsibility but it's questionable if anyone (or more people) would not make it same bad as there were 5 other factors which caused the accident. It's never one thing and it's never one person, I read many of these (for my studies and interests) in no crash is only one factor, there are always multilevel failures on numerous locations leading to this.
Albert Fisk 4 years ago
There was a better, swedish, system contending with GPS but money rules so GPS is used today, lives have been lost thanks to it.
The Idaho Potato 4 years ago
DHX611 (cargo) and BTC2937 (passenger). It was this and a near-midair-collision over Japan the previous year that finally gave TCAS (traffic collision and avoidance system) authority over everything else.
Bob Standen 4 years ago
Another example of management being cheap causing death. Like the Ford's Pinto.
Jim Jack Piper 4 years ago
There was 2 controllers on duty and one left to have a break. There was maintenance being done on the radar system. The 2 aircraft that collided were a Cargo plane and a Jet carrying "talented" school children. The murder was the father of one of the children. The Russian pilots did not follow the instruction of their TCAS system and descended into the cargo plane.
Brungilda 4 years ago
it wasn't just "father of one of the children". His wife and two children (10 and 4 years old) were on the board, he lost his whole family. The Russian pilots followed the instructions of the controller instead of the TCAS system because the controller gave them the command to "descend" before the system gave them command to "climb"
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Jenny Barnes 4 years ago
Air Crash Investigations did an episode on the Uberlingen air collision. Its an episode that is hard to watch but it closes with the changes to air traffic control that were implemented as a result from the crash.
Alice Teasdale 4 years ago
Is this the case where they were doing maintenance work which cut his communications, plus an automatic system overrode his CORRECT instructions for one plane to gain altitude, so he was completely innocent? The fault was with the automatic systems in the planes so each plain gained altitude after detecting the other, rather than one going up one going down as instructed by the poor guy
#22
TIL in 1986 a Russian commercial pilot made a bet with the first officer that he could land blind with curtains over the cockpit windows. He lost the bet, crashing and killing 70 people
Dash Blue 4 years ago
Yes. That is forked up. (Will forked get censored? An experiment.)
Load More Replies... Gwyn 4 years ago
If you read the Wikipedia article it's worse than it sounds here, he refused to use the beacon and ignored the ground proximity alarm. He should never have been given a license.
Night Owl 4 years ago (edited)
Sounds almost like an attempted (because he didn't die during it) murder–suicide. Or simple stupidity and egoism with sociopathy mixed in
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Shalini Pabreja 4 years ago
Wasn’t there also a story floating around of a Russian pilot who took his son into the cockpit and the kid ended up killing everyone on board?
Kendal White 4 years ago
See, rednecks aren't the only ones whose last words are, "Hey Y'all, watch this!"
Olga Dremina 4 years ago
Rednecks are everywhere, we just call them different.
Load More Replies... #23
TIL Andromeda galaxy has already started merging with our Milky Way
Chinmayee Kalghatgi 4 years ago
Official name is either milkomeda or milkdromeda
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Gandalf the Pink 4 years ago
Yes the far reaches of the gas around galaxies has started merging but that's like saying you are touching somone who farted on the opposite end of the room.
Rissie 4 years ago
Well you clearly never smelled my farts, woohoo. Also it is relevant. These outer parts are still influenced by the center of gravity of each galaxy, meaning that there is overlap in that now. The two galaxies are now actively engaged.
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Penny Serenade 4 years ago
Doubt it. It's heading here rapidly (70 miles per second) but the merge isn't due to start for another 2-3 billion years.
Kia 4 years ago
Agreed. Unless of course this factoid comes from the future.
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Phil Vaive 4 years ago
I can't find any source for this...it's still looking like it's billions of ears away
Jo Choto 4 years ago
Ah.. okay, in about 4.5 billion years there will be a collision. Sigh of relief.
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MyOpinionHasBeenServed 4 years ago
Oh,.. Oh I see what you mean there. light speed/time. I get it.
#24
TIL a cancer treatment known as Dynamic Phototherapy has the side effect of giving humans a slight level of night vision. Under this treatment, the retina becomes able to process light at wavelengths higher than the visible light domain.
J Baker 4 years ago
I saw a movie about this. You can get it done at the Ursa Luna Penal Facility.
D Gangwere 4 years ago
I helped with and was a subject in such a test. Turns out roughly 5% of humans can detect IR. It was first reported (IIRC) by cavers. I have experienced the phenomena. It is real.
Mike Lovin 3 years ago
If you are seeing into the IR portion of the spectrum, you are able to process light at wavelengths LOWER than the visible light domain. Higher than visible is UV.
Marco Conti 4 years ago (edited)
Ultraviolet? There isn't a lot of that in the dark. Infrared works better, I think. Are you sure it doesn't just dilate the pupil, letting more light in?
#25
TIL Boris Mikhailov, captain of the USSR hockey team, was offered a $1 million contract to leave Russia in 1980 after the Miracle on Ice. However, he declined as the KGB was standing next to him when the offer was made.
Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
he did not decline, he could not accept. politics and sports, bad cocktail.
snipergun 4 years ago
Not sure he declined because KGB was standing next to him, more likely because another agent was standing next to his wife / mother / anyone closest to him with loaded gun. That is common practice. Shooting life on TV would be over edge for KGB even that time too (or with many witnesses).
Vicky Z 4 years ago (edited)
So it would be 1 million followed by death So it was a wise decision
Olga Dremina 4 years ago
Wow. How did all relatives of Rudolf Nureyev avoided death? And his sister Rosa even went to US. Mystery...
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The Starsong Princess 4 years ago
Unlikely he would have accepted even without the KGB. At the time, defecting meant never seeing your family again and that was usually sufficient to prevent it.
JenJen 4 years ago
A lot of people have defected, including my family, even after realizing that you will never see your loved ones again. These are incomprehensible situations to most people living in free societies, some people have to leave everything behind, even your fears, just like we did.
Load More Replies... #26
TIL A woman put over a million miles on her Hyundai Elantra and was given a special badge and a brand new car
Grant Barke 4 years ago
Cars that usually last this long with high mileage, are cars that are driven mainly on highways, freeways etc. If you were to drive a car for 100 000 miles on the highway, that would roughly equate to 10 000 miles of wear and tear compared to suburban, stop start city driving.
Roxy Eastland 4 years ago
Or some of the untarmaced tracks that have to be used when you live in the country
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Pancho Zapata 4 years ago
engineers traded car for new one in order to find out what they did wrong
Laura Mortensen 4 years ago
I just read more and found out she was driving an average of 200,000 miles a years as a car parts delivery driver. It only took her five years to drive a million miles. Yikes.
Glynna Bowood 4 years ago
My 2003 Mazda Protege has nearly 250,000 and still going strong...knock on wood!
Dre Mosley 3 years ago
They did that same thing to a guy who put a million miles on his Toyota Tundra.
Diane Aguilar 4 years ago
You are very clearly not from either the U.S. or Canada, where people can and do drive an average of "nearly 90 miles a day, every day for 31 years".
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TIL a park ranger sat down in his office on Rinca Island and was attacked by a Komodo dragon hiding under his desk. The cleaner had the left the door open the night before. The smell of blood attracted more dragons outside. The ranger was taken to the hospital and survived but he has nightmares.
Mimi La Souris 4 years ago
"but he has nightmares"... Is that all sentence really weird, or is it just me?
Jef Bateman 4 years ago
It's a little weird, but it's not as weird as this superior final sentence: "The ranger survived, but once a Komodo dragon has tasted your blood, it will hunt you day and night until one of you dies."
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Auntriarch 4 years ago (edited)
I will probably have nightmares about it tonight, just from reading about it!
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deanna woods 4 years ago
There was a guy on Komodo Island that fell out of a tree and was eaten by two komodo dragons. He climbed over a fence into a restricted restricted area and even though his neighbor saw him climb over the fence and fall out of the tree, she couldn't save him.
Jace 4 years ago
I thought if you were bitten by a Komodo dragon you almost certainly because of the poison in its mouth.
pat hayes 4 years ago
not poison...the bite causes infection due to the bacteria in the dragons mouth.....this animal is one very scary. creature.....
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Marco Conti 4 years ago
"but he has nightmares". Not to mention wounds inflicted by a gaggle of goddam hungry dragons! Never forget your full body armor. Those medieval paintings were a training manual.
#28
TIL that the name George has the same root word as Geography and Geology, and means "Earth worker" or farmer.
Vicky Z 4 years ago
Georgia means agriculture in Greek and comes from the word gea which means earth
Stannous Flouride 4 years ago
Hence Gaea (Greek) or Gaia (Roman), the Earth Goddess.
Load More Replies... Marek Yanchurak 4 years ago
And now you do. But, hey, thanks for sharing.
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IlovemydogShilo 3 years ago
The name for George in German is Jurgen, and means the same there too.
BasedWang 4 years ago
And this picture is relevant because its St. George slaying a dragon.... Yes.... a dragon
#29
TIL studies show the reason why we "click" with certain people is due to people's brain waves being sync in wavelengths called the alpha–mu band, or what scientists call brain-to-brain coupling, and mirror each other neurologically in terms of what they are focusing on.
Eric Mesh 4 years ago
I call BS. Can I see a P2P published study on this in a reputable scientific journal?
Gandalf the Pink 4 years ago
More people should write this exact comment about stuff.
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Mimi La Souris 4 years ago (edited)
This would explain the almost immediate friendship I felt for my best friend (since 15 years) the first time we met. Never happened before, never since. (or maybe because he farted on me and made a Garfield smile :D)
Albert Hinton 3 years ago
Yeah. And I call BS on you and the other nonbelievers. My wife and I have been married 57 years. I can absolutely guarantee this is a lot of the reason for this longevity. We have noticed this mental attachment for more than 40 of those years.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
I seriously doubt this... I bet if you swap the race or religious background of one of the participants AND keep the brain waves in sync, you'll find that probably as much as 60-70% of the time, they do NOT click. "Clicking" with someone has to do with identity similarity and upbringing and humour similarity.
Stephanie Keith 4 years ago
I disagree. I'm the kind of person that wants to get to know way different people than me. It's boring to be around people with the same thoughts and views as me. I like to learn, accept, and get to know different people and cultures. It's fascinating and interesting to me. I do agree with you in away. That close minded people tend to stick with what they know and like. To me that's a bit selfish and stuck in your ways. Not wanting to see how other humans do things. That's probably why a lot of people don't get along. Because they're to busy focusing on their ways and refuse to see that other peoples ways are alright too.
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Jane Hower 4 years ago
I believe it might have something to do with past lives!!! Also, it's an interesting statistic that 60% of the time we fall in love/marry people with the same blood type - not hard for O's at 50% of the pop, or A's at 40% of the population, but also for B's at 8% and AB's at 2% - so maybe it's 'chemistry' if not karma!!!!
#30
TIL that the violin that was played as the Titanic sunk was rediscovered in an attic and auctioned off for $1.6 million in 2013.
Anapv 4 years ago (edited)
To me this seems strange. If it sank with the Titanic, how was it rediscovered at an attic? And how would anyone know that a violin in an attic was the same that was being played in the Titanic while it sank?
Laura Dawson 4 years ago
It was recovered from Wallace Hartleys body & was in a violin case along with sheet music that was strapped to this body, it didn’t go down with the ship, I believe this belongings were given to this widow, as his body was buried in England.
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Fabian Meresse 4 years ago
That bloody movie raised too much myths to me, and also romanticised a tragedy who led to the death of more than one thousand people. For the truth ? Probably not. Money ? For sure. Never forget that this boat is now a sanctuary
Linda Roy 4 years ago
The White Star line charged the musicians' families for the cost of their uniforms
Gabrielle B. Marcelo 3 years ago (edited)
i can only say one thing right now, WHAT THE M***********G FUCKITY F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K F**K FUCKNESS WHITE STARLINE,??????????? YOU M***********G BASTARDS!!
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Firkin Dirkin 4 years ago
Justdid some checking on wikipedia etc. My apologies, this article is quite correct. Rest in peace.
Wandaluzt 3 years ago
Do you always do that without checking whether you're right or not?
Load More Replies... Kevin J. Henning 4 years ago
I saw the cello that was played as the Titanic sunk for sale at a yard sale. There's at least one born every minute.
#31
TIL that every December 21, the inner chamber of Newgrange a prehistoric Irish monument that predates Stonehenge is illuminated for 18 minutes by the rising sun.
Dave P 4 years ago
We still dont know who made it, all we know is it pre-dates the Celtic migration, and are from a pre-Celtic people. Scholars assume it is related to religious worship because of how it is angled for the Solstice
Jon S. 4 years ago
We do know who made it, the Neolithic people of Ireland, in about 3000BC. What's the mystery there?
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#32
TIL: In 2019, researchers from Tel Aviv University successfully 3D-printed a human heart using a patient's own cells. Biological materials were reportedly used to "completely match the immunological, cellular, biochemical, and anatomical properties of the patient"
#33
TIL: During the Great Depression, banker Mark Welch Munroe convinced struggling families in Quincy, Florida to buy Coca-Cola shares that traded at 19 dollars. Later, the town became the single richest town per capita in the US with at least 67 millionaires.
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Down vote simply because "struggling" (and poor) ≠ "oppressed".
Load More Replies... #34
TIL that in 1908, Harriet Tubman opened the 'Harriet Tubman Home for the Elderly', a retirement home for indigent and aged African-Americans. Among the residents was Tubman herself, who was admitted in 1911, and would remain there until her death in 1913.
Walking On Sunshine 4 years ago
Definitely an important part of American history, cannot wait to see the new 20 dollar bills with her face on them! We will not allow Conservative fear to change our proud history.
Layla Corman 4 years ago (edited)
Another landmark of *history that is close to my home! The HTHftE and the HTH are both incredible places to visit and learn!
Mermaid Elle-Jaye 4 years ago
I watched that movie the other day about her. I had no idea what a fierce force she was
#35
TIL Ivory Coast's Murielle Ahoure couldn’t find an Ivory Coast flag so she celebrated her 60m gold with Irish flag given to her by a spectator
WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
You mean like Deutschland should be known as Deutschland instead of Germany and Nederland, Nederland instead of the Netherlands and Sweden should be called Sverige? And what about Kaap de Goede Hoop?
Load More Replies... #36
TIL A type of eco burial is a mushroom suit, which digests your body after you die, and Luke Perry was buried in one.
Tiger Pearl 4 years ago
I watched a documentary on this and I hope this becomes more common before it’s my time. It’s very environmentally friendly and way more natural.
SpookyPanda 4 years ago
What’s the name of the documentary and where can I find it?
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Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
"Let's make these remote microphones flesh-colored. There's no way it'll look like a huge growth on someone's face."
Debrina Blackmoon 4 years ago
Right?! Had to look again, lol-thought it was some kind of funky wart at first!
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Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
I recall watching Luke Perry on Beverly Hills 90210, then years later on Riverdale. He was a heartthrob. Rest in Peace.
#37
TIL 4 Spider-Man suits were stolen from Spider-Man back in 2002. The suits cost $50,000 USD to make and Sony offered $25,000 USD for their return. It lead to a 18 month investigation, and the suits were found in Los Angeles, New York, and Tokyo. It was stolen by a security guard who worked on set.
KatHat 4 years ago
*"led" is the past tense form of the word "lead". "Lead" (when spelled with an "a" but pronounced "led") is always the metal. Ahh, English...
John Yaskowich 4 years ago
Lead rhymes with Read, and Lead rhythms with Read, but Lead does not rhyme with Read, nor does Lead rhyme with Read. (Led / Red - Lead / Read). Ahh, English!
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Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
Blues Brothers was allowed to use real borrowed merchandise for the shopping centre chase scene, on the condition that everything was returned after filming wrapped. So they hired some security guards just to be on the safe side. Guess who was later caught helping themselves to the goodies?
#38
TIL that it’s a tradition in Italy to watch the movie Trading Places on Christmas Eve, with millions tuning in every year.
Grant Barke 4 years ago
Here in Australia, National Lampoons Christmas Vacation seems to be the staple on Christmas Day night.
KatHat 4 years ago
I just loathe Chevy Chase and find him deeply unfunny, and I learned recently that he was an absolute asshole to work with so now I feel very justified to feel negatively about him :)
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Vicky Z 4 years ago
Currently watching home alone and there is a TV channel that has "trading places" later so I'm going to watch both tonight!!
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Gandalf the Pink 4 years ago
In all the Nordic countries. Most viewers in Sweden. It is funnily referred to as Donald Duck's christmas but it's in fact the Disney special From All of Us to All of You which has Mickey Mouse as the host, not Donald. Donald is just a small part of the special but since Donald Duck is way more popular character in the Nodics than Mickey Mouse it is called that.
Load More Replies... Nicole Weymann 4 years ago
It's a German regular for Christmas as well, together with Little Lord Fauntleroy and Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella.
Patrik Hofman 4 years ago
the Czech fairytale? it's wildly popular in Slovakia but I'm surprised you also know it in Germany
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deanna woods 4 years ago
I like this movie and agree with the people of Italy. But what about Die Hard?
Elsker 4 years ago
In Norway I heard they watch an old movie called dinner for one https://www.google.com/amp/s/anewlifeinnorway.wordpress.com/2010/12/23/its-dinner-for-one-in-norway-this-evening/amp/
Bored Birgit 4 years ago
Dinner for One is Tradition in Germany on Silvester. For years and years ...
Load More Replies... #39
TIL that in 2009, French free diver Stéphane Mifsud held his breath underwater for 11 minutes and 35 seconds.
Jo Choto 4 years ago
I remember as a teenager, I started working on holding my breath and I got to about 2 1/2 minutes, but I cannot imagine 11 minutes. I do frequently have dreams where I can breathe underwater though.
#40
TIL that vanilla beans (like coffee beans) all taste differently based on their country or origin. Some taste like figs, others like cherries, some like licorice and all have a primary flavor of vanilla.
Lemme get the lemons 2 years ago
Before anyone says that it isn't real licorice, please shut. I like red licorice a LOT more than black
Load More Replies... Skara Brae 4 years ago
This is very true for chocolate as well, if the processing doesn't include neutralizing the acids that give depth of flavor.
#41
TIl the US strategic petroleum reserves are stored in underground caverns carved out of salt. Salt does not react with the oil and is self-healing. The plastic behavior of salt will cause it to naturally close fractures or gaps and prevent any leakage.
#42
TIL of Margaret Thatcher's 'Britain Awake' speech in 1976 where she stated the USSR was "bent on world domination", had failed in economic & human terms, its only recourse to become a superpower was military means. Soviet newspapers dubbed her the "Iron Lady" which she adopted.
Dave P 4 years ago
How did that island belong evert to Argentina? It isn't in their territorial water? it was not inhabited by any humans when the British took it. 100% of the people on the Falklands were British Citizens, etc. A brutal south American dictator to distract his people from their economic problems laid claim to something that wasnt his, invaded, and lost. Learn history
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#43
TIL that the notion of a "white Christmas" was popularized by the writings of Charles Dickens, whose stories that depicted a snowy Christmas season were based on his childhood, which happened to be the coldest decade in England in over a century
DuchessDegu 4 years ago
Bonus fun fact - in the UK, according to the Met Office, all it's needed it's ONE flake of snow falling on Christmas day for it to be considered as white Christmas
Gavin Johnson 4 years ago
1 flake observed at one of the 270 Met Office weather stations around the U.K., for the bookies it’s one flake observed at one of the 12 major airports around the country. You can bet on one particular airport (and get different / better odds) or bet on a snowflake at any airport. It used to be a white Christmas if snow fell on the actual Met Office in London, they aren’t based there anymore so they couldn’t keep an eye on it!
Load More Replies... Katy McMouse 4 years ago
In 2017, my city received 34 inches of snow just on Christmas day, with well over 4ft. by the nxt day. (I had to push like hell on my side door in order to open it a few inches to just get this picture. The snow pile in the bottom right is halfway up the door which already sits a good three ft. off the ground). It was fantastic! IMG_201712...2afd51.jpg 
Auntiecorn 4 years ago
Quite jealous here as a Dutchie. Though we do have some snow (not much most of the time) almost every year, I wish we had this much snow. Despite the fact that it is / can be very inconvenient, I just love snow so much! Most people around me don't like snow because they have to go outside and drive and stuff. But I have chronic disabilities and don't come outside too often due to them, so it doesn't bother me that much. I would love to keep it untouched and all pretty. On the other side, making a snowman or just a snow sculpture is so much fun too! Even though it is hard to create something with snow while being in a wheelchair. Snow is just soooo pretty! Unfortunately we haven't had a white Christmas this year. I still hope quite some snow is coming between now and spring though!
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Layla Corman 4 years ago
I live in a suburb outside of Syracuse, NY- winner of the "Snowiest City in the US" award year after year. (If you put a dot directly in the middle of NYS, that's us! We are the 90% color on the map). The week before xmas here was beautiful. 40°, we even had some in the 50's. People were loosing their s**t about not having a white Christmas. As it always does in Syracuse, the temp dropped to 29° on Christmas eve, and we had yet another white Christmas.
Richard Portman 4 years ago
What is this White Christmas thing? It is snowing right now, and we are glad to have it because drought. It is absurd to romanticize it . Tomorrow the roads will be icy and dangerous. Charles Dickens can go stick a corncob up his ***.
#44
TIL Dexter, the U.S. Navy’s very last working horse, was stationed in Philadelphia to haul trash, and upon his passing in 1968, he was buried with full military honors.
M O'Connell 4 years ago
I'm surprised the Navy doesn't have any horses. Hell, even Space Force has horses!
UpQuarkDownQuark 4 years ago
Space Corps. They could have called it the Space Corps, but they wanted it to sound like a 90s kids cartoon instead.
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#45
TIL Meat Loaf's "Bat Out of Hell" is the 4th best selling record in all of history, with only Michael Jackson's Thriller, ACDC's Back in Black and Whitney Houston's Bodyguard soundtrack selling more.
Chewie Baron 4 years ago
In the UK, the top two best selling albums of all time are both greatest hit compilations. Queen - Greatest Hits and ABBA: Gold.
deanna woods 4 years ago
Interesting fact: Meatloaf had a nervous breakdown after finishing this album.
Jo Choto 4 years ago
Interesting, that those records range from 1977 to 1992. So there is nothing that has been made in 30 years that compares.
Tim Douglass 4 years ago
The pop music market has become much more diversified and has far more artists producing songs. It tends to spread the sales out more.
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#46
TIL that Olympians can use the OLY lettering on any official documentation after their name much like when one gets a royal honor or PhD
Michael Deyette 4 years ago
A Dr signs his name "Dr. Smith, PhD." An Olympic athlete is allowed to sign "Mr. Smith, OLY." It's a title of honour.
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#47
TIL about Snap-dragon, a game Victorians played around Christmas. Raisins would be put in a shallow bowl filled with brandy, and the brandy would be lit on fire. Then players had to extract the raisins without burning their hands and then eat the brandy-soaked raisins on fire.
sofacushionfort 4 years ago
Banished from polite society for not using the proper burning raisin fork.
Red 4 years ago
And it is way worse than it sounds here. Kids would play too, and the main concept was to extinguish the fire by closing closing the mouth and eating them. People would often get burned in the process and apparently Victorians liked the eerie blue flames and the thrill was seeing each other as demons while catching the burning raisings and holding the blue fire. Ngl, I can totally understand the appeal.
Diane Aguilar 4 years ago
I saw a modified version of that game played on this British TV special called "Oz and Hugh Drink to Christmas" (featuring English comedian Hugh Dennis) -- modified in that they only sought to extract the raisins from the fiery brandy, not to put them immediately in their mouths. Even still with that and other added protections (including having someone on standby with a fire extinguisher) they got injured playing the game and it didn't look like it was the most fun. And now that you've jogged my memory about that special, I need to go watch it again (it's available on YouTube).
#48
TIL That during WW2 Heinz invented a self heating soup can that would frequently explode.
J. F. 4 years ago (edited)
Budget cuts required creative thinking, so why not a food can that can also be used as grenade?
Kenny Kulbiski 4 years ago
Kidney soup? I'd rather use it as a grenade than eat it. Probably against the Geneva convention though.
#49
TIL about Scott Tucker who set up illegal high interest payday loans in states that banned them. After getting caught, he tried to transfer ownership to Indian tribes who are exempt from payday laws. He is now serving 16 years in federal prison
Walking On Sunshine 4 years ago
Trying to use the tribes, what a little b*^ch. Get a real job.
Debrina Blackmoon 4 years ago (edited)
IKR?! Fucktard pissant dickfungus shitpile!!!
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Never understood this practice and why a government would allow it. Who in his right mind would want to approve of a system that's aimed at exploiting people in financial trouble?
Stephanie Keith 4 years ago
That's exactly why they do it. To take advantage of other people and gain financially. This selfish corrupt behavior is running rampant in our United States government. And within our own communities. Some call it capitalism, I call it evil or inhumane. It's a scary truth that no one can seem to stop.
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#50
TIL that the majority of silent era films are irrevocably lost and that at least half of all sound films from 1927 to 1950 are lost
F. H. 4 years ago
Worse, we're doing it with full knowledge and many alternatives. Old films were very hard to store properly and could even light themselves on fire.
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The Scout 4 years ago
So it is a miracle that some real gems survived, like the grandfather of all psychological horror films, Robert Wiene's "The Cabinet of Dr. Cagliari", or Fritz Lang's "Metropolis", which up to this day is one of the most impressing dystopian films ever made. Friedrich Wilhelm Murnau's "Nosferatu – Eine Symphonie des Grauens" was the root of the topic of vampires in film. Edwin S. Porter laid the groundwork for a century of western movies with "The great train robbery" as early as 1903, and Charly Chaplin excelled in the silent version of the film tragedy "The Gold Rush" in 1925.
M O'Connell 4 years ago
All of that early work led to the pinnacle of silent film: The General (1926), which may still be one of the greatest films of all time.
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
A lot of those films would be banned today for various reasons. Not very likely you will ever see a re-run of Marx Brothers movies.
Mama Panda 4 years ago
Lon Chaney was absolutely amazing in his role as Professor Edward Burke in the 1927 silent horror film titled "London After Midnight". If you can get your hands on it to watch, I highly recommend it. One of the best of the era.
Layla Corman 4 years ago
Silent film stars are really incredible in that they only had their faces to convey emotion and make the watcher feel connected. Really an incredible form of art! Anyways, my daughter made all sorts of faces when she was little, getting the nickname "Lon Chaney" from my father.
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#51
TIL that in the 1950s, most American shoes stores used powerful x-ray machines as a sales gimmick that allowed customers to observe the fit of their feet inside shoes in real time. The machines often lacked adequate shielding and were commonly used to fit children's shoes.
catslave6 4 years ago
I loved this machine! I recognized the machine from this photo, even though it doesn't show where you slide your feet inside. Every time I got new shoes, I got to see the bones in my feet. I still have a serious fascination with seeing my own insides. I'm certain this is where it began. I'm 72 now, so I lived through the radiation overdose - repeatedly. Still no cancer that I know of. Got lucky I guess. ;>)
Ann Dennis 4 years ago
I loved those things, too! So far, so good; I'm 76 (and still have both feet) May have to do with only getting new shoes once a year.
Load More Replies... Beverly Hasegawa 4 years ago
I actually went to shoe stores in the 50s and never saw one of these.
Grant Barke 4 years ago
Excuse me good sir, may I use your wonder machine of the future to test out how well this condom might fit.
#52
TIL Ray Bradbury wrote the first draft of Fahrenheit 451 on a typewriter in UCLA Library’s basement that cost 10 cents for 30 minutes. 9 days and $9.80 later he had a short story titled ‘ The Fireman’ that was later expanded into Fahrenheit 451
M O'Connell 4 years ago
For reference, in 1950 a 'budget' typewriter was $100, and a professional model could be up to $400.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago (edited)
Somebody's reading books? CALL FIREMAN SAM! *fireman sam noises*
#53
TIL that former German chancellor Helmut Schmidt was a heavy smoker. He was well known for lighting up during TV interviews and talk shows. He was also charged with defying smoking bans. In 1981 he got a pacemaker. Despite these he died as the longest living chancellor at the age of 96.
F. H. 4 years ago (edited)
His nickname was "Smokey". The draft for commemorative 2 Euro coin had a portrait of him holding a cigarrette between his index and middle finger. Someone thought that you shouldn't show people smoking in public, so the cigarette was edited out. Now his coin shows him holding his hand up with two fingers streched out, as if he was the pope blessing something.
DC 4 years ago
A lot of the smoking was exaggerated as part of an image to make the public believe. He gets asked a question ... the elegantly-clothed elder statesmen lights one up, takes a few breaths out of it, answers, and when he struggles, a few seconds to rethink don't need any more props than his cigarette. Reyno Light, the last like 20 years - they're like smoking without smoking, actually... Also, although percerved as incredibly wise in the public, his last years of published opinion are worth forgetting, and thereby would do him a favor.
Ann Dennis 4 years ago
My brother was also a heavy smoker. He died at age 56 of cardiovascular disease and lymphoma. He died as my longest living (and only) brother. Didn't get a coin. (please don't smoke)
Bored Birgit 4 years ago
There was a joke that if he had given up smoking, his metabolism would have broken down.
#54
TIL about the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre aka the Amritsar Incident where in 1919 the British Imperial army opened fire, without warning, on a peaceful gathering protesting the inhumanities of the colonialist government leading to thousand of deaths of unarmed men, women and children.
H Edwards 4 years ago
Not to belittle the massacre, but it was hundreds of deaths, possibly as many as a thousand. It's bad enough without needless exaggeration. I have visited the Jallianwala Bagh and first read about it in the Raj Quartet novels.
Anastasia Beaverhausen 4 years ago
Tbf it doea say thousand of deaths, not thousands.
Load More Replies... Leesquee 4 years ago
This doesn't do their brutality justice; they didn't just open fire, they blocked the only entrance to an open-air square, positioned troops on the walls, and opened fire UNTIL THEIR AMMUNITION RAN OUT.
Artsy Bookworm 4 years ago
About a hundred people jumped into the well in the middle of the garden to kill themselves before they got shot. There were piles of bodies inside.
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Scagsy 4 years ago
A 19-year-old man armed with a crossbow was apprehended inside the grounds of Buckingham Palace this Christmas. He claimed he wanted to avenge the Jallianwala Bagh massacre victims by murdering the Queen.
Liam Walsh 4 years ago
Yep. The Queen who hadn't been born at the time of the massacre.
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Lucifer 4 years ago
And Churchill was responsible for 4+ million deaths during WW2, deliberately diverting resources and creating a famine (Bengal Famine).
Dave P 4 years ago
That narrative actually dates back to the Indian-Nazi Propogandist, Subhas Chandra Bose. Churchill actually diverted hundreds of ships and enough food to feed the population to India. Some ships were sunk by the Germans with their Type IX U-boats in the Indian Ocean. Most reached India though, however Bose's followed blew up the train lines from the port to the affected areas, forcing the supplies to be taken by trunk and people carrying them, delaying the relief. Also at this time India had limited home rule, where local officials were Indians elected by the Indian people, and the Brits only handled the national level policies, leaving local areas in local hands. Bose paid off (with Nazi funds) many leaders to divert the food supplies to the Black Market, which Bose's follower controlled. Over 2/3 of the supplies were stolen this way. Churchill refused to send more after this, saying he had sent enough, and that the Indian Official were responsible for the debacle with the supplies.
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Sapna Sarfare 4 years ago
Read up on Udham Singh who waited for a long time to take revenge for this massacre
Jon S. 4 years ago
I've always thought this was a bit of a strange claim. I know the British coined the term during the Boer War, but gathering a dispersed hostile population into a single place to monitor/disarm them has been done regularly in wars of conquest since at least 800BC (under the Neo-Assyrian Empire).
Load More Replies... #55
TIL that two years before he passed away from cancer, George Harrison was stabbed more than 40 times by an intruder who broke into his home and attacked him with a kitchen knife.
DuchessDegu 4 years ago
I remember the news reports vividly, he was recovering from throat cancer but sadly it spread to the brain. Do not smoke, kids
Chewie Baron 4 years ago
I remember that too. And if I'm not mistaken, it was at this time of year.
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purple turtle 4 years ago
Oh! He sang for relief funds and send it to a war-ravaged Bangladesh. I see he has a Radha-Krishna badge and Tulsi mala around his neck! What a wonderful soul. May he be graced with eternal and everlasting merge with the macrocosm.
#56
TIL whale vomit is actually used in perfumes to make scents last longer. It's called ambergris, and is a product of whale bile duct juices and undigested squid beaks. The hard waxy solid that's regurgitated floats and if you're lucky to find a piece, it costs tens of thousands per kilogramme.
Layla Corman 4 years ago
Still used in Chanel no.5. But NOT the version we get here in the US.
Mermaid Elle-Jaye 4 years ago
I got excited when I first learnt of this but then a quick google revealed, it’s illegal to sell it if you find it :(
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Some places... and makes no sense that it's illegal at all.
Load More Replies... Peppermallow 4 years ago
Its now suspected to originate from the other end of the whale, rather than being vomit
#57
TIL about Erich Hartmann, a WW2 German pilot who was the most successful fighter ace of all time. He was tried and convicted by the USSR after WW2 for destroying “expensive” Soviet aircraft and was sentenced to hard labor, which he refused to do. He was later exonerated of all charges by Russia.
Red Ruffensor 4 years ago
How do you whether or not he was a party member?
Load More Replies... #58
TIL in 2014 An ancient virus called Pithovirus has "come back to life" after lying dormant for at least 30,000 years, scientists say. It was found frozen in a deep layer of the Siberian permafrost, but after it thawed it became infectious once again.
MyOpinionHasBeenServed 4 years ago
If this becomes a pandemic we know who to blame, and we'll definitely know if it was planned.
Gaby Almodovar 4 years ago
And with climate change, this guy is just between the first ones from the ancient-folks-naughty-boys.
Chewie Baron 4 years ago
No one will get this, but I don't care! "Life with the amoebas, no one can see us because we're small. Very very small! There's Mum, Dad and Baby too! We're the one cell family! If anyone gets that reference, I will be very happy!
Load More Replies... #59
TIL about Roland the Farter, a medieval jester for King Henry II. Each Christmas he was obligated to perform a special fart for the kings court. He was compensated with a Manor and 30 acres of land.
John Dilligaf 4 years ago
Oh sure ...HE farts in front of royalty and gets a Manor and 30 acres of land; .....I do it and get banned from Buckingham Palace for life .
J. F. 4 years ago (edited)
Probably a picture created by Jan van Eyck - Usually everybody looks like Putin in his art
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#60
TIL that Andrzej Sapkowski sold the rights to CD Projekt Red to create the Witcher video games for a lump sum of $9500
Pan Paweł 4 years ago
He still gets very angry, when someone asks him about it. BTW. He is not a very nice guy, great writer, but not a great person.
Liam Walsh 4 years ago
Was he better before he felt like he'd been shafted (rightly or wrongly)? IS a person's personality actually relevant in these issues? Not disagreeing... just pondering.
Load More Replies... Frannie Kaplan 4 years ago
That's just the videogame, nevermind the television rights. 10k is a year of savings
Fen Wolf 4 years ago
Yeah but at the time he was dead broke and only sold it for that little because he didn't video games were anything more then a fad and figured the games wouldn't make any money. When the games took off and started making bank, he tried to sue them.
Load More Replies... #61
TIL that hundred thousands of kudzu plants were planted in the US South to fight erosion. The vine can spread over one foot a day and spread through runners, rhizomes and by vines that root at the nodes. It is now overtaking entire areas, outcompeting all other plants including trees
Kira Okah 4 years ago
It's also completely edible, makes a pretty tasty juice too, and livestock will eat it as well. Promote eating it, or using it as animal feed instead of corn?
Kay blue 4 years ago
We have one similar problem with Japanese Knotweed, it can destabilise buildings and some mortgage companies won't grant a mortgage for properties where it has been found.
manon M 4 years ago
yes, "Renouée du Japon" in french, a very invasive plant
Load More Replies... Jo Choto 4 years ago
It has caused catastrophic ecological chaos on multiple continents. Last time I was down in the bayous of Louisiana, I was on a boat with a man whose family had lived there for generations. He showed us waterway after waterway that was now impassable because of all the kudzu, and it was taking over more and more acreage every year. Some of humanity's worse decision has been introducing foreign species in isolation into environments, such as kudzu, or cane toads, or zebra mussels...
#62
TIL in 1381 over 70,000 peasants from across England revolted against their lords, led by a farmer named Wat Tyler the 'Peasant Army' marched into London, sacking parts of the city and killing any wealthy elites they found
sofacushionfort 4 years ago
They were starving but when Richard II met with Tyler the truce was betrayed and Tyler was cut down by Richard’s nobles. Richard told the peasants to disband: “villains you are and villains you will remain. Karma for Richard: he was killed by the nobles too, by starvation.
Kira Okah 4 years ago
It has been suggested that this was the spark that started the decline of to eventual end of serfdom in England, though it is possible that it was already in decline and this revolt may have hastened it. Hard to tell, sources of the time are all over the place when it comes to bias.
#63
TIL about Stephane Breitwieser, an art thief who stole 1.4 billion dollars worth of art. He never sold any of the art, he was an avid art fan and hung them in his house
Mtownmick 4 years ago
So the question is: Did he steal from private collectors or from public museums?
MCathenaE 4 years ago
Public museums. Google him, it's an interesting story
Load More Replies... Fabian Meresse 4 years ago
Also, when he got caught, his mother threw some of the art onto a channel in order to protect him. Some are lost forever...
#64
TIL an American ship is a tourist attraction in Pyongyang, North Korea. Captured by NK forces in 1968, visitors to USS Pueblo are allowed to board the ship and see its secret code room and crew artifacts. Pueblo is the only ship of the US Navy on the commissioned roster currently held captive
#65
TIL a schoolboy allergic to cheese died after a student threw a piece of cheese at him.
Gavin Johnson 4 years ago
It was investigated by the coroner in the U.K., he had severe dairy allergies, he had rubbed his eczema so much he drew blood on his neck, that in turn exacerbated things, his epipen was out of date and the adrenalin was likely to be less effective. The paramedics who attended didn’t manage to stabilise him and he went for too long without oxygen. His family had to turn his life support off as he had no brain functions. A truly sad collection of events that lead to his death. Greenford schoolboy's cheese allergy death was 'unprecedented' https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-48148697
Christa Millet 4 years ago
When I was a teacher in the U.S., there was a student who was so allergic to dairy products that he couldn’t eat lunch with other students in the cafeteria because he could have died from exposure to milk, etc. So I believe this story is possible.
Load More Replies... #66
TIL that Jill Dando, presenter for the BBC "unsolved crime" series Crimewatch, was murdered during her time as host for the show. Crimewatch reconstructed her murder and a suspect was convicted. However, the conviction was overturned, he was acquitted upon retrial, and the case remains unsolved.
#67
TIL that, as of 2010, Paul McCartney was making $400,000 to $600,000 a year from "Wonderful Christmastime"
UpQuarkDownQuark 4 years ago
I’m tempted to sue for between $400,000 and $600,000 for mental anguish for having to listen to that godawful song.
Diane Aguilar 4 years ago
I hope it's TONS and TONS of money because that song is IMO literally the best holiday song ever recorded and The Waitresses are soooo underrated.
Load More Replies... Chewie Baron 4 years ago
The two writers of the Slade Christmas hit 'Merry Xmas Everybody' makes them around £500,000 a year these days. I can only imagine how much Mariah Carey makes from her song.
#68
TIL there was a rumor in the 1960s that Japan made products in a town called Usa which were then exported to the US with the label "MADE IN USA" to make them appear as if they were made in the US.
Layla Corman 4 years ago
Isn't this the basis of the HALARIOUS movie, The Campaign, starring Will Farrell and Zac Galifianakis?
#69
TIL the 1959 movie Some Like It Hot featured LQBTQ themes, including cross dressing, and as a result was produced without approval from the Hays Code, a popular set of self-censorship guidelines used for decades in Hollywood. The success of the film is one of the reasons behind its abandonment.
F. H. 4 years ago
Sorry, but dressing up as a woman for laughs wasn't controversial at the time nor does it qualify as LGBTQ nowadays.
Iain Glencross 4 years ago
But Osgood wanting to marry Jerry? I think that counts!
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Jayne Kyra 4 years ago (edited)
I remember watching the film as a kid, purely by accident (nothing else was on). And I recall the ending when one cross-dressing character pulled off his wig as he was driven by his suitor on a boat claiming "I am a man." The suitor replied "Nobody is perfect." Paraphrased from Czech. EDIT: Fixed a major mistake thanks to Dodo.
#70
TIL In 1956 a trader named Vince Kosuga cornered the national onion market, purchasing 30 million lbs. After dumping his stockpile it led to a public outcry, Congress passed the Onion Futures Act. As a result onions are the only commodity where the trading of futures contracts are banned.
Mtownmick 4 years ago
All future trading should be illegal if you do not intend to use the product. If you want to bet - go to a casino. Same with hedge funds.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
how about ETFs where you're betting on a batch of shares which represent companies which may or may not even make anything?
Load More Replies... Bacony Cakes 4 years ago
And on a vaguely related note, NFTs are only useful for money laundering.
sofacushionfort 4 years ago
The castles on the Danube were built to extort tolls from river traffic, driving up costs at the end point. At least they now generate tourist revenue. Not much hope for millions of tourists dollars to see the trading floor of the Chicago futures exchange.
#71
TIL that the Duff Beer logo is censored in French broadcasts of The Simpsons due to France’s strict laws regarding alcohol product placement. A German brewery makes Duff Beer using the logo from The Simpsons, making it retroactive product placement.
Nikki Sevven 4 years ago
As an American, a month-long student exchange to Germany began my lifelong love of really good beer. I'm thankful we have so many small, local breweries now. There's one about 1.5km from my home, co-owned by a friend of mine, and she makes really good beer, although a bit too focused on IPAs.
Load More Replies... Gaby Almodovar 4 years ago
I saw that beer in shops... never had the "courage" to give it a try.
#72
TIL about En Passant in chess where you can capture a pawn that has moved two squares from its starting square as if it had advanced only one square.
T'Mar of Vulcan 4 years ago
There are even videos on YouTube in which people are freaked that the chess program has a "glitch". In fact, it's not a glitch - it's the en passant move!
ZAPanda 4 years ago
en passant = french for, "in passing", meaning the prawn at b4 takes the prawn at a4 by going diagonally to a3.
M O'Connell 4 years ago (edited)
Darn. Now I'm hungry. [edit: Censorship! That's silly]
Load More Replies... LuckyL 4 years ago
This one i don't get. Don't they hit diagonally? How does black move to a3? Where does the white a4 go?
Kira Okah 4 years ago (edited)
It is a special move that can only happen if a prawn (really, you're censoring the chess piece bp?) has just moved two squares from its start, and an opposing prawn could have taken it if it had moved only one. Pawns (and not censoring the plural?) capture diagonally, yes. Black moved to a3 because it captured the white prawn that moved to a4. The white prawn in a4 disappeared because it was captured while passing a3. The rule has been in place for as long as the rule that pawns can move two squares from starting position, so people don't take the p*ss by using the two square move to dodge being captured.
Load More Replies... #73
TIL that drinking caffeine-containing beverages doesn't cause fluid loss in excess of the volume ingested.
Les Izmore 4 years ago
That's correct. A flawed belief was that caffeine is a diuretic but when someone did a proper scientific study they found the increased urination was caused by the water, not the caffeine. No increase in fluid loss when taking caffeine pills because there is no increase in fluid ingestion
Lyuben Petkov 4 years ago
I guess this research is made over amerikano (super diluted soup, with trace of some coffee) If you drink real coffee (like espresso or ristretto) - you definitely lose more liquids
Load More Replies... WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
And here I am peeing 10 liters after just drinking 1 cup of coffee.
Jason Derleth 4 years ago (edited)
https://www.letmegooglethat.com/?q=coffee+does+not+cause+excess+fluid+loss
Load More Replies... #74
TIL that smoking dead scorpions to get high is a practice in certain regions of Pakistan, with most users mixing dried dead scorpions with either tobacco or hash, and that the high lasts for almost 10 hours.
#75
TIL - Watergate was not just a break-in but there were 69 people indicted and 48 people—many of them top Nixon administration officials—convicted.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
Imagine living in a time where a president was held accountable for something as minor as spying on the opposing political party. I mean, imagine what would have happened if Nixon had, oh, I don't know, incited a riot which overthrew the american capitol building?
KatHat 4 years ago
And it was more than a riot - it was a planned coup. There's plenty of evidence for that and that's just what's publicly available - imagine what the DOJ and Jan 6 Committee have that they're not (yet) telling us about.
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Walking On Sunshine 4 years ago
I never thought we would see the day that Nixon looked like an amateur, but Donald Trump definitely raised the bar on criminality during a presidency.
Tomatoman 4 years ago
Or that Clinton and the democrats put out a completely bogus dossier then spend millions of tax payer dollars trying to impeach Trump using the dossier
Richard Portman 4 years ago
This comment from Tomatoman is not worth even a downvote. It is stupid. If Tomatoman lived here, he would already understand that we are not talking about Clinton these days.
Load More Replies... #76
TIL super weaners are elephant seal pups who, in an attempt to slow their weaning, will steal milk from nursing female elephant seals ("milk thieves"), or be adopted by another nursing mother elephant seal ("double mother-sucklers"). Super weaners are usually male, and may weigh up to 600 lbs.
#77
TIL pineapples burn your mouth because it contains bromelain, which breaks down the proteins in your mouth
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
Isn´t that why pineapple pizza is a tasty thing when made with fresh pineapple as opposed to canned pineapple?
#78
TIL that the Aztecs modeled their capital on the nearby ruins of Teotihuacan, regarding it as “the city of gods”. It was one of the largest cities in pre-Columbian America and in the world at the time, and it was abandoned about a thousand years before the Spanish came to Mexico.
Declan Herendeen 4 years ago
That road right there is a drag strip in a new racing game called Forza Horizon 5 that is set in Mexico. There's a lot of historic Aztec monuments in the game.
#79
TIL that Die Hard, much debated over whether or not it is a Christmas film, was first released to cinemas in the middle of July 1988. Its distributor, 20th Century Fox, had greenlit the screenplay in June 1987 because they needed a summer blockbuster for the following year.
Peppermallow 4 years ago
The movie is based on a book! Nothing Lasts Forever by Roderick Thorp. Excellent book, and it itself is a sequel to a book called The Detective, also made into a movie
Leodavinci 4 years ago
Christmas movies are Christmas movies because of the time frame the story takes place in (Christmas holiday - Dec 1 thru Dec 31), not when they were produced, released, nor whether the subject matter of the movie is about Christmas. DH is a Christmas movie.
Bacony Cakes 4 years ago (edited)
Straight facts. It's like how Night In The Woods is a Halloween game since it takes place in October - November.
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#80
TIL Dissecting human bodies was taboo in antiquity up to the 16th century. The only people to systematically do it before then were Erasistratus and Herophilus from Alexandria. Their work pioneered medicine and anatomy but was criticized by contemporaries, especially their practice of vivisections
F. H. 4 years ago
That's wrong! It wasn't banned before the lat 13th century - and then only by mistake. The pope banned the practice of seperate burials of flesh and bones or the heart. This was often practiced for nobles who died abroad so they wouldn't have to haul the decaying body back home. Often the bodies were just boiled for hours until the flesh came of the bones. The flesh was buried at a local cemetery and the clean bones were sent home. This was banned, but the ban was badly worded, ending up with the practice still going and dissections being restricted.
bumble bee 4 years ago
vivisection has no value in dissection and is the most vile and cruel method known
#81
TIL That due to falling hamburger sales on Fridays. A McDonalds Franchise owner created the Filet-O-Fish sandwich to meet the demands of Western Christians who observed a "No Meat" Friday.
Kay blue 4 years ago
My thanks to those who observed meat free Fridays because the Fillet-O-Fish is the only thing I ever order.
#82
TIL That the North Pole doesn't have any landmasses. It's only ice floating on water.
Tim Douglass 4 years ago
No one on earth knows that before they learn it. You included.
Load More Replies... #83
TIL that putting live birds in a pie was a form of entertainment in the 16th century. An Italian recipe book of 1549 described how to make a pie so that the birds survived and 'flew out' when it was cut open. This practice was also found in 1725 in a cookery book by John Nott.
Otter 4 years ago
I want to know what happened to the rest of the pie, the bits that presumably had bird poop on them.
F. H. 4 years ago
That was just a shell then, you probably gave it to the pigs.
Load More Replies... Chich 4 years ago
Sing a song of sixpence, A pocket full of rye. Four and twenty blackbirds, Baked in a pie.
Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
When the pie was opened the birds began to sing, now wasn't that a dainty dish to set before a King!
Load More Replies... #84
TIL actress Olivia Wilde, born Olivia Jane Cockburn, chose to change her last name in high school to honor her relatives who were authors who used pen names. She chose Irish author Oscar Wilde and she spent her childhood summers in Ireland and studied acting in college in Ireland as well.
F. H. 4 years ago
That's the story she told. I reality, she changed her name for the same reason many other people with that name do.
Katie Lutesinger 4 years ago
It might be worth keeping if you wanted a career as a porn star, but other than that...
Load More Replies... H Edwards 4 years ago
Although it is pronounced Co-burn, not C**k-burn, it's still not the greatest name for an actor I suppose.
Mahayana 4 years ago
Understandable that you would want to change your last name if it was cockburn… but that’s just me!
Frannie Kaplan 4 years ago
And because Cockburn ridiculed gy middle school kids and not Hollywood friendly
Anapv 4 years ago
You're right, there is a Port wine company with that name: https://www.cockburns.com/wine/cockburn-s-fine-tawny-port/
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#85
TIL that Disney had planned on making films based on the video games "Mega Man" and "The Sims," but canceled those plans after Assassin's Creed flopped at the box office.
Donnie Mc00 4 years ago
It took a special kind of genius to take the premise of Assassins creed and convert it into unwatchable crap.
Jayne Kyra 4 years ago
Biggest flop for me: Max Payne. Movie went into 1/4th of the original game and it looked so promising at first. Nice effects, but an overall "meh". Biggest win for me: Final Fantasy Kingsglaive. I love this one to pieces and it fits in so well with the game itself. A 9/10 for voice-acting, music, CGI, story, and blending in with the game itself.
#86
TIL The main accusers of The Salem Witch Trials were a group of girls and young women from Salem Village who are often referred to as the “afflicted girls” because they claimed that witches were afflicting them by attacking them and making them ill.
Jessica Cifelli 4 years ago
Anyone who has ever read The Crucible would know this. It's pretty much the story of The Salem Witch Trials in play format.
ZAPanda 4 years ago
yes, isn't this well-known? if unfamiliar, go see a production of "The Crucible".
Yoga Kitty 4 years ago
Not everybody all around the globe needs deep knowledge of American history. We had our own witches to burn, you know?
Load More Replies... Karen tasker 2 years ago
Wow so many people commenting on here telling information to try and sound smart, but they are just giving an opinion and they just show how stupid and ignorant they are. SMH
Gabrielle Riley 4 years ago
Only one of the girls-- Ann Putnam jr. -- ever apologized for what came about from their accusations. Several men and women were murdered, many more imprisoned and sent to work in servitude, all because they didn't want to fess up and get in trouble for fooling around with things they shouldn't have been. The youngest person to be arrested was a little 4 yr. old girl whom said she was a witch, likely to stay with her mother that had just been accused of witchcraft. Super dark bit of history, but absolutely fascinating.
Tami 4 years ago
Perhaps you're referring to the ergot fungus, which most commonly attacks rye.
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Huddo's sister 4 years ago
I wish it wasn't TIL. Every time I read it as 'til or until!
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Huddo's sister 4 years ago
I wish it wasn't TIL. Every time I read it as 'til or until!
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