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35 New ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Learn Something New
With New Year’s resolutions up and rolling, many of us are bringing on gym memberships, improving language skills, taking up new hobbies, getting into self-care and mindfulness, spending more time with family members, and basically, trying hard to be a better version of ourselves.
Meanwhile, our mental muscle is often forgotten and just as we give our bodies nutrients, so do we need to feed our brains with good stuff. So please, dear readers, stop whatever you’re doing. This is an invitation to a workout for your brain cells.
Today, we have a heavyweight treat for them, a brand new collection of incredible Today I Learned facts that range from miscellaneous ones perfect for trivia and mind-bending ones that may totally change your perspective of things. Scroll down below, upvote your favorite facts and be sure to check out our previous posts with Today I Learned goodness here, here and here.
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TIL about Mary Ellen Pleasant, a black woman in the 1800s who amassed a fortune by eavesdropping on investors while working as a domestic
TIL a bridge in Ireland that was designed to swing open for ships couldn't be opened for four years because someone lost the remote control
TIL outraged Egyptians had once lynched a Roman for killing a cat.
TIL that Betty White holds the Guinness World Record for longest TV career by an entertainer, with credits spanning 80 years (1939 to 2019)
TIL: Carrie, Stephen King's first novel that launched his career, was rescued from the trash can after his wife Tabatha removed the crumpled up pages, read them and told her husband she wanted to know the rest of the story
TIL In 1993 a French man driving a Citroen car in a remote area of the Moroccan desert had a breakdown and became stranded. To survive he tore down the car, built a motorcycle from the parts, and rode it back to civilization. When he arrived he was ticketed for operating an illegal vehicle.
I would have immediately then been arrested for assault on an officer.
TIL Queen Elizabeth II has reigned longer than her father, uncle, grandfather and great-grandfather combined
TIL the British Hedgehog Preservation Society won a campaign in 2006 to force McDonalds to redesign their McFlurry cups due to hedgehogs repeatedly getting stuck in them and dying.
TIL that owls cannot move their eyes. This is because their eyes are not balls, but cylinders that are held in place by bones called sclerotic rings. This is also the reason that owls have evolved to be able to rotate their head 270 degrees left and right, and 90 degrees up and down.
TIL that in 1945, General George S Patton, upon the liberation of the Buchenwald Concentration Camp in Germany, forced 1,000 local citizens to tour the camp to witness firsthand the atrocities that had taken place within.
After Patton toured the camp, he ordered the mayor of Weimar to bring 1,000 citizens to Buchenwald; these were to be predominantly men of military age from the middle and upper classes. The Germans had to walk 25 kilometres (16 mi) roundtrip under armed American guard and were shown the crematorium and other evidence of Nazi atrocities. The Americans wanted to ensure that the German people would take responsibility for Nazi crimes, instead of dismissing them as atrocity propaganda. Gen. Dwight Eisenhower also invited two groups of Americans to tour the camp in mid-April 1945; journalists and editors from some of the principal U.S. publications, and then a dozen members of the Congress from both the House and the Senate, led by Senate Majority Leader Alben W. Barkley. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Buchenwald_concentration_camp
TIL that in Churchill, Canada, locals keep their car doors unlocked in order to provide other residents a quick escape, should they encounter a polar bear
Reminds me of the bear attack safety rhyme: If it's black, fight back. If it's brown, lie down. If it's white, say goodnight.
TIL in the mid 1890s, Mary Whiton Caulkins completed all requirements towards a PhD in Psychology, but Harvard University refused to award her that degree because she was a woman.
Absolutely. Sadly many have not learned anything and still hate women. I love when misoginistic people defend that some degrees are "naturally feminine", like medicine, philosophy and psychology when a few decades ago women wherent even acepted in those fields. Gender roles are artificial and harmful.
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Writer and scholar Dorothy L. Sayers completed an Oxford degree in languages and literature and was awarded a "first" in 1915, but like all her female classmates she was not awarded a degree, because Oxford did not give degrees to women at that time. Sayers was retroactively given a degree when the university changed its policy in 1920... not that long ago.
Oh, Harvard you say, that institution focused on excellence? 50years after the above, they were struggling to get the proportion of Jewish students down, because you know they are too serious and study too hard; they don't do extracurriculars like sports and make the WASPs look bad. So Harvard wanted to cap Jews at 15%, and argued it was a favour to them --- because if the proportion stayed around 30% or grew further then everybody else would get very very antisemitic, while at 15% they would ignore them (eh? Nazi germany had a tiny percentage jews yet that didn't work out, did it?). E.g. https://www.businessinsider.com/the-ivy-leagues-history-of-discriminating-against-jews-2014-12 (Yes, rest of Ivy League was the same).
When people romanticize the past, they should always be aware that such things were normal back then...
Google Frances Glessner Lee. She was a brilliant woman who was unable to get a degree but accomplished much. Her brother received a degree from Harvard but she could not attend because she was a woman.
Yes, she was a forensic scientist, who recreated crime scenes at doll-level for students to study cases. Her dollhouses are still used today.
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If they do, they'd damn well better award degrees to all the other women who did the work and paid their fees, and who were denied degrees.
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And people will still send their kids here and put those kids through hell in high school so they can have an opportunity to spend $200k plus job just so they can get easier access to early management jobs to repeat the cycle. Colleges need to be regulated again.
They should award it posthumously, but that would probably piss off the heirs of the woman who was awarded the "first" PhD in the 1920's
There are still young people with that mentality. Watch OAN or Newsmax and their podcasts. Now and then some incel with similar ideas will be a guest and it's a lot of fun. Especially when the host is a woman and they agree about putting everyone else into concentration camps, but then get to women and the host balks at the nuttiness. Barrels of laugh. For now.
In fairness to the Harvard faculty, the faculty unanimously endorsed Caulkins.
1905 APA President Mary Whiton Calkins Mary Whiton Calkins was the 14th President of APA and the first woman to serve in that office. Although she earned her PhD at Harvard under William James, Calkins was refused the degree by the Harvard Corporation (who continues to refuse to grant the degree posthumously) on the grounds that Harvard did not accept women. This, despite the praise of all who worked with her, including the German-American psychologist Hugo Münsterberg who wrote that she was the strongest student in his laboratory since he had arrived at Harvard. Now, Calkins is considered as one the most important first-generation American psychologists. She established one of the first psychological laboratories in the country at Wellesley College, she published four books and over a hundred papers in psychology and philosophy, and she was ranked 12th in a list of the 50 most eminent psychologists in the United States in 1903. Although her dissertation was an experimental study of the association of ideas in which she initiated the paired-associates technique of studying memory, Calkins spent a large part of her career developing a system of scientific self psychology to which she was ardently committed. Calkins based her system on the conviction that the foundational unit of study for psychology should be the conscious self. She defined personalistic introspective psychology as the study of conscious, functioning, experiencing selves that exist in relationship to others. In her autobiography, published in 1930, the year of her death, she attributed her conception of the self as social to the influence of Royce and James. She also wrote, “For with each year I live, with each book I read, with each observation I initiate or confirm, I am more deeply convinced that psychology should be conceived as the science of the self, or person, as related to its environment, physical and social” (Calkins, 1930, pp. 42-43). Calkins was part of the controversy that arose over John Watson’s now famous Psychological Bulletin article published in 1913, “Psychology as the Behaviorist Views It.” In the article he argued that introspection forms no part of scientific psychology. Calkins was opposed to the wholesale elimination of introspection as a psychological method, and remained certain that some psychological processes could be studied only by introspection. She pointed out that introspection is itself a method for studying behavior, especially complex behavior such as that of imagining, judging, and reasoning. However, she was sympathetic to Watson's observation that psychology had become too far removed from the problems of everyday life. All in all, Mary Whiton Calkins was a remarkable scientist, scholar, APA President, and human being.
Does it bother anyone else that they have to put TIL at the beginning of every post? It bug the shite out of me!
Wrong, wrong, wrong!! Unbelievable! Thank God for how far we have advanced!
They still didn't understand that women are human beings too
Many colleges and universities at that time were single sex institutions. Instead of Harvard, elite women went to Radcliffe, which was its women's only counterpart.
But I believe they offered her a job it the kitchen, so it all worked out
TIL that according to the U.S. Department of Education, 54% of U.S. adults lack proficiency in literacy, reading below the equivalent of a sixth-grade level.
TIL: The inventor of shopping carts, Sylvan Goldman, had to hire "decoy shoppers" to wheel the carts around stores and demonstrate their convenience, due to not catching on initially.
TIL that octopuses have copper-based blood rather than iron-based blood…which makes their blood blue in color. (Incidentally, they also have three hearts to pump that blood.)
TIL dolphins sleep with one eye open. Because they have to periodically go up for air and also be aware of predators, they are able to rest only half of their brain at a time and stay always somewhat conscious.
TIL About the "murder bottle". Many Victorian mothers would use a self feeding bottle to give their babies milk instead of breastfeeding. These bottles were made of earthenware & glass & were incredibly hard to clean which caused severe bacteria build up & caused the deaths of thousands of babies.
TIL of the Lodz Ghetto, where at one point 20000 'useless eaters', mainly children under 10, were rounded up and taken away from their families to be exterminated. Many parents committed suicide.
This is so sad an depressing. The ghetto in Lodz, Poland’s second largest city and major industrial center, was established on April 30, 1940. It was the second largest ghetto in the German-occupied areas and the one that was most severely insulated from its surroundings and from other ghettos. Some 164,000 Jews were interned there, to whom were added tens of thousands of Jews from the district, other Jews from the Reich, and also Sinti and Roma. The ghetto, although intended to be a temporary transit facility, lasted for more than four years after the interests of local Nazis led to a decision to exploit the Jewish labor force. In the spring of 1940, the Lodz ghetto was sealed from the rest of the world by a wooden fence surrounded by additional barbed-wire fences. The Jews were packed into the ghetto with no electricity or water. Disease and starvation rapidly diminished their numbers. https://www.yadvashem.org/holocaust/about/ghettos/lodz.html
TIL of Titanic survivor Frankie Goldsmith. His father died during the sinking, and when he and his mother arrived in America they settled in Detroit near Navin Field (Tiger Stadium). He never attended a game due to the cheers of the crowd reminding him of the cries of the dying people in the water.
TIL about Ismail al-jazari wrote the “Book of Knowledge of Ingenious Mechanical Devices” where he described 50 mechanical devices along with instructions on creating them. He has been described as the father of robotics and modern day engineering.
TIL about Project 100k, where LBJ and Sec of Def Robert MacNamara decided to lower the mental and medical standards to recruit more soldiers to fight in Vietnam. These soldiers died at ~3x the normal rate.
TIL that in 1670, against a judge's instructions, a jury refused to find two men guilty. The judge held the jury in contempt; locked them up overnight without food, water or heat; and fined them. On appeal, the Chief Justice ruled that a jury could not be punished for returning the wrong verdict.
TIL In 1941, almost 10% of all recruits for the US military were rejected because they did not have 6 opposing teeth on their upper and lower jaws. US dental health was so poor before WWII that it was the leading cause of rejection.
Apparently you have to be in perfect health. No genetic conditions, chronic conditions, disorders, missing any body parts. Nada.
TIL Leonardo Da Vinci saved 13,000+ pages of notes and drawings on anatomy, physiology, engineering, mechanics, geometry, mathematics, bird flight, flying machines, botany, proportions, topology, weaponry, musical instruments, art, and more, all in mirrored shorthand written from right to left.
My auntie was a total genius (too bad I did not inherit any of those genes. The closest I can come is being a wise ass). She could write backwards snd forwards at the same time on two different pieces of paper. She would send my sister and I letters written entirely backwards and alternating words between each paper. Sooooo creative, caring and beautiful. She taught me how to shop to save money, spent countless hours volunteering for the disabled and less fortunate. RIP Aunty Ev.
TIL that in Norse mythology, Loki got pregnant by a horse, he would then later give birth to the eight-legged horse Sleipner which would become Odin's horse
Loki was a shapeshifter who also changed genders when it suited him.
TIL Keanu Reeves was offered the lead role in The Matrix after 5 leading actors in 1990s turned it down.
TIL the Great cheese riot of 1766 was a reaction to inflated cheese prices. The mayor tried to restore order but was knocked down by a cheese. The military were called & shots were fired, killing one man. He'd been guarding his cheeses
HEY, hands off my cheese. The Nottingham cheese riot (also known as The Great Cheese Riot)[1] started on 2 October 1766 at the city's Goose Fair. The riot came at a time of food shortages and rising prices in England. Violence broke out when local citizens intervened to prevent Lincolnshire merchants taking away Nottinghamshire cheeses they had bought at the fair. A warehouse, shops and a cargo boat were looted; and hundreds of cheese wheels were rolled through the streets. The army was deployed when the mayor was unable to restore control. One man was killed and others wounded as soldiers opened fire on the crowds. Order was eventually restored after some days of unrest.
TIL in order to rescue the kids out of the flooded Thailand cave in 2018, rescuers drugged the kids unconscious then cave dove the the unconscious kids over 1km underwater
TIL English words of Hindi or Urdu origin include bandana, bangle, bungalow, cheetah, cushy, dinghy, juggernaut, jungle, khaki, loot, punch (the drink), pundit, pyjamas, shampoo, thug, and typhoon
Wow I thought we took all those words from English! I did recently learn however that khaki comes from the Urdu word khaak, meaning dust or earth. But what's up with cheetah, we don't even have them here. We call leopards cheetah lol.
TIL Uday Hussein, son of Saddam Hussein, was named Chairmain of the Iraqi Olympic Committee in 1984. Athletes who disappointed him were subject to torture and imprisonment
TIL the movie Gremlins was so intense that it was responsible for the movie rating of PG-13.
I remember seeing this for the first time in a non-chain movie theater in Minneapolis, Minnesota. People were super reactive during the move, it was great. Sounds of cringing, yelps, oh-my-goshes, etc. At one point, the Mom is in the kitchen and hears scary noises upstairs. We all know what that means. The scary thing comes down and attacks the Mom while she cowers in fright. So, we were all so surprised when she looked up at the ceiling, then at the knife block, then PICKED UP THE KNIFE. And headed UPSTAIRS. The entire theater erupted with encouraging sounds and "Yes!" and the like. It was so awesome. First time I ever saw a woman plan to fight back in a movie in my life. I will never forget it. Best in-theater movie experience of my life.
TIL The mongols had a superstition that said that spilling royal blood would lead to great disaster. So instead they had other creative ways of executing such people. Including sewing up your orifices, drown you in molten metal or have horses trample you.
TIL that a modern highway now runs through the site of the Battle of Thermopylae, where 300 Spartans held back a massive Persian army for three days. A statue of the Spartan leader, Leonidas, stands just a few feet from the road.
Also, the coastline - which played such a major part in the battle (helping to create the chokepoint that allowed the Greek force - which was 7000 from multiple Poleis, not just 300 from Sparta - to hold off the much larger Persian force) has also moved over the past 2500 years. It's now almost 6 miles from it's ancient location.
TIL of Adolf Hitler’s Madagascar Plan. The plan was to relocate all the Jews to Madagascar. This idea later was shelved in favor for the mass genocide of the population.
TIL that a middle school football coach in Oregon was fired for trying to take his team to Hooters to celebrate the end of the season.
Note: this post originally had 57 images. It’s been shortened to the top 35 images based on user votes.
Agreed, there are way too many stories about people being insufferable idiots. We come here to relax, not to decide who is to blame in a bad story.
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For at least 2000 years, Polynesian sea-based people of the modern Marshall Islands navigated the vast expanse of sea using rebbelib, or stick charts. Tiny seashells represented the island locations, but most unique about these maps was that the ocean swells or currents provided the main navigation, as were drawn by the sticks of the framework. The maps were memorized before the journey, and the people in the canoes would have to listen closely to the water against the boat in order to "feel" the swell and determine where they were. gallery-14...-chart.jpg 
Does that also include making more than $12,000 a month online? LOL
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The first escalator was introduced as a novelty ride at Coney Island in 1896. In 1898 one was installed in Harrod's department store. Smelling salts and cognac were offered at the top for those traumatized by the ride. In 1911 an escalator was installed in the London Underground subway. A one-legged man named Bumper Harris was employed to ride the escalator to show everyone it was safe to ride.
Who say you can't be home schooled by computer - I learn so much and probably ask a bunch of stupid questions! But I usually can find the answers in my computer. I think if I was educated by computer I would not be as dumb as I am!
Wish some of these facts would come with a warning. I have new nightmares
Agreed, there are way too many stories about people being insufferable idiots. We come here to relax, not to decide who is to blame in a bad story.
Load More Replies... For at least 2000 years, Polynesian sea-based people of the modern Marshall Islands navigated the vast expanse of sea using rebbelib, or stick charts. Tiny seashells represented the island locations, but most unique about these maps was that the ocean swells or currents provided the main navigation, as were drawn by the sticks of the framework. The maps were memorized before the journey, and the people in the canoes would have to listen closely to the water against the boat in order to "feel" the swell and determine where they were. gallery-14...-chart.jpg
Does that also include making more than $12,000 a month online? LOL
Load More Replies... The first escalator was introduced as a novelty ride at Coney Island in 1896. In 1898 one was installed in Harrod's department store. Smelling salts and cognac were offered at the top for those traumatized by the ride. In 1911 an escalator was installed in the London Underground subway. A one-legged man named Bumper Harris was employed to ride the escalator to show everyone it was safe to ride.
Who say you can't be home schooled by computer - I learn so much and probably ask a bunch of stupid questions! But I usually can find the answers in my computer. I think if I was educated by computer I would not be as dumb as I am!
Wish some of these facts would come with a warning. I have new nightmares
