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When I studied for school, I used to spend hours re-reading the given material. I thought that the more information I read, listen to or watch, the more things I'll learn. Interestingly, our brains actually learn better when the information is divided into short 3-7 minute chunks.
The same goes for short, bite-sized nuggets of info you can find on the TIL subreddit. Our planet is so big and complex; it's no wonder that we can never know everything about it and the people who inhabit it. But we might try to get as close as we can, so, here's a collection of the newest cool and weird facts from the internet's vault of knowledge.
More info: Reddit
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#1
TIL Danny Trejo has a clause in his movie contracts that requires his villainous characters to die by the end of the film. He wants children to learn that crime doesn't pay.
Ann Coffman 10 months ago
He spent years in prison. He knows what he is talking about.
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Kay Bates 10 months ago
He's a pretty amazing guy with a kind heart and good morales. He also rescued a gentleman from a burning car! A real man if you ask me
ILoveMySon 10 months ago
I have only heard and read wonderful things about him.
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Jessi Lovely 10 months ago
I love him, but sometimes it does. Sometimes bad people win. Actually, a lot of them do.
Kit Black 10 months ago
It might not apply to his earlier films when he didn't have the audience poll that he has today.
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RELATED:
#2
TIL about skeuomorphism, when modern objects, real or digital, retain features of previous designs even when they aren't functional. Examples include the very tiny handle on maple syrup bottles, faux buckles on shoes, the floppy disk 'save' icon, or the sound of a shutter on a cell phone camera.
Warren Peece 10 months ago (edited)
This comment is hidden. Click here to view.
Load More Replies... Kira Okah 10 months ago
Some phones don't allow the shutter sound to turn off to help prevent sneaky photo stuff such as upskirting.
Fat Harry (Oi / You) 10 months ago
It's the law in Japan, I believe. They have a real problem with upskirting.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
Or when your phone plan comes with voicemail and you still haven't set it up five years later.
Warren Peece 10 months ago
Modern researchers believe that the appendix has many key functions in the human body and it protects the body’s internal environment from infection. https://www.news-medical.net/health/Why-do-Humans-have-an-Appendix.aspx
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DetriMentaL (It/That) 10 months ago
Ah yesss. Like the portion size "suggestion" per person on a bag of chips
Steve Robert 10 months ago
Does this apply to people who still have a brain, but it hasn't been functional for a long time?
Never Snarky 10 months ago
The sound of the shutter on a cell phone camera is for feedback. Much easier to know pic was taken.
#3
TIL George Washington decided to step down after two terms because he feared he might die in office and Americans would then view the presidency as a lifetime appointment
AnnaB 10 months ago (edited)
Unfortunately, I'm not too sure it's a 'wannabe' situation anymore.
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Tucker Cahooter 10 months ago
Let's hope no one gets the bright idea of offering that to Donny since he definitely won't refuse
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Matthew Savestheworld 10 months ago
He also specifically wanted to establish peaceful transitions of power.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
The 22nd amendment was passed and ratified after FDR was elected to FOUR terms and died in office. On the other hand FDR was the greatest president this country ever had.
James Twong 10 months ago
Oh dear looks like my comment above was deleted. All I did was refer to the current president as a tre*sonous r*pist. Which is factually correct.
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tameson 10 months ago
He was also the first general of a successful revolution who voluntarily stepped down from his leadership position in the government.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
When George III heard of Washington's plans, he said "If he does that, he will be the greatest man who ever lived."
Load More Replies... Steve Robert 10 months ago
And when he stepped down, he was considered the richest man in America.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
He counld not have freed mst of the slaves on Mount Vernon because he did not own them - they were being held in trust for his step-sons. But he did own some of his own. His will freed them as soon as both he and Martha were dead. In other words, for every last second he could possibly squeeze servitude out of them.
Load More Replies...Let's go through some of the most interesting TIL facts, shall we? And let's start with a fun fact about vehicle inspection in the U.S. Apparently, only 10 states have mandatory vehicle inspections. That's Alaska, Arkansas, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, and South Carolina.
As of 2025, Texas said "goodbye" to annual safety inspections as well. This applies to non-commercial drivers only, and the logic is that it's the owner's responsibility to ensure that the car is safe to drive. However, in some counties, folks will still have to pass emissions inspections if they have a gasoline-powered vehicle.
#4
TIL Charles Darwin created the office chair, he put wheels on the bottom of his chair so he could roll between specimens.
Steve Robert 10 months ago
Yeah, I went to sit down on a chair just like that, it had moved a fraction backwards, I sat down missing the seat by a fraction, and landed on the medal wheel cover. And a trip to the ER.
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Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
Little did Darwin know that these " Specimens" would be a bunch of horny people messing up their chairs.
nottheactualphoto 10 months ago
Those are some funny-lookin' wheels. AI, or maybe a very strange camera lens?
#5
TIL: The "Simple Sabotage Field Manual" was declassified in 2008 and it contains advice on how spies can sabotage the enemy by just being maliciously incompetent. Advice include praising inefficient coworkers, cry and sob frequently at work, asking inane questions in meetings, and spreading gossip.
PunnyPanda 10 months ago
So hear me out- apply that to a whole online social network (or several), and you basically get Russia (& maybe China's) digital strategy against the US for the last 10 years... thoughts?
Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
Bingo. Welcome to the world of cynicism. It'll come in handy.
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Mike F 10 months ago
You could take that up a few steps, like stop COVID testing so the numbers won't go up. Right?
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afia kooma 10 months ago
Oh, the "ask a manager" collum would testify to the fact than america is now completly innuated with spies 😅
Phoenix 10 months ago
Great job on your spelling and correct word usage! 👏 I am now officially a spy, using the Simple Sabotage Field Manual. If you need me I'll be at my desk crying loudly. How much does a cloud weigh? You know, I heard that Sally likes Jim.
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Sandy Kavanaugh 10 months ago
But, this comes so natural to so many people. To them, it's real.
Cuppa tea? 10 months ago
Someone made it into PowerPoint presentation and giving as course for managers.
Uncommon Sense 10 months ago
I presented this to a government conference two weeks ago to shame them into action!
#6
TIL in 2010 a doctor and his son just happened to be walking by an apartment building in Paris when a 15-month-old boy fell 80ft (24m) from a seventh floor balcony before bouncing off a cafe awning into the doctor's arms. His catch helped the boy escape "miraculously without a single scratch."
Tucker Cahooter 10 months ago
Now the memory of the "Bouncing Babies" DOS game has resurfaced in my mind
KatSaidWhat 10 months ago
This is and has been verified, unlike your intelligence.
Load More Replies...Another interesting fact about the family who couldn't sleep comes from Redditor u/Potatoe_expert. Science writer and author of the book about said family The Family That Couldn't Sleep: A Medical Mystery D.T. Max told NPR they suffered from fatal familial insomnia. Currently, there are about 200 families in the world that have this disease, he says.
Other sources guess that around 50-70 families in the world carry the gene for fatal familial insomnia. This genetic condition is, unfortunately, incurable, and treatment can only slow down its progression. What makes it fatal is the damage to the brain and the nervous system from lack of sleep. Their brains can't recharge and, therefore, can't function normally.
#7
TIL that Weird Al's Phantom Menace parody 'The Saga Begins' was recorded a month before the film released in May 1999. Yankovic was denied an early screening by Lucasfilm, but managed to almost exactly piece together the plot by researching rumours posted on Star Wars fan forums.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
They should have shown Weird Al the script. He could have given it some help.
B Jones 10 months ago
They should have put the parody in the credits, imagine how great that would have been, you watch the movie then bam... weird al singing it all....
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Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
Weird Al is a Scorpio. They'll dig deep and f**k with you when they figure it all out.
#8
TIL that Great White Sharks across the Pacific Ocean consistently congregate at one specific spot in the Pacific Ocean. Scientists call this the White Shark Cafe.
Tucker Cahooter 10 months ago
I hope that spot is nowhere near the New South Wales south coast thank you very much
Ruth 10 months ago
You are safe Tucker! It’s between Hawaii and Baja, California.
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#9
TIL that Elton John never performed the Princess Diana version of Candle in the Wind again after her funeral in 1997, despite receiving numerous requests.
DrBronxx 10 months ago
Yeah, he released it as a double single with something else, possibly for charity, and on chart shows, they'd always play the other song.
GrowingThruConcrete 10 months ago
I remember a lady my dad worked with getting up early and waiting in line outside the recordtown to buy the special edition one
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Debby Keir 10 months ago
If you were adult when she died, you too would have known - it was quite a 'big thing' in the UK and he donated proceeds to the 'Princess Diana memorial fund'.
DrBronxx 10 months ago
He's talked about how nervous he was, and was incredibly worried that he'd say the original "Goodbye Norma Jean" instead of "Goodbye England's Rose."
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Laura Osborne 10 months ago
I recently read an article and he said that he won't sing Goodbye England's rose unless Prince William or harry ask him to.
Ty Stratton-Quirk 10 months ago
He said he would only perform it again if her sons asked him to; they haven't.
You'd probably think that two siblings would get the same ancestry results, but Mother Nature has some tricks up her sleeve. We inherit half of our DNA from our father and the other half from our mother. Unless we're identical twins, we won't have identical DNA. In fact, siblings can share as little as 37% or as much as 65% of their genetic variants.
#10
TIL Siblings can get completely different results (e.g., one 30% Irish and another 50% Irish) from DNA ancestry tests, even though they share the same parents, due to genetic recombination.
afia kooma 10 months ago
This is also why i bought a DNA kit for my brother as well, when I got my own. They track different "things" in male and female, so this is the only way of getting both sides of the story. To bad we both have the Procrastination gene 😂
Bored Birgit 10 months ago
There is a procrastination gene?! So it's NOT all my fault? Hooray!
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Brian Droste 10 months ago
I know a family that are dark haired except for the youngest daughter. She blond.
#11
TIL huge rogue waves were dismissed as a scientifically implausible sailors' myth by scientists until one 84ft wave hit an oil platform. The phenomenon has since been proven mathematically and simulated in a lab, also proving the existence of rogue holes in the ocean.
Major Harris 10 months ago
the queen mary, with 10,000 troops on the way to england during WW2 was hit by a large rogue wave. because the ship was already way over limit in weight, her role from the wave almost became the worst maritime disaster in history. 11 dec 1942, 700 miles from scotland.
Sand Ers 10 months ago
The explanation for the Bermuda Triangle is gullibility.
Load More Replies... Robert T 10 months ago
Another mildly interesting piece of information: Rogue Wave as a software company in the late 1990's that created a very useful set of C++ libraries. The documentation for said libraries was all given in comments in the header files. With the appropriate tool, you could produce the paper manual from the comments. I co-wrote just such a tool which was programmable and could do just that. :D
#12
TIL life didn't give us lemons, they are not naturally occurring. They are a hybrid fruit from selective breeding of the citron and the bitter orange
Geoffrey Scott 10 months ago
Or...if life gives you lemons, find someone whose life gave them vodka and have a spiked lemonade.
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Chihuahua Mama 10 months ago
When life gives you the ability to selectively breed lemons.... Just doesn't have the same ring to it
keyboardtek 10 months ago
So the lemon is essentially a GMO! Don't tell that to the anti GMO people!
patricia patricia 10 months ago
It's not a GMO! Farmers have been selecting and hybridising crops for centuries. It's not a laboratory project where they put cockroach genes in your tomatoes to make them more resistant to mildew, or to create phosphorescent mice.
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Nona Jaynes 10 months ago
When life gives you lemons.... squirt the juice in your enemies' eyes 😁
joann fielding 10 months ago
Well, life better hand you some sugar and water, too, or it's gonna be pretty crappy lemonade.
KrazyChiMama 10 months ago
If life gives you lemons and you don’t like them give them to me I slice them and put them in my ice water! Yum! Limes too! :)
BoredLittleLeafSheep 10 months ago
Or I'll take them and make lemon curd!
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LittleTeapot 10 months ago
Human life and biological evolution is all life…so if life gives lemons. This is dumb.
When in 2019, the creators of South Park aired an episode titled "Band In China," the whole show was banned in the country. The episode criticized the way US media accommodates Chinese censorship laws, with one character saying: "It's not worth living in a world where China controls my country's art." The apology from the creators only angered the country further, as they likened Xi Jinping to Winnie The Pooh and wrote: "We too love money more than freedom and democracy."
#13
TIL South Park aired an episode titled “Band in China”… which resulted in them being banned in China.
Broccoli 10 months ago
China bans everything f*****g thing (I’m Chinese) and you have no rights
keyboardtek 10 months ago
Starting to happen here too. Authoritarian regimes start with banning books, then start to control sexual activities. Then jump to journalists who criticize the government. Journalists who lie in favor of the leader get to remain.
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Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago (edited)
Did it feature Winnie the Pooh? Xi Jinping is a bit sensitive about that.
Chihuahua Mama 10 months ago
Honestly more surprised the show wasnt banned in China before then....
M O'Connell 10 months ago
I used June 4th 1989 as my fake birthday when I have to sign up for something that doesn't matter. Mostly in the hopes that Chinese data miners will have to see that date.
Load More Replies... Christian Golden 10 months ago
Remember last week, when Bored Panda posted that article by the shill who claimed China was getting a bad rap? **** that guy.
Mike F 10 months ago
Well, then there were the BP lemmings who followed the guy over the cliff.
Load More Replies... #14
TIL the term 'jaywalking' was promoted and popularized by the automobile industry to blame pedestrians for traffic issues.
David 10 months ago
a show where many experts in specific topics pointed out as much as 1/3 of his information was incorrect, myths, opinions, and down right false. BTW 1/4 of those when it was just a webseries before a full show had the same issues. He defended himself in a TV interview as his show was "mostly entertainment". So yeah, you saw something on there, treat it skeptically
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David 10 months ago
This is false. The term pre-dates the Automobile. A Jay was a slang term for someone inexperienced or an idiot. The term originated as people who stumbled in the street without looking where they were going and got runover by horses and carts. However when the Automobile came around and modern crosswalks became common, the term started to be used to refer to people who did not cross at the cross walk, and cut through traffic in an unsafe manner. There is zero proof or documentation the auto industry had anything to do with the use of this term in any way, but rather it came from the police community who dealt with accidents caused by people crossing carelessly. The auto industry claim was first postuled in the 90s, and has no evidence to back it up
Richard Graham 10 months ago
"Jay" is an old-fashioned word for an unsophisticated rube or country-bumpkin. Therefore "Jaywalking" means walking through a city like you are from a rural area and don't know how to walk through a city.
El Dee 10 months ago
AFAIK the term only exists in the US. Not anywhere I've been or lived. Most places you can cross anywhere (with a few exceptions)
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 10 months ago
If you step out in front of a car with no warning, you get what you deserve. If you are in a low traffic area, like a neighborhood, cross wherever as long as you look both ways. In busy areas, cross at the proper places at the proper times. I have to drive thru downtown in my mid-sized city and regularly have to avoid people who just start across right in front of me. I can tell they see me coming, and they just go anyway. I hate jaywalkers.
walkabout 10 months ago
In 2021 almost 7,400 pedestrians were killed by motorists. In 2022; over 7,500 killed. All jaywalkers? Most? Many? What do you think? Do you think?
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marcelo D. 10 months ago
This is true to even the name. Jay walking is literally "walking like and r-word" From around the last quarter of the nineteenth century, jay had been a slang term in North America for a stupid, gullible, ignorant, or provincial person, a rustic, bumpkin or simpleton.
Friskey Horton 10 months ago
We were hit walking across a pedestrian crossing, and were blsmed for jaywalking.
Roland Nijveld 10 months ago
Also just an American thing. Rest of the world doesn't know such a thing.
#15
TIL Tasmanian Devil's give birth to between 30 and 40 offsprings but the mother only has four teats. The first four to attach to teats survive, the others perish.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 10 months ago
The joeys are the size of a grain of rice when they are born. Mum eats those who don't make it to a teat.
Bookworm 10 months ago (edited)
Emotionally sad but evolutionarily sensible. As a marsupial, producing fetuses to birth is relatively low cost, but raising them isn't.
Phoenix 10 months ago
I think the same could be said for humans. Kids are expensive.
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Foxglove🇮🇪 10 months ago
Not quite: (from Wikipedia: Females average four breeding seasons in their life, and give birth to 20 to 30 live young after three weeks' gestation. The newborn are pink, lack fur, have indistinct facial features, and weigh around 0.20 g (0.0071 oz) at birth. As there are only four nipples in the pouch, competition is fierce, and few newborns survive. The young grow rapidly, and are ejected from the pouch after around 100 days, weighing roughly 200 g (7.1 oz). The young become independent after around nine months.
This fun fact should be really interesting for Trekkies. The creator of Star Trek: The Next Generation Gene Roddenberry didn't want to cast Patrick Stewart as the iconic Jean-Luc Picard. He wanted Picard to be "a handsome adventurer," similar to William Shatner's Captain Kirk, eyeing the actor Patrick Bachau for the role. Today, we probably couldn't imagine anyone else as Picard, so, kudos to Sir Patrick Stewart!
#16
TIL In 1941, prior to widespread fluoridation of drinking water, almost 10% of US military recruits were rejected because they didn’t have 6 opposing teeth in their upper and lower jaws
Hidalgo 10 months ago
30% of draftees and enlistees were also rejected because they were under minimum weights, I.e. malnourished
Jane Hower 9 months ago
Sadly, the opposite now - too heavy and out of shape.
Load More Replies... Foxglove🇮🇪 10 months ago
Several years ago they stopped fluoridating the water in Scotland - tooth decay and other dental problems have since become a huge problem.
KrazyChiMama 10 months ago
There’s also the assumption that everyone can afford toothpaste and mouthwash let alone dental care. Putting fluoride in the tap water helps those who cannot afford such things.
Warren Peece 10 months ago (edited)
In the United States, the federal government classifies fluoride as a "drüg". It is illegal to administer a drüg to people without their consent.
CatD 10 months ago
Fluoride occurs naturally in groundwater in many places. That's how they found out it helps make teeth stronger in the first place.
Load More Replies... Bookworm 10 months ago
It's perfectly safe to drink fluoridated tap water
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#17
TIL in 2013 a woman went to pick up a friend in Brussels (less than 90 miles from her home), however because of a GPS error, she ended up in Croatia after driving 900 miles across five international borders. She realized she took a wrong turn two days after leaving. Her son had reported her missing.
Verena 10 months ago (edited)
She wanted to visit a friend in Brussels. It wasn't a "GPS error", she did not understand how it worked. Her explanation was that it showed deviation routes due to roadworks and she was deep in thought. She topped up gas twice, and never thought it was strange. Plus she ignored the 5 international borders she crossed (even though there is no passport check anymore, there are big signs) and traffic signs in five different languages, four of them unknown to her. She only realized she wasn't in Belgium anymore when she arrived in Zagreb. Belgium is about the size of Maryland (for US readers). So the whole story is highly unbelievable.
Sue User 10 months ago
Yeah. So you know its in your country. You know your country is not that big. It would be hard to drive 900 mikes without sleeping. So you have driven do much you had to sleep and you dont think domething is wrong. BS.
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Joe Reaves 10 months ago
If it takes you two days to realise something has gone wrong with you 90 mile journey you shouldn't be allowed to drive.
John Dilligaf 10 months ago
If it takes you two days to realize that you shouldn't be allowed outside without a guardian, much less be allowed to drive.
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Natalie Bohrteller 10 months ago (edited)
I've heard a similar story years ago about a woman from England ending up in Spain. I call BS, it's an urban myth.
Winnie the Moo 10 months ago
Crossing 5 borders? Driving for TWO DAYS and just thén realizing something is wrong?
Chuck 10 months ago
Once, on I-80, the minivan in front of me started playing Finding Nemo in the backseat. Two hours later I was 90 minutes past where I was going.
Julia Mckinney 10 months ago
Boy do I understand that comment. Back when "Finding Nemo" had just come out on DVD or something, the pediatric hospital where our 8 yr. old had her open-heart surgery at & was recovering from had been playing that non-stop on one of their 3 kids channels. Every time my husband started watching it, it was around 15 minutes in. He complained as we were leaving the hospital that now he was never going to find out how Nemo got lost. We had to go rent it so he could finally see those first fifteen minutes. I remember that one of the other movies was a Harry Potter and can't remember what the third one was.
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Roland Nijveld 10 months ago
Something is weird with Belgians and driving. Last Christmas, a Belgian couple went an trip to visit a friend, 70km away. They ended up doing a 600km trip through Belgium and ended up in France.
#18
TIL that after George Harrison's death from lung cancer, his widow sued a doctor at the hospital where he received radiation therapy for allegedly forcing Harrison to listen to his son play guitar and autograph the guitar while lacking his mental faculties.
T 10 months ago
The lawsuit was settled out of court with the condition that the guitar be destroyed.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
A guitar autographed by George Harrison should have been auctioned off with the proceeds going to cancer research.
Load More Replies... Stephanie L Thesing 10 months ago
Pretty unprofessional to be honest, but I don’t believe it to be worthy of lawsuit..
Heir of Durin 10 months ago
I could see this is a valid emotional response after losing your spouse to cancer. Personally I would feel taken advantage of and mistreated.
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Leigh 10 months ago
The wat it was written I got confused. I thought it said George was forced to listen to his own son.
unfilteredCigarette73 10 months ago
Ha! me too I think I read it ten times before it clicked for me
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Christian Golden 10 months ago
Rich people have rights, too. Seems like the doctor was well out of order.
As a person who knows next to nothing about baseball, I was quite impressed to learn that the ball is thrown at such a speed that the eye can't track it. The fastest MLB pitcher in history is Aroldis Chapman. His pitch was recorded at 105.8 mph (that's 170 km/h!) in 2010. Ben Joyce was the fastest pitcher in 2024 when he threw a 105.5 mph strikeout and currently enjoys third place after Chapman.
#19
TIL - the family that couldn't sleep, a family in Venice, Italy where for over 200 years many of the family members died suffering from fatal insomnia.
Bookworm 10 months ago
Fatal familial insomnia is one of those things I try not to think about
angelmomoffour62 10 months ago
Barbara that made me laugh, I needed that thanks..
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Glen Ellyn 10 months ago
Season 4, episode 4, of British TV series "Lewis" has this as part of the plot in "Falling Darkness." It's called Familial Fatal Insomnia, or FFI. It's a rare genetic mutation that affects the brain and central nervous system. It causes sleeping difficulties (insomnia), memory loss (dementia) and involuntary muscle twitching. This condition gets worse over time and it’s life-threatening. There’s no cure but treatment temporarily slows the progression of symptoms.
KrazyChiMama 10 months ago
As someone who suffers from just occasional insomnia I cannot even imagine…shudders
Marie Clear 10 months ago
Wow, that's a genetic flaw you'd hope would expire out of a family line. But I guess we know what all those insomniacs were doing in the dead of night when they couldn't sleep!
Uncommon Sense 10 months ago
There's a documentary on an Australian family with the same condition...
#20
TIL Mihailo Tolotos was a Greek Orthodox monk that died without ever seeing a woman. He lived all his 82 years of life in Mount Athos monastery
afia kooma 10 months ago
Mother died in childbirth and he was "given" to the monastery
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Christian Golden 10 months ago
Women are barred from the Mount Athos peninsula by Greek law.. Yeah...the Greeks who invented democracy.
Roxy222uk 10 months ago
One of the most misogynistic societies to have ever existed (Ancient Greece). Weird how rarely that is mentioned.
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#21
TIL the United States Army is the largest single employer of musicians in the country
Johnnynatfan 10 months ago
Yes they show the Marine Corps band. Its not that hard to get the photo correct BP.
Nea 10 months ago
As a non-American, I want to be happy at this but sorry. No kind acts can make me warm up to your army. No need to downvote and/or educate me on the contexts of defense in today’s world.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
Have an upvote. Cheers mate. Down with American Imperialism. I say that as a lifelong US citizen.
Load More Replies... Strings 10 months ago
Couldn't they have found a pic of an Atmy musician, then? Most Marines I know will throw hands at being called "Army"
Bi.Felicia 10 months ago
As a Marine Corps Veteran, I can attest to this. Also you should never call a Marine, a Soldier.
Load More Replies... Tucker Cahooter 10 months ago
They probably have a crack viola squad too for when the enemy is really dug in and you want them to surrender en masse
If you need more motivation to get off the couch and start strength training, here's your chance. Not only can you grow bigger muscles, but you can bolster your nervous system as well. A stronger nervous system enhances our coordination and balance, increases our muscle strength, and improves our memory, attention, and executive function. Time to hit the weights, huh?
#22
TIL there were just 5 surviving longbows from medieval England known to exist before 137 whole longbows (and 3,500 arrows) were recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose in 1980 (a ship of Henry VIII's navy that capsized in 1545). The bows were in excellent finished condition & have been preserved.
James Twong 10 months ago
Have always been fascinated by the Mary Rose. There's a lot, and I mean a LOT of stuff they've managed to preserve.
Roxy222uk 10 months ago
If you ever get the chance to visit the Mary Rose museum I really, really recommend you go out of your way to do so. It's in Portsmouth, Hampshire, UK, part of Portsmouth Historical Dockyards (the ticket for the whole of the dockyards is fantastic, you can't even see it all in one day). The way the Mary Rose museum is laid out is so clever, helping you imagine what went on at each level, and the design means you can actually smell the timber and pitch on the remains of the ship (genuinely, not faked). One million times more worthwhile than going "oh look, there's Buckingham Palace, tick".
Rich Black 10 months ago
That is not an English longbow pictured. It was made for a horse mounted archer. Possibly a mongolian?
Bob Gorski 10 months ago
Amazing that there were in 'good shape' after that length of time underwater.
#23
TIL in 2020 a woman took an online DNA test which showed a 22% match with a man who she'd eventually discover to be her still alive uncle, who was kidnapped in 1951 at the age of six & had been missing for 70 years. After he was abducted in Oakland, he was flown to the east coast & raised there.
Foxglove🇮🇪 10 months ago
I remember that story, the old man got back to his family a year or two ago.
#24
TIL Geysers are quite rare, requiring a combination of water, heat, and fortuitous plumbing. Yellowstone National Park is home to half of all the geysers found in the world.
Cosmos in your eyes 10 months ago
The geysers in Yellowstone are mindboggling! We visited for the first time last summer, I had no idea there were so many!
CatD 10 months ago
And settlers heading West would wash their clothes in the geysers.
Load More Replies... nottheactualphoto 10 months ago
Are you here for the remainder of the week?
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This Redditor who proclaimed that life didn't give us lemons was half right. Lemons are hybrids of sour oranges and citrons, but they aren't man-made. The hybridization happened thousands of years ago naturally, with bees carrying the pollen between sour oranges to citrons. Humans did, however, eventually start cultivating them and growing them in large amounts.
#25
TIL after Leona Helmsley did not pay her contractors that worked on her Connecticut home, she was investigated for tax evasion, and she received a 16 year sentence. During trial her housekeeper testified that Helmsley said "only the little people pay taxes." She ended up serving 19 months in prison.
Mr.Mister 10 months ago
If you're poor, then you're guilty. If you're rich, then you're not guilty.... a very fu(ked up justice system.....
keyboardtek 10 months ago
Trump has learned that crime pays. Because it takes years for the courts to prosecute him, and he just gets a verbal punishment, which his followers do not care about, and at his age now he could care less what crimes he commits.
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#26
TIL that “court jesters” were often used to give bad news to the monarch that no one else would dare deliver. When the French fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Sluys, Phillip VI’s jester told him that the English sailors “don’t even have the guts to jump into the water like our brave French”
Bookworm 10 months ago
Yep. The jester could in some ways be the most powerful person in a royal court
afia kooma 10 months ago
After" the hand that wipes the royal butt", Who had the most private time with the king
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zububonsai 10 months ago (edited)
Subtitle: "Fool I call out everyone / who only finds pleasure in (having) gold". You're welcome ("Dero Narren lache Ich allenn / Denen nur Ihren Golden thun gefallen." Very old German, today's would be (but stuck to the old-ish rhyme): "Diese als Narren verlache ich alle, / denen nur Ihr Gold tut gefallen"/ "Ich verspotte alle als Narren, die nur an Geld denken.") PS: please correct mistakes, it's been 25 years since I've studied ancient and medieval scripture/fonts...
Montanavanna 10 months ago
Didn't they also serve the purpose of criticizing leadership by masking them as jokes?
Mr.Mister 10 months ago
Yes. I heard that once in China, a monarch wanted to execute one of his ministers for a very stupid reason. The jester said that this was a good idea and blowed the case up. The monarch then saw how trivial this was and forgave that minister.
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Brian Droste 10 months ago
Didn't jesters start out as advisors to kings or head of a country? I thought I read that long time ago.
Edda Kamphues 10 months ago
I can normally read the script and make sense of the Middle High German, but I can't for the life of me work out the 4th last word.
#27
TIL that eminem is first rapper to reach 50 million pure album sales.Physical albums sold, excluding digital downloads and streaming.
angelmomoffour62 10 months ago
Ĥis Mom use to babysìt my brothers in law when they were littlè..
KrazyChiMama 10 months ago
I don’t particularly care for RAP myself but Eminem is a lyrical genius and even a Guinness world record holder. He deserves credit and respect for that. As far as your opinion on which genre is deserving of such an accolade well the popularity has spoken for itself.
Load More Replies...Perhaps you've heard of the White Shark Cafe, the spot in the Pacific Ocean where Great White Sharks like to come together annually. But do you know why they do that? In 2018, a team of researchers found out that the sharks flock there to feed on light-sensitive animals like phytoplankton, squid, and small fish. UNESCO's World Heritage Center also wants to make the White Shark Cafe a World Heritage site, but they still need authorities to demonstrate its biological importance.
#28
TIL Robert F. Kennedy's assassin is still alive and has been denied parole 17 times
Bookworm 10 months ago
I think they legally have to, but they don't ever have to give it to him.
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Christian Golden 10 months ago
At one hearing, he actually tried the argument: "If Bobby Kennedy were alive, he wouldn't want to see me locked up." Without a ****ing trace of self-awareness!
John Boy 10 months ago
Trump is going to release the names and departments of those who assassinated him & his brother.
nottheactualphoto 10 months ago
Put down the Facebook and step away from the Fox.
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#29
TIL 10 US states have absolutely no vehicle inspection whatsoever (i.e no safety, emissions, or VIN inspections)
Montanavanna 10 months ago
When I moved to Idaho from Montana my insurance went down almost $200 a month. Because of all the laws and inspections.
Debby Keir 10 months ago
Wow - how much IS insurance in the US? We (UK) have lots of car safety laws (and laws about modifications) and I pay about $400 a YEAR. (OK, I'm not a teenager and have been driving for years, but even so)
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Dan 10 months ago
It is! They got rid of it in the 90's because to too few cars were failing. Weather conditions and the use of salt on the roads cause cars to rust out before they get too old to fail emissions.
Load More Replies... Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 10 months ago
Here in Australia, NSW has compulsory annual vehicle checks otherwise you cannot register your vehicle for road use. But where I am now, Western Australia, it is not required.
Stygtand 10 months ago (edited)
In Denmark it starts when the car is 4 years old and then every 2 years
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Hey Kat 10 months ago
My state, Iowa, definitely does not! If you saw, heard or smelled some of the "cars" driving around it would be evident that we don't but should.
Vermonta 10 months ago
So John Candy could drive the car in Planes, Trains, and Automobiles?
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Tim Douglass 10 months ago
Portland, perhaps, but I've lived in Oregon for 25 years and have never had a vehicle inspection aside from the VIN check when transferring title.
Load More Replies... #30
TIL that in Major League Baseball the ball is pitched so fast that the eye cannot track it. However, the brain is able to calculate its trajectory via specialized cells, making it possible for the batter to hit it.
Smeghead Tribble Down Under 10 months ago
Similar for cricket. Shoaib Akhtar, from Pakistan, bowled around 161 kilometres per hour (100 miles per hour). He was the first bowler to break 100MPH. He was fantastic to watch. His nickname is the Rawalpindi Express :)
CatD 10 months ago
Sorry, just got a mental picture of someone throwing a bowling ball that fast.😂
Load More Replies... Johnnynatfan 10 months ago
Hardest thing in sports is to hit a round ball with a round bat coming at you at high velocity.
Paulina 10 months ago
It makes more sense when you understand that we don't actually have a full flow vision. In reality, our brains take snapshots and fill in the blanks with what should logically be there. It's just so fast that we don't notice - like watching film that's actually made out of bunch of individual frames. And there's even a itty bitty tiny delay from when sth's happening to us "seeing" it! But the brain is tricking us here too - it "plays" the film to us after it's processed, but sort of turns the timer back a bit, so we feel it's immediate. 🤯 It all happens in less than microseconds, but it's happening!
Rich Black 10 months ago
I believe most people CAN see something travelling 100 mph or more. How else would it be possible to have aerial combat between world War 2 planes?
How many new things have you learned today, Pandas? Share your favorite TIL facts from this list with us in the comments. And if you have any interesting nuggets of knowledge you think should be there, write them up in the comment section as well! Or, if you're hungry for some more TIL knowledge, head over here, here, and here to see our previous compilations from the TIL subreddit.
#31
TIL that the first laws outlawing food coloring were in regards to bread. White bread was expensive and some bakers added chalk to lighten dark bread. King Edward I (1272-1307) created a law saying anyone caught using whiteners in bread would be put in the public pillory for one hour.
Bookworm 10 months ago
Yet more evidence that fraud and the people it pisses off are as old as humanity
keyboardtek 10 months ago
And that is the reason we have so many government regulation of industry. Right wingers are constantly complaining about government regulations, but they are needed because humans are such greedy scumbags overall.
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Melissa Harris 10 months ago
Makes me think of the complaint letter from ancient Mesopotamia where one guy is complaining about the quality of Cooper he's bought.
LB 10 months ago
These days they tend to add, what was it again, molasses? Something to make it look more brown= healthy.
Jaya 10 months ago
Yeah, they add roasted malt (if that'swhat it's called in English) or caramelized sugar to trick people into thinking it's healthier bread than it actually is.
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Huddo's sister 10 months ago
Butchers also used to use things to colour meat that was mouldy around the same period
ILoveMySon 10 months ago
Iirc, ketchup was invented to disguise rotten meat flavor?
Load More Replies... #32
TIL that Gene Roddenberry originally did not want to cast Patrick Stewart as Picard, since he had envisioned an actor who was "masculine, virile, and had a lot of hair".
Kelly Scott 10 months ago
There isn't anyone who can sound as irritated at something he doesn't like than Patrick Stewart. All he has to do is narrow his eyes. More.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
Roddenberry was pretty disruptive to the first few seasons of TNG. Season One and Season Two are especially rough to rewatch these days.
Pyla 10 months ago
He wanted his own vision, but it wasn't as tight. though no one can blame season 7 on anyone but Berman. oof
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Rinso The Red 10 months ago
So in an alternate reality we have John Stamos as Captain Picard? shudder
Jnausicaa 10 months ago
Roddenberry wanted another Kirk. In an interview in 1990 the interviewer asked Sir Patrick if he felt it a bit of a downer after playing Kings and nobles in just his shakespearian roles. "On the contrary, I feel that captain of the Starship Enterprise is a promotion from any king of England."
#33
TIL in 2023, Zimbabwe signed control over almost 20% of the country's land to Blue Carbon, an Emirati company, for $1.5 billion. The company seeks to conserve forests that might otherwise be logged.
Nimitz 10 months ago
A company I worked for invested in Blue Carbon. They claimed that our offices were therefore carbon neutral. This is way less of an act of preservation than you might think. The company buys mostly protected forests and then sells carbon credit offsets. They are essentially holding old growth forests for ransom and don't actually do anything to increase carbon absorption. It's a fast and easy way to sell nothing to companies so they themselves can get tax rebates. It's mostly a scam
Rich Black 10 months ago
Zimbabwes president seized power in 2017 in a coup. He is 80 years old bnd owns several private jets.
#34
TIL If you've believed in good faith for at least five years that you're a Swiss citizen and local authorities have treated you as such, you can apply for simplified naturalisation.
Slapdash1 10 months ago
I believe it. Can present 50 witnesses who'll testify I've held this sincere belief for AT LEAST six years.
MagicJacket 10 months ago (edited)
You have the cheese, the chocolate, the army knife and everything!
Load More Replies... Ace 10 months ago (edited)
No, this is not correct. Ten years in Switzerland holding a permanent residence permit including 5 years in a given town/village is the normal minimum requirement (although it varies a little by canton) for _ordinary_ naturalisation. Simplified naturalisation is a completely different process, most commonly used for people married to Swiss citizens, that does not have any fixed time requirement. And no, the 'believed in good faith' stuff is nonsense.
Start Wearing Purple 10 months ago
That's not true. Simplified naturalisation is only accessible under certain circumstances. Believing is by far not enough
Jaya 10 months ago
It seems to be about cases where the authorities made a mistake and gave people identification documents that state that they have Swiss citizenship, and they only find out years later that there was a mistake and that they never officially received citizenship. But you don't just have to say that you yourself believed it, you also have to show proof that the authorities treated you like an official citizen.
Paulina 10 months ago
Um, it's not entirely like that... This applies mainly to actual governmental mistakes, like if they treat child born there like citizen, issue documents like it was and the only thing that's missing is that the actual citizenship was never acquired properly in the first place. And both government and a person it applies to realize it was all a mistake later (hence 5 years minimum). It's virtually impossible to apply this rule to anyone coming from OUTSIDE the Switzerland. The actual naturalization/citizenship process in Switzerland, for anyone, is pretty restrictive and hard to get.
General Anaesthesia 10 months ago
Yes. https://www.sem.admin.ch/sem/en/home/integration-einbuergerung/schweizer-werden/irrtuemlich.html Other languages available at the top right of the screen.
Load More Replies... #35
TIL About a man named Heshen who was known as the most corrupt official in Chinese history. After his death in 1799, his personal wealth was valued at $270 billion, or 15 years of Qing government revenues
Kira Okah 10 months ago (edited)
Oh don't get me started about the myriad of complete and utter bullshyte about Heshen - sorry in advance but one of my autistic specialist subjects. The entire court was corrupt under Emperor Qianlong's nose as he aged, Emperor Jiaqing had an incessant hatred of Heshen because his close relationship with his father, Jiaqing specifically tasked the corrupt court to find corruption surrounding Heshen, most of it didn't add up (as in he was supposedly at one point in seven different places at once and having sex with six different women at once while on that day he could be provably in the court in Beijing), none of this supposed corruption wealth was ever found in his possession (none of the buildings that were connected to it were even owned by him, and none of the women or servants of these buildings had ever met him), and it was most likely that all of it was corrupt officials hiding their corruption by placing it on him. Also, "died"? He never got a chance to speak for himself, because the Emperor Jiaqing ordered him to commit suicide, or he would release the allegations publicly and destroy Heshen's family, so he did, hanged himself from the rafters of his own home (the building now known as Gong Wáng Fu, Beijing - bp, that word means "prince", not rood). The thing about this is that it's all based on "common knowledge", and when you properly look into it none of it adds up.
Auntriarch 10 months ago
Thank you! I'd never heard of him at all, so it's good to have it corrected before the wrong stuff gets stuck in my brain
Load More Replies... Steve Robert 10 months ago
Now how much does the Muskrat have today? But the Mars bro is the most honest business man ever, so he can't have stolen his money.
#36
TIL strength training also involves the nervous system, where your strength is not only determined by how big your muscles are, but by how well the nervous system can recruit muscles, synchronize their firing, and prevent mechanisms designed to prevent your body from tearing itself apart.
afia kooma 10 months ago
Tetanus makes your musckles so stiff thst they break the bone supporting them
keyboardtek 10 months ago
Watch video of the worlds heaviest dead lifters some who can lift three time their weight. Some of them have blood coming out of their mouths after the lift. Blood in the urine of weight lifters is common because of tears in the bladder tissue for the lifting.
#37
TIL every person who has become a centibillionaire (a net worth of usually $100 billion, €100 billion, or £100 billion), first became one in 2017 or later except for Bill Gates who first reached the threshold in 1999.
Ray Ceeya (RayCeeYa) 10 months ago
Guess what also happened in 2017. Those Trump tax cuts were so great /S. I hope they make them forever instead of letting them expire this year when they ABSOLUTELY SHOULD!
keyboardtek 10 months ago
Our household total income was $50k the year Trump's "Tax cut" went into effect. We paid almost $2000 more in taxes! That is because he eliminated a huge deduction us middle class taxpayers depended on for years. So when asked if we were economically better off after Trump the answer was no.
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Bec 10 months ago
Money that he earned by being allowed to hold a monopoly. His charity has done many great things, but if he had paid more in taxes the government (by the people) would decide how to spend that money.
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Kenneth Barns 10 months ago
I never understood this term: "centi-" means one-hundredTH in the metric system. "Hecto-" means one hundred. As in "hectopascal" as a unit of atmopheric pressure (equal to a millibar); or "hectare", a unit of land area 100m on a side.
nottheactualphoto 10 months ago
Thank you. A centimeter is not 100 meters.
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#38
TIL the total number of Americans over 7-feet tall is estimated between 85 and 150.
MisterE 10 months ago
There are more than that. There are a good amount in the NBA listed at 6-11 that are actually taller but they feel boxed in with the height. Stupid I know. I think the odds of you playing in the NBA is better than 1 in 10 if you are 7 feet or taller.
David 10 months ago
if you are over 7 feet tall with no medical issues, you have over a 90% chance of a full ride college basketball scholarship
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Tim Douglass 10 months ago
I'm willing to bet it's a lot more than that. I personally know 3 people over 7 feet tall-2 in one family.
csaclint 10 months ago
i don't think people truly appreciate how big 7' tall is. i know i didn't until i was dang near stepped on by Tree Rollins years ago. Nothing like being backed into a corner by a 7'1 320ish pound man who hasn't even noticed you're there. Its just, a lot of human.
Bob Brooce 10 months ago
Look who's way out at the wrong end of the bell curve.
Load More Replies... #39
TIL Pope Pius XII once asserted in a speech that the Big Bang theory scientifically proved that the universe was created by a divine creator. Horrified, the physicist Georges Lemaître convinced the Pope not to make any further statements connecting his theory and theology.
Adam Jeff 10 months ago
Lemaitre was himself a catholic priest, but he believed that science and religion were separate fields, and it was wrong to look for scientific truths in scripture or to use science to 'prove' religion. Perhaps surprisingly, after meeting Lemaitre the pope was convinced and never made the claim again.
Nimitz 10 months ago
If they have to offer proof for one bit of skymagic, people might want them to offer proof for other bits of skymagic. And then where will we be? People wanting rationality and reason in a religion? Can't have that
Load More Replies... keyboardtek 10 months ago
The big bang theory is based on the very limited area of the universe that humans can see. It might just be expanding in our visible part and no one knows if it is contracting in areas we cannot see. It is hubris to assume we are correct in our theory of the origin of the universe. Since the law of thermal dynamics states matter cannot be destroyed or created, it just changes form, it is just as likely the universe has always existed and is moving in ways we cannot understand based on our narrow view.
Scott Rackley 10 months ago
Yes, this is how science works. We make a theory that covers the evidence we have, then we assume it is correct until new evidence falsifies it. Then we make another theory to account for the old and new evidence. Rinse. Repeat. It's not hubris, is called the Scientific Method.
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 10 months ago
Pius XII also said that there was no conflict between Darwin's theory of evolution and the story of creation in Genesis.
David 10 months ago
In 1991 at the conference of The American Astronomical Society (AAS), they issued a paper officially ending the debate between expanding universe and static models, declaring the big bang and expanding universe as scientific fact. After the unanimous vote, the head of he AAS said "it seems this committee had officially confirmed the book of Genesis, or at least the first verse of so", and the crowd actually applauded his comments. In college a professor showed us the video of it.
#40
TIL about 'Balconing' in Ibiza, a phenomenon in which intoxicated party goers die or are injured by acting wildly on the balconies of the hotel establishments where they have stayed
#41
TIL in 1940, when Paramount asked Fleischer Studios to created a Superman cartoon, Fleischer thought it would be too hard to make. In an attempt to avoid making the cartoon, they quoted four times the cost of an average cartoon for the budget ($100k). To their shock, Paramount agreed to the budget.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
It was in the Fleischer cartoons that Superman first flew. He didn't before then in the comic book. And kryptonite was introduced in the Superman radio show to explain why Superman was in a coma (during the two weeks the actor who played him was on vacation).
#42
TIL that the Gurkhas, elite soldiers from Nepal, have been serving in the British Army since 1815, known for their bravery and loyalty, and were described as "braver than the bravest" by British generals.
Strings 10 months ago
They are considered, "pound for pound", the finest light infantry in the world. And they are ALWAYS smiling: chatting, training, ripping enemies apart with their bare hands...
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Probably the finest light infantry in the history of the world.
Load More Replies... #43
TIL in 1993 Donald Wyman amputated his left leg below the knee with a pocket knife after it got stuck under a large tree during a logging accident where he bled profusely for an hour & feared he'd die. However, he was even able to keep his leg after firefighters retrieved it & surgeons reattached it
#44
TIL that the oldest flood myth is likely the Epic of Gilgamesh. Written on 12 stone tablets, it's one of the first pieces of literature in recorded history. The old Sumerian king searches for immortality and encounters someone who built a ship - the Preserver of Life - to outlast the Great Flood.
Bookworm 10 months ago
Especially since some experts think that a real, catastrophic flood that devasted the entire region around the Black Sea could have been the origin of all these flood stories. After all, if you're a Neolithic villager living next to a lake, and one day it just rises up and covers the entire region because the whole Mediterranean is dumping into it, that seems pretty world-ending.
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David 10 months ago
But almost every culture has a flood myth. Ancient Chinese with Yao the shipbuilder, and Mayans and Coxcox, even the Inuit and their ancient story of the great snowstorm and snowvessel. We have no clue which is the oldest, but there are over 70 different flood myths from around the ancient world, from North and South America, Asian, Africa, and Europe.
Dani M 10 months ago
There is research tracing the floor mytheme back to a a source about 65.000 years in Africa in connection with an origin of the world myth.
Sue User 10 months ago
I always wondered if it was the thaw at the end of an ice age and the story was passed down.
Load More Replies... Michael None 10 months ago
It's a great story and I'd put it against any Greek mythological story any day. Still waiting for the movie.
keyboardtek 10 months ago
Most of Christianity's themes were acquired from previous pagan religions. For example the idea of someone's death and coming back to life was a common theme of many pagan religions.
Sky Render 10 months ago
Oh that one is a fascinating hodgepodge of prior faiths, some of them decidedly incompatible. It's the melting pot of religion for its era.
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#45
TIL in 1902, one day after being jailed for a fight, a man named Ludger Sylbaris survived for four days while the pyroclastic flow from Mt. Pelée killed 30,000. His jail cell was a former ammunition storehouse with thick walls and no windows apart from one ventilation shaft.
Joe Reaves 10 months ago
He did but he wasn't uninjured. He travelled around telling his story for a while.
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#46
TIL a man in China retaliated against his upstairs neighbor's constant noise by buying a building shaker online and installing it on the ceiling. It creates a vibration and noise that is similar to a power drill.
#47
TIL that during WWII the average recruit was 5’8” tall and weighed 144 pounds. During basic training, they gained 5-20 pounds and added an inch to their 33 1/4” chest.
Keith Handly (Ike) 10 months ago
Prior to becoming a sailor my dad rarely had enough to eat. So at least the United States.
Load More Replies... Geoffrey Scott 10 months ago
Wow, I feel seen. Went into boot camp 5'8" 120 lbs, came out same height @145.
Bi.Felicia 10 months ago
Seems like you've been called out, jk. I ended up losing 30 pounds, while I was at boot camp. To be fair tho, I was considered a "FatBody" and was on a restrictive diet. I'm from the northeast and I went to boot camp in SC, not too far from the Georgia border, in August, which happened to also be my first time on an airplane. Even though it was the hottest weather I have ever experienced, at that time, I somehow came down with Bronchitis/Walking Pneumonia and I got pushed back, meaning I was at boot camp for 15 weeks, instead of the usual 13 weeks.
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#48
TIL that there is a species of whale that has been living in the oceans for millions of years, but it was only recently discovered due to its isolation in the deep depths.
Shark Lady 10 months ago
Part of the reason it was only recently discovered is because it is similar to other types of beaked whale, it was only when one washed up in New Zealand that scientists were able to sequence the genome which showed it was a new species.
#49
TIL The US Virgin Islands were purchased from Denmark in 1917 for $25 million.
keyboardtek 10 months ago
The people: "We want universal health care." The politicians: "Where will we get the money to pay for it?" Trump: "let's buy Greenland and invade Panama."
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afia kooma 10 months ago
Denmark had two: virgin islands and jomfru øyene, so they got rid of the more distant one ?
Pernille 10 months ago
No, Jomfru øerne just means Virgin Islands, there was just St. Croix and St. Thomas, and St.Jan.
Load More Replies... #50
TIL the 2006 Robbie Williams album Rudebox underperformed so hard one million unsold copies of the album were sold to a Chinese company to be recycled and used as a road paving material.
Bi.Felicia 10 months ago
So ultimately one million unsold copies of the album, ended up being sold. I'm sure they were deeply discounted but they technically were sold.
Piglet 10 months ago
He's also had 15 #1 solo albums, so I don't think he'll lose any sleep over it.
Jaya 10 months ago
Wow, that is a lot... I knew he had a lot of big hits, but damn that is so much more than I expected.
Load More Replies... #51
TIL that in Japan, you can hire a handsome man to watch sad movies with you and wipe your tears.
Lost Panda 10 months ago
Men or women can be hired to accompany you to just about anything, to include watching movies and wiping tears. That does not mean that they do things of other... *hint hint wink wink* motives. It truly is renting a companion, in fact... that is the name of the job XD
Michael Largey 10 months ago
Can I hire someone to watch a tearjerker with me and hush me when I start laughing?
#52
TIL that in utero, a third artery temporarily runs down the arm to help with the development of the hand. By 8 weeks after birth, this artery usually disappears. For unknown reasons, people are retaining this artery as adults, and it's now three times as prevalent as it was 100 years ago
Lost Panda 10 months ago
Unless you're in a knife fight XD (Yes I know... they are not surface veins...)
Load More Replies... afia kooma 10 months ago
I would love to se the corrolation with peoples weight before and after birth, because if one is on the heavier side, i can see how the body would find it useful to keep around. Less strain on the excisting network when a new was added, so why get rid of it
#53
TIL Captain Francesco Schettino caused the Costa Concordia disaster, leading to 32 deaths, because he was distracted trying to impress a woman. Even after the crash, he didn’t tell anyone for over an hour about the massive hole in the ship and was more worried about coming up with an excuse.
Verena 10 months ago
Not distracted. Ordered the ship to come closer to the rocky coast than the buoys marked, against the strong advice of his navigator. Was amongst the first to flee the ship
Ace 10 months ago
One of the most appalling parts of the whole catastrophe was the transcript of calls where the Italian coastguard was ordering him to re-board his ship and take charge of the evacuation, as he was legally required to do. He did not. He's the most reviled Italian of recent times.
Load More Replies... Bookworm 10 months ago (edited)
Also, IIRC, he abandoned ship and left everyone else to fend for themselves
Heir of Durin 10 months ago
So terrible! I just looked it up and read that he was found guilty of manslaughter, causing a maritime accident, and abandoning his ship. He was sentenced to 16 years in prison in 2015.
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#54
TIL: There is a condition called “Polished Anus Syndrome” or ‘Pruritis Ani’. Which is Latin for “itchy anus”, and this condition affects 5% of the population.
Catlady6000 10 months ago
It's like a train wreck, you want to look away, you even try, but here you are. Looking
Load More Replies... Debby Keir 10 months ago (edited)
It's not a disease in itself - it's a symptom of several differing conditions. Polished a**s Syndrome is from 'cleaning' too hard or using agressive cleansers. Carbolic soap is not your friend in this situation. Pruritis ani could also indicate worms, so medical history is important.
Kenneth Barns 10 months ago (edited)
Speaking as a doctor: "pruritis ani", yep, a legit term, and used regularly when appropriate. "Polished a**s syndrome"? I've never heard the expression! "Is this some sort American joke that I'm too Australian to understand?"
Steve Robert 10 months ago
Now this is a medical term I have got to memorize. " What?Are you in a hurry? You got Pruritis Ani or somethin?"
Winnie the Moo 10 months ago
Ok, so the ‘itchy a**s’ is a direct result of overcleaning ones a*****e, to the point the skin gets irritated and it starts itching. The more you know…
Je souhaite 10 months ago
Or possibly bleaching one's a**s very popular practice
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Cindy Brick 10 months ago
Shades of Meg Ryan muttering (a la an old man) "My a*s is twitching..."
Lavern Defazio 10 months ago (edited)
Just 5%? Sounds like a low ball figure to me, get it? Low-ball? Okay, time to go to work.
afia kooma 10 months ago
I wonder if this is the origin story of "ichy ball man" my superhero 😂
#55
TIL people diagnosed with ADHD have an 8.4 year lower life expectancy
Sera 10 months ago
Because we’re going to get distracted by something shiny and walk off a cliff one day.
Hyacinth (Any pronouns) 10 months ago
For me, it would probably be forgetting to eat.
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#56
TIL Joel Tenenbaum was successfully sued by the major music labels for illegally downloading and sharing 30 of their songs. A jury ordered him to pay $675,000 (or $22,000 per song), which led to him file for Chapter 7 bankruptcy in 2015, with a judge discharging the $675,000 judgment in 2016.
Bookworm 10 months ago
And did ruining this guy's life actually deter anyone from music piracy?
Joe Reaves 10 months ago
Punishments rarely work as a deterrent because people tend to believe that THEY won't get caught. And if you don't get caught then the punishment is irrelevant.
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#57
TIL In Canada 2013, two little boys on a sleepover were strangled to death by a 100lb python. The snake came thru a vent from a pet shop below their room. The owner was eventually found not guilty of negligent homicide.
Kira Okah 10 months ago (edited)
iirc they weren't strangled - the snake was heavy enough that it fell through as the entire vent system and ceiling collapsed and crushed them both. Snakes do not just randomly kill for funsies, they kill to eat, and it would not be able to eat them, it's too small. It was ruled an accident, not an animal attack.
Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
And it pains me to think there are so many who would take this post as a done deal with no research. Thanks for the info👍
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 10 months ago
Reminiscent of the Sherlock Holmes story "The Adventure of the Speckled Band".
#58
TIL the first known instance of a storm chaser or meteorologist [unalived] by a tornado occurred in 2013 when Tim Samaras, his son Paul, & Carl Young were [unalived] near El Reno, OK by the widest tornado ever recorded. It expanded from 1 mile to 2.6 miles wide in about 30 seconds as it closed in on them.
Montanavanna 10 months ago
Oh dang none of your words have been censored as of 7 minutes post comment. Your slipping BP, I have been forever corrupted, what shall I do now that I have fallen.
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TotallyNOTAFox 10 months ago
Maybe they are just big fans of "The Dark Crystal" /s
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#59
TIL that an airgapped laptop was intentionally loaded with 6 famously catastrophic computer viruses, worms, and pieces of Malware for the commissioned art piece titled "The Persistence of Chaos". Much of the $10,000+ spent to produce the work went toward the creation of an effective firewall.
M O'Connell 10 months ago
It took $10,000 to disassemble it and sever the WiFi antenna with a pair of cutters? Yikes. The whole point of air-gapping is not having any network connections.
keyboardtek 10 months ago
And they could have acquired all of the viruses for free by simply leaving it connected to the internet with no anti virus software. So what was that money spent on?
Load More Replies... Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
Well, at least it wasn't six mill for a banana. That guys has to feel some kind of stupid, unless he is a sociopath.
Bartlet for world domination 10 months ago
And we need a firewall on an airgapped laptop because...?
#60
TIL when David Lynch was asked by fans for clues or answers regarding one of his films, he'd typically refuse; however when fans in France asked him for clues to help them decipher Mulholland Drive (2001), he gave them 10. "I thought the clues were only going to exist in France & then..the internet"
#61
TIL Beef was rarely eaten in ancient China, as cows & bulls were used mostly for transportation. Only nobility could eat beef- but only if the animal died naturally or from old age.
#62
TIL that giving poop of people that have depression to rats, gives them anxiety and depression
Stephanie L Thesing 10 months ago
If someone gave me poop I’d be anxious and depressed too ….. there’s gotta be a bit more explanation to this….
Sand Ers 10 months ago
Gut bacteria has an enormous influence on mental health. They're still trying to figure out why.
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Verena 10 months ago
Poop donation is a medical treatment that is impirtant if the good bacteria in your guts died due to e.g. chemotherapy or serious diarrhea (pronounciation?). It was fairly recently discovered that it also transmits depression, so after first suspicions this was further investigated and confirmed. Be good to your guts and remember that your mental health depends highly on what you eat.
CatD 10 months ago
Scientists saw elephants feed their babies their dung to give them gut Flora.
Load More Replies... Debby Keir 10 months ago
It's thought that bowel flora (type as well as lack of) can influence health AND mood in many differing ways.
Settled for Infamy 10 months ago
Wtf? I wonder what is excreted. Maybe it's just the eating poop thing 🤔
#63
TIL: The Lord of the Rings is presented as a translation of a book originally written in Westron, the common speech of Middle-earth. Therefore, Frodo Baggins' real name in Westron is Maura Labingi.
Becky Samuel 10 months ago
Tolkien was a nutter and a total obsessive. He wrote vast reams of supporting works, published and unpublished, surrounding the Hobbit and the Lord of the Rings. Every piece of lore was carefully thought out and catalogued.
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Michael Largey 10 months ago
Frodo Baggins sounds like an Irish adult film star.
Load More Replies... #64
TIL the UK's nuclear submarines all carry identitcally worded "Letters of Last Resort" which are handwritten by the current Prime Minister and destroyed when the Prime Minister leaves office
Bookworm 10 months ago (edited)
Do we know what's in them, or is it secret? I need more details
Phoenix 10 months ago
It is instructions on what to do if the government is destroyed. Each Prime Minister chooses their own instructions and the letters are never made public.
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Earonn - 10 months ago
I don't think Lettuce Liz had enough time to write those letters. (She was a horrible, stupid Conservative PM, damaged our economy, a PoS, and was kicked out before a lettuce purchased at the beginning of her office had time to rot)
Debby Keir 10 months ago
She damaged the economy. However, Starmer has already damaged the economy quantifiably more than she did. They're all t*ssers.
Load More Replies... Bored Birgit 10 months ago
My advice would be "Go all on a nice holiday wherever this is still possible."
#65
TIL that the US publishes a quarterly list of names of people who renounced citizenship to "shame or embarrass" them
Karen Mercury 10 months ago
It is. Even back in the '80s traveling in Africa we would tell everybody we were Canadian
Load More Replies... Michael Largey 10 months ago
Shouldn't it be the US who is ashamed or embarrassed by people renouncing their citizenship?
HardBoiledBlonde 10 months ago
Going to need a bigger quarterly list for the next 4 four dystopian years.
Johnnynatfan 10 months ago
Somehow I dont think that is working out the way they think it is. I want to retire in another country , Im not sure if I will ever renounce my citizenship but if I made that choice I would not feel shame about it as I clearly had my reasons.
Lavern Defazio 10 months ago (edited)
Funny. They think it's embarrassing but for all the wrong reasons.
#66
TIL: In order to combat declining birth rates, the Korean government has numerous programs to match couples. One is "I am Jeolo" named after a reality show. Where they out unmarried people in a temple for 2 days. In addition, they will pay ₩20 million when you get married.
afia kooma 10 months ago
Guess. One of them would never give this much information and the other would
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Agfox 10 months ago
Further info re Jeolo: "In order to address the challenges of the declining birth rate, the Jogye Order of Korean Buddhism has been operating this unique project combining temple stay into a date in association with the Ministry of Health and Welfare, as part of a social awareness project. The event was designed for participants to look for their potential partners in a civilized manner while relaxing in a temple. Not only eating meals together, but also the participants are invited to converse with each other and then go on a walking date, if they have a mutual good feeling. About 20 participants will stay two days and one night in a temple, experiencing Buddhist culture, joining in lectures and recreation. This program is open to all unmarried men and women in their 20s and 30s, regardless of their religion.". Another article mentions the Temple receiving 2,500 applications for the 20 positions
Earonn - 10 months ago
Fun projects, laws to turn women into breeding mares - the only thing governments never seem to consider is to make it actually financially possible to have a family. Or not a career-killer for women. Or keep the children alive, even at school. Or lower the maternity death rate.
CatD 10 months ago
Yes, but South Korea has universal health care like almost all other civilized nations.
Load More Replies... #67
TIL the original definition of "the exception that proves the rule." Although often misused today, the phrase should apply to things like "Casual Friday," an exception that proves the existence of a dress code on other days
Slapdash1 10 months ago
They use it when they find an exeption to a rule to claim that it confirms it. Originally the fact that there is an exception confirms the existence of the rule in the first place
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John Kane 10 months ago
No. Prove is used in the sense of proving ground, as in to test and 'prove ' something works. The exception tests the rule. Maybe it's a c**p rule. Maybe it's not really an exception
Judes 10 months ago
This what I thought it meant too. It's similar to the expression "The proof of the pudding is in the eating" in that "proof" in this case means "test".
Load More Replies... Dragon mama 10 months ago
"prove" was originally used in the sense of "test" as in "proving grounds." This is fully incorrect.
#68
TIL about Stewart Smith who, over the course of 40 years, breed non-native fish in his garage and covertly released them from his car which was outfitted with oxygenated fish tanks into New Zealand’s north island waterways for sport fishing.
Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
Those poor fish must be tired and traumatized, breeding with Stewart Smith and stuff.
Earonn - 10 months ago
Fish? Pah, small fry! Just this month someone released 4 lynx in Scotland. No, don't ask me how anyone could smuggle lynx into the country. Sadly, one died because you can't just kick them out into the wild just so. But the other 3 are safely in quarantine in the Edinburgh Zoo.
Bookworm 10 months ago (edited)
I saw that. I'm leaning toward the theory that they were someone's pets, and the owner realized they couldn't deal with them and just... let them go? (Possibly inspired by the existing conversation about reintroducing lynx. 'Oh, there used to be lynx that lived here? I guess that means I can just set them free and they'll be fine!')
Load More Replies... CatD 10 months ago
It's like the guy who was breeding giant hybrid sheep for hunting in Montana.
Load More Replies... #69
TIL in 1982 a crew of five sailing from Maine to Florida ran into a storm with 30-foot waves which capsized their boat. Over the next five days, two of them became delirious after drinking saltwater and walked off the dinghy into many awaiting sharks. Infection [ended] a third, leaving two survivors.
Anthony Elmore 10 months ago
I can't be the only one who finds this compulsive censoring of any and every possibly negative word to be absolutely repulsive to a degree that's generally more offensive than the word being censored...
Nathan Lewis 10 months ago
use your eyes and you'll see that you aren't. theres lots of sensitive people in these comments.
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Stephanie L Thesing 10 months ago
It was also the first episode of “I Shouldn’t Be Alive”, and survivor Debra Scaling-Kiley wrote a book about the experience.
#70
TIL In 1964 Nikes were being made on a waffle press in a van, while Converse was producing almost 100% of all basketball shoes for the NBA and NCAA. By 2003, Converse was bankrupt and Nike purchased what remained of the company for $138 million.
DrBronxx 10 months ago
I don't understand how these things work, but I find it fascinating that a bankrupt company can be bought for so much. It would appear that the people who drove the company into bankruptcy made off with a tidy sum.
Kira Okah 10 months ago
It's about the name and the contracts, those are quite often worth more than the debt.
Load More Replies... Lavern Defazio 10 months ago
I have three pairs of converse, all over twenty years old. I wonder how the newer ones last?
#71
TIL learned about the Samaritans. It's a religion and there are less than a 1,000 in the world.
keyboardtek 10 months ago
If the Samaritans goal is compassion and helping others, they would be considered "woke" by today's version of Christians.
MagicJacket 10 months ago
A Samaritan vas also a character named Zeus who vorked vith John McClane to defeat Hans Gruber's bother, Simon.
#72
TIL - During the California gold rush of 1849, eggs were $3 each, not adjusted for inflation.
Annik Perrot 10 months ago (edited)
It's said that the ones who made fortunes from the gold rushes were not generally the miners, but the people who sold them supplies.
Adrian 10 months ago
I don't believe this one. You could probably have bought a house for that.
Tropical Tarot 10 months ago
It was in the Gold Rush fields. Everything was highly overpriced. And there weren't many chickens to make the eggs.
Load More Replies... #73
TIL that in baseball's early days, fielders could put base runners out not only by tagging them but also by throwing the ball at them before they reached a base. This practice was known as "plugging," "patching," or "soaking" and was considered essential for the "manliness" of the game.
Chuck 10 months ago
If it's all the same to you, we'll just take your word for it. 🙂
Load More Replies... John Dilligaf 10 months ago
Viewership of baseball games on TV and live game attendance is declining. This might be a way to reverse that trend.
MagicJacket 10 months ago
So Rob Dibble wasn't an angry jerk, he was just a respectful baseball historian. (Some baseball fans might get that one.)
#74
TIL that Gabe Newell owns a marine research company, and now mostly lives at sea on his boats and submarines.
DrBronxx 10 months ago
Sure. Gabe Newell. Totally know who he is. This doesn't seem random at all. Also, did you know that Bob Smith mostly lives in a house?
Nathan Lewis 10 months ago (edited)
The dude who made Half Life and Steam
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Lavern Defazio 10 months ago (edited)
And...? Even the guy in the picture is waiting for the rest.
Slapdash1 10 months ago
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Or is it the brainrot that makes pandas ignorant. Newell is the head of Valve: the company behind the Halflife games or Counter strike. And steam. Ya know, the biggest onlime game seller in the world.
#75
TIL that a blind amateur historian's attempt to publish a history of the Ming Dynasty in 1660 was received so poorly that over 70 people involved were ex***ted and thousands of people arrested.
Kira Okah 10 months ago (edited)
This is the Zhuang Tinglong case. Zhuang Tinglong was a (not blind) merchant who wanted to emulate a famous blind author to get famous by writing a history of the Ming Dynasty, but didn't know anything about it. He bought someone else's work and hired scholars to edit it, and as he died before its publication, his dad published it in his name. The whole mess about it is that it defamed the current child Emperor Kangxi, denied the legitimacy of the current Dynasty of the time, and referred to the rulers as barbarians. Oboi, one of the Emperor's regents, ordered a full investigation into the book and its distribution, and a lot of people got into a lot of trouble for hiding copies of it (it was seen as a dissident piece and dissidents were using it). Erm, Oboi was not a nice person, to put it simply.
Load More Replies... Adrian 10 months ago
Does anyone know WTF BP is trying to do? Does it affect search results or ad revenue if a story mentions killing?
#76
TIL that Gaddafi survived a US air strike in 1986 thanks to the italian government warning him before the attack.
#77
TIL the British military once had an idea to put live chickens inside nuclear bomb cases with a week's worth of food and water. The bombs were meant to be planted into the ground as mines, so they had to be kept warm in the winter to keep working.
Bookworm 10 months ago
This is as bad or worse than the CIA plots to make Fidel Castro's beard fall out
Cindy Brick 10 months ago
Combine this with strapping timebombs on dogs, then 'training' them to run toward the enemy. Only in too many cases, the dogs ran back to their handlers. BOOM.
M O'Connell 10 months ago
The project was called Blue Peacock, and keeping the detonator batteries warm was essential. A nuclear weapon required extremely precise detonation timing to ensure criticality, far more accuracy than could be achieved by chemical detonators (like blasting caps). The explosives were initiated by a wire exploder, which effectively converted a length of wire into plasma instantaneously through a high power electrical discharge. This was a tall ask for battery technology in the 1950s, particularly if it was cold.
Load More Replies... #78
Today I learned that Joey, the spin-off of the Friends sitcom, was canceled halfway through its second season, and the final eight episodes were never aired in the U.S. by NBC.
Michael Largey 10 months ago
And they say large corporation don't feel any sense of responsibility toward society.
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KatSaidWhat 10 months ago
google? (I know I will be downvoted for that, but if I can't find a citation, I tend to google.)
Load More Replies... KatSaidWhat 10 months ago
google? (I know I will be downvoted for that, but if I can't find a citation, I tend to google.)
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