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40 New ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Learn Something New
With unlimited access to the digital world at our fingertips, it’s virtually impossible to avoid learning new information every day. And why should we? We're well aware of the evidence that discovering something new is an incredible way to improve our life. From stretching our thinking in different directions to keeping our minds sharp, exercising our brains lets us make sense of ourselves and our surroundings.
But if you feel that the amount of information floating around makes it hard to know where to start, then you’re in luck. There’s an impressive corner on Reddit aptly titled 'Today I Learned' where people do the heavy lifting and scour the internet for the most fascinating and captivating facts.
This subreddit is home to 27.6 million curious members who waste no time in sharing tasty bites of knowledge they recently found with everyone online. To celebrate their efforts, we at Bored Panda compiled a new TIL selection right below, so continue scrolling and let us know which ones you enjoyed most! And if you’re ready to gain even more precious wisdom, check out our previous TIL posts right here, here, and here.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL about the Horse, Sergeant Reckless. A Horse who served with the marines in Korea. She was able to haul ammunition by herself without a handler, would seek a bunker or lay down when under fire and received two purple hearts as well as other medals for her service in the Korean war
glowworm2 3 years ago
Yes! She died in 1968 at around 19 or 20 years old.
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Persephone 3 years ago
She also retrieved the wounded and wore layers of flack jackets, while refusing to quit.
Persephone 3 years ago
Yes, it's disgusting. The world would be nothing without them (horses). We abuse each other just as often, bc we are a sick species, but animals also know who they consider family, and this horse definitely loved her guys.
Load More Replies... Mary Leverett 3 years ago
She's still talked about among Marines. (Please capitalize "Marines" when referring to members of the USMC) Semper Fi'
RELATED:
#2
TIL A turkish mother that read lecture notes for four years to her blind daughter in law school, has been awarded an honorary degree with the daughter
Susan Bosse 3 years ago
This is such a cool story. Made my heart full when I read about it the other day.
ctsbathory 3 years ago
I full on cried it was so heartwarming. Inspiring really.
Load More Replies... D Maisenh 3 years ago
It would be better if they used the real picture of the mother and daughter instead of a stock picture of a pretty "foreign looking" girl. The pic has been on Bored Panda before.
Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
So has this story: https://www.boredpanda.com/funny-wholesome-moms/? utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic (#11) and .. .... ... #1 with the same photo as above: https://www.boredpanda.com/today-i-learned-facts-people-share/?cexp_id=51858&cexp_var=67&_f=featured&utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic
Load More Replies... Selim 3 years ago
This image is supposed to show a general Turkish lady i guess this lady must from iran or other shia communities if my judgment is not wrong.
ColdBlooded 3 years ago
true... Iran, maybe with some simple photoshopping
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Discovering something novel is as easy as tapping on a few hyperlinks on our screens, right? But we should still remain skeptical and take things found online with a pinch of salt. After all, anyone can say anything on the internet, so we need to put our fact-checking caps on to understand whether the information we consume is genuinely true.
Luckily for us, moderators of the TIL subreddit make sure that the facts posted on the group are grounded in reality. Their rules state that the subreddit removes posts that are "inaccurate/unverifiable/not supported by source." The moderators require to "link directly to a reliable source that supports every claim in your post title." Moreover, the online group does not support personal opinions and subjective posts, as well as asks their community members to avoid sharing misleading claims: "Posts that omit essential information, or present unrelated facts in a way that suggest a connection will be removed."
#3
TIL in 1908, the NYT reported a story on a dog that would push kids into the Seine in order to earn beefsteak treats for “rescuing” them
Daniel Marsh 3 years ago
Awww. he's a good boi! Earning those treats! (Just doesn't understand humans very well.)
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Zero 3 years ago
I remember this one... IIRC he was a stray and just happened to spot a kid drowning & rescued him. Then was rewarded with a grand feast for the rescue. It happened a 2nd time and more steaks. Then he put 2+2 together and started pushing them in so he could "rescue" them.
Vicky Zar 3 years ago
Which goes to show, that he was(is?) a very clever boi
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Joe Reaves 3 years ago
Oh I'm going to be giggling at this on and off all day. Some dogs are too smart for everyone else's good.
#4
TIL There's 3,200-Year-Old Egyptian Tablet Records Excuses for Why People Missed Work
Juan Ghote 3 years ago
Someone please translate these excuses - I really need new material ;-)
Sawdust 3 years ago
"A locust cloud...at this time of year...localized entirely in your kitchen?!"
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Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
Third vertical line: I cracked an egg for breakfast, but a hawk swooped down and ate it. Then a crane shat on my head and I was bitten by an asp. Finally, my owl attacked me while I was shaving.
A.J Milne 3 years ago
Is there one for missing schools, the headache excuse is starting to expire
The Scout 3 years ago
That should not have been a problem, as those were plenty in ancient egypt. Greek historician Herodot wrote in wonder: ""Everything is full of doctors! There are doctors for the eyes, for the head, for the teeth, for the stomach and for the invisible diseases”. There were a lot of specialists in Egypt , not to mention the many honorary titles such as "shepherd of the intestines" or "guardian of the a**s". And yes, the egyptians had socialized healthcare, at least before the Romans came.
Load More Replies...To find out more about navigating the learning experience and the best practices to make new information stick, we reached out to Nate Kornell, Ph.D., a professor of cognitive psychology at Williams College. He has spent years researching students’ beliefs about how they should study and the learning strategies that actually work best.
While the TIL subreddit proves that the internet is a great tool to accelerate our critical thinking by always letting us uncover something new, we can feel overwhelmed by the never-ending collection of specific facts shared by people online. If you feel bombarded by immense amounts of information daily, he suggested focusing on things you want to learn more about. "Too often, we spend our time on things we already know a lot about. Mix it up!"
#5
TIL The Wright Brothers only flew together on the same flight one time, a six-minute flight on May 25th, 1910. They promised their father, Milton, they would never fly together to avoid the chance of a double tragedy and to ensure one brother would remain to continue their flight experiments
Vorknkx 3 years ago
"But mooooom, we're inventing aviation..." // "I don't care, son, I better not see you both riding in that infernal contraption!!!"
SykesDaMan 3 years ago
So they broke their promise! That's what we should take away from this, right? :p
Kristina 3 years ago
Same goes for mine workers, two brother never work same shift to avoid losing both lives if accident happens.
Tonk Terrier 3 years ago
Look at Richard Pearce of NZ. Like a lot of technology flight appeared in several places at more or less the same time... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Pearse
Anna Lessens 3 years ago
You can't lose them both on the same day, even if they want to change the world. Kids> change
#6
TIL that 1996's movie "Twister" was rated PG-13 for "intense depiction of very bad weather"
Jo Morris 3 years ago
I once read a movie review on a website aimed at parents that showed age suitability and warnings of sex scenes, bad language, etc. For Alvin & the Chipmunks there was a nudity warning, because the chipmunks only wear sweaters. No pants = nudity when it comes to chipmunks!
Seán Baron 3 years ago
Donald Duck was banned in Finland for 50 years because he didn't wear trousers.
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Sally Kerr 3 years ago
What about the swearing?? I let my 8yr old watch it after seeing it was UK PG and then discovered some quite rude words😬
AndThenICommented 3 years ago
Honestly, I would have thought the rating was to cover Bill Paxton’s fiancé was a sex therapist and her frequent client phone calls at in opportune moments
RandomFrog 3 years ago
Geez they put weather in that movie?? I mean, I watched Tokyo Ghoul with all that gore but rain is too much for me. I can’t even beleive that. It should be rated M.
Cara Vinson 3 years ago
I saw it in the theater, got triggered and nearly fainted. Grew up in Oklahoma! Yee-Hawwww!
#7
TIL that "Old Book Smell" is caused by lignin — a compound in wood-based paper — when it breaks down over time, it emits a faint vanilla scent
DUN DUN 3 years ago
I have these og Charles Dickens books that date back to the 1840/50 something passed on to me by my dad, and when you open the pages it's just mmmhhmmmm the smell 🤌
StarmanWaitingInTheSky 3 years ago
Oh that's why my old Heidi book smelled so peculiarly good.
DuchessDegu 3 years ago
Is this one of them genetic things (as coriander taste of soap for some people) as I hate the smell of old, and brand new books? I want a scent free reading experience!
Gosiaatje 3 years ago
Yes, I am surprised too. I never smelled any vanilla or anything nice. As much as I love old books, I dont think they smell nice. It's rather a slight stink.
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Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
It's easy to identify a book lover. Hang out at a used bookstore, then watch who enters the store and immediately takes several deep breaths while smiling.
Paul Davis 3 years ago
There's also book mold, which I know about because I have an allergy to it - it makes me very spacey and drowsy and also makes me have to go to the bathroom.
C. D. McCullum 3 years ago
My Kindle makes me happy because I don't get Sneezy.
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Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
If you don´t press your nose in the middle of a new book, do you even enjoy reading?
Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
https://smellslikebooks.com/products/old-books-book-lovers-soy-candle
We have long heard about the benefits of learning fascinating bits of information. According to the professor, "Learning new things doesn't give your brain more horsepower, but it does make you smarter. The more you learn, the easier it becomes to learn more."
"We build knowledge frameworks in our minds, and adding to them makes them stronger. For example, if you know the NBA well, learning a new fact about the NBA (Jokic was MVP again) is a lot easier than if you don't," Kornell told Bored Panda.
#8
TIL that Alice Munro, co-founder of a bookstore with her then-husband Jim, started writing after reading some of the store's stock and thinking "I can write better books than this." In 2013, she won the Nobel Prize in Literature
Katie Lutesinger 3 years ago
"This is piffle; I could write a better book than this no sweat" has been the beginning motivation for a surprising number of authors. It also somewhat ties into the saying "If there's a book you want to read but it doesn't exist, then you must write it."
Kristin Ingersoll 3 years ago
Very true! Also true about the frustrations. I have a fully written, quite wonderful (if I do say so myself) YA novel. I don't want to self-publish, so it sits there. SIGH - The thing that makes Munro unique is that she won a Nobel, which is pretty cool. But yeah. All authors start by either being inspired or being disgusted by published works.
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François Carré 3 years ago
Ah ! Still expecting to get this kind of nerve after 15 years serving as a librarian.
#9
TIL Captain Robert Campbell whilst a prisoner of the Germans in WW1 asked the Kaiser to visit his dying mother in England. Surprisingly he was given permission, provided he returned to prison afterwards. He did
Erla Zwingle 3 years ago
Asked the Kaiser to visit his mother? And the Kaiser said "I'd be glad to, but I'm busy losing a war so why don't you go instead?" What a guy. Both of them.
Neil Chan 3 years ago (edited)
Personal honor as a gentleman was very important and being a man of your word counts in those times. The Kaiser was gracious enough to allow the Captain the chance to say his goodbyes once last time to his dying dear mother, something he would have been very grateful for.
Asi Bassey 3 years ago
Captain Campbell kept his word. It probably wasn’t the smartest thing to do, but it was undoubtedly honourable.
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 3 years ago
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-23957605 Apparently he felt honor bound to return to prison, but then as an officer pow, he also felt honor bound to try to escape as soon as he was back in prison (he did manage to escape but was captured later on)
#10
TIL that by letting a wolf population recover, traffic collisions caused by deer are reduced by nearly 25%; the reduction is not based as much on the decimation of the deer population but on the “landscape of fear” created by the wolves
Adam Jeff 3 years ago
For anyone wondering, the 'landscape of fear' refers to physical changes in the landscape that are brought about by behavioural changes of animals subject to predation. For example, deer that have to worry about predators will eat for a short time and then move on, while deer with no natural predators will eat in one area until all the available vegetation is destroyed. So the introduction of wolves also reduces overgrazing, again without necessarily reducing the deer population.
Rebe 3 years ago
Wanted to say this but couldn't find exact words. You explained it so much better than I would have.
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Keeping our brains active can improve our memory, concentration, attention to detail, and can also fight against dementia, so it’s very important to get our minds going. "But your brain will be active if you're working, going to school, having conversations, and so on," the professor explained. "If you're relatively isolated or bored — which can happen especially as we reach old age — scheduling activities to keep mentally active is a good idea."
However, always coming across something exciting and unfamiliar can make us push our old interests to the side. But bringing back our rusty skills or engaging more in the already existing knowledge also keeps our brains healthy. "The best time to do a deep dive is whenever you get super interested in something and you don't already know all about it. If you're learning, then keep it up!"
#11
TIL that the new Rolls-Royce Ghost soundproofing was so overengineered that occupants in the car found the near-total silence disorienting, and some felt sick. Acoustic engineers had to go back and work on "harmonizing" various sounds in the car to add a continuous soft whisper
The Scout 3 years ago
Used a "Silence Chamber" (totally soundproof cabin) once. I found the experience quite disturbing. The problem with total silence is that it lets you hear sounds your brain usually tunes out completely, like your own pulse or the slight buzz of your nervous system. Even breathing becomes distinctly heard, so after a minute or two it feels very noisy.
Liam Walsh 3 years ago
I wouldn't be able to hear anything over my tinnitus 🤣
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liam newton-harding 3 years ago
BMW had the same problem with their car doors. They engineered them to close silently. Owners would SLAM the doors closed over, and over, and over because they didn't think they had closed properly. In the end they had to design a slight, quiet "thunk" into the doors.
Fitz_N_Fartz 3 years ago
I need sound, I have tinnitus and I need to focus on other sounds to take my mind of the never ending hiss. Looks like I saved a lot of money not buying the RR then! ;-)
Anna Lessens 3 years ago
They didn't want a silent car. Why, sounds great for running people off the road
Masen Silas 3 years ago
I enjoy the pure silence, when my organs process and my brain ticks and my heart beats... I find it extremely zen
#12
TIL That the hair style Princess Leia wears in Star Wars, was inspired by women of the Mexican Revolution, most notably, guerrilla fighter Clara de la Rocha
Phill Healey 3 years ago (edited)
With her rebel hair, she cried more more more...
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Lisa Samuelson 3 years ago
Maybe a photo of this awesome guerrilla fighter Clara de la Rocha would be warranted. ESPECIALLY, since you mentioned her name and she was the inspiration!!
Asi Bassey 3 years ago
She was a guerrilla in a revolution and still had the time to do her hair. If that isn’t impressive I don’t know what is.
PC 3 years ago
Apparently not. Although Audrey Hepburn hated those ['breakfast at tiffany's']
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TIL in 2011, a 29-year-old Australian bartender found an ATM glitch that allowed him to withdraw way beyond his balance. In a bender that lasted four-and-half months, he managed to spend around $1.6 million of the bank’s money
Libstak 3 years ago
There was a guy who did that not more than 15 minutes from where I live using mostly the West end Hotel ATM he was caught after more than 200,000 dollars went out on the same ATM card over a couple of weeks. Idiot even then there were cameras everywhere. However this was more like 2000 than 2011 so this is not the only case in Australia, there are at least 2.
Zero 3 years ago
How did it take that long to figure out? They usually know of mistakes within a refill or three when they settle with the bank or the bill count is way off.
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El Dee 3 years ago
There used to be a few glitches like this. First you could use a blank card to withdraw, they fixed that but you could still withdraw over the counter, immediately go to the ATM and empty your account all over again - if you were quick enough. Then there was the other glitch where payments of less than £15 (I think) weren't checked against the bank at all. You could buy things with a zero balance and even with an out of date card below the amount. A tiny number of people knew and it kept them in alcohol and cigarettes, banks were REALLY lucky not to lose big on this one. That's all I can think of off the top of my head..
Sergy Yeltsen 3 years ago
I wouldn't. Because sooner or later, you will be caught, and you will have to pay it back or do jail time.
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Jainendra Prakash 3 years ago
In India, decade back when ATMs were new in rural areas a trick used by so many scamsters & so many times that there is no official loss report. Most of the early ATM will take the dispensed notes back, if the person doesn't take it. notes were lightly pressed by the machine & all the normal people will take all the money. if they don't take it in 10 seconds, machine will pull the money in & credit back the amount to your account. Some smarties start to game the machines, they would withdraw large amount & take only few notes from bottom of the pile very slowly. after 10 seconds machines will take the reduced amount back & credit back the full amount. Even though Banks realized this problem after few months, they had no concrete way to know which canceled transaction was fraud, because with most of the rural people new to ATMs canceled transactions were common occurrences in rural areas. Without evidence they can't simply blame a person whose transaction got canceled.
Moreover, if you consume too many facts at once, you may feel a bit swamped. This does beg the question, what’s the point in learning it all if we’re not going to remember it later? According to Kornell, the best way to make information stick is to revisit it multiple times. "And don't do it all at once; if you can wait a few days before revisiting information, your memory strength will benefit a lot from looking at that information again," he suggested.
#14
TIL about Jean Boulet who in 1972 set the world record for the highest altitude reached in a helicopter, 40,280ft. During descent his engines failed, and he landed the helicopter without power, setting another record in the process for the highest unpowered helicopter landing
Paul Davis 3 years ago
Actually the higher you are when a helicopter loses power, the better the autorotation works to slow you down for a safe landing. What you don't want to be is too low for it to have the effect.
J. F. 3 years ago (edited)
That's why helicopters are quite save when an engine breakdown happens, the blades still generate a small enough amount of lift while "falling down" to enable a save landing most of the times
Robert T 3 years ago
It's called auto-rotation. The air moving over the blades as the aircraft falls keep the blades spinning. By using the fall to spin the blades faster, then changing the angle of the blades to generate more lift, the fall can be arrested and the helicopter landed. I believe you have to do it as part of your helicopter pilots licence exam.
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Marco Conti 3 years ago
That's called "autorotation". For a good pilot it's not a huge deal, in fact, they have to practice it. Not from 40K ft though.
#15
TIL every year at 3 p.m. on Christmas Eve, the 1958 special 'Donald Duck and His Friends Wish You a Merry Christmas' is screened on Sweden's main channel. Swedes are so compelled by the cartoon that last year during the program, cell data usage fell 28% and calls to emergency services dropped 16%
Nathaniel 3 years ago
"Quick! We are being robbed! Ring the police!" "Not when I am watching Donald Duck! I'll be with you in a minute."
Zero 3 years ago
"Give me all your stuff" ... "Oi, Donald Duck's on!"... "My bad, can I join?"
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Peter Häggmyr 3 years ago
There is a reason for this. Disney didn't allow swedish national television (SVT) to show any disney productions, with one exception... On christmas eve SVT was allowed to show one hour of disney if they also showed a clip from the next upcoming film (as a trailer). From 1958 to 1992 that was the only disney material shown on TV.
The Scout 3 years ago
Similar cult status was archieved in Germany by the 1973 Czech/German fairytale movie "Drei Haselnüsse für Aschenbrödel" ("Three Hazelnuts for Cinderella"), which is aired at at least 15-20 times on different TV channels every year in December (usually about 5-10 times on Christmas Eve alone), not counting streaming providers.
B181 3 years ago
Yep, we have German friends who were very, very surprised when they found out we had never even HEARD of that movie. And we're Belgian! It's not like we live far away. Very specific national tradition.
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InfectedVoice 3 years ago
In Britain it's The Snowman, with "walking in the air" that people watch every year, personally I watched it enough when I was a kid, it was sad at the end though.
VikingAbroad 3 years ago
And this is why three churches in the country side of Denmark, where the show is also aired) finishes the last semron at half past three. The pastor has to get home to watch the show as well as the other church workers. In earlier days the last sermon ended at four precisely, and then with cleaning and everything the show would end before the staff got home.
Yoinks! 3 years ago
Did you know that Disney makes (well, probably not anymore) movies that are almost exclusively for Russian audiences? Disney produced a trilogy of live-action, Shrek-style parodies of Russian fairy tales known as the "Last Knight"-- or "Last Warrior" depending on the translator--franchise. I've seen English-language publicity material for the first film, but no sign of release outside the Russian Federation.
#16
TIL when you see actors smoking cigarettes in movies, they’re often smoking “Herbal Cigarettes” which contain other plants like lettuce or tea leaves instead of tobacco
Nathaniel 3 years ago
Is that what my crazy hippy uncle smokes? He says his funny smelling smokes are herbal.
Paul C. 3 years ago
Nathaniel, yes absolutely just herbal.....definitely, no doubt about it, whatsoever.
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Jessi Lovely 3 years ago
Yep, I had to do this in the foreground of a scene where for conversations with friends BBC and let me tell you, after 10 takes I might have well have been smoking real cigarettes because they are still disgusting 🤢
foofoofloofy 3 years ago
TIL that Fitz_N_Fartz learned that TIL meant today I learned...
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Gerald Taylor 3 years ago
I don't think they are actually smoking, they pretend to inhale but no smoke comes out
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DE Ray 3 years ago (edited)
Nicotine is basically insecticide. Even if an actor is a habitual smoker, they could get sick from multiple takes (even a pack-a-day smoker wouldn't have the tolerance built up to do 50-60 for that "perfect shot"), not to mention the effect on non-smokers.
Load More Replies..."I have published studies where we asked people to predict how much they could learn by studying. The results are quite clear and consistent: People underestimate how much they can learn. And how much they can improve in general," the professor told Bored Panda.
"For example, if we asked participants how well they would do on a test if they got to study four times, they predicted a level of performance far worse than how they actually did on the test," he continued. "Our data shows that it's never too late to learn something new — and happily, learning new things is usually easier than you think!"
#17
TIL a father, John Crowley, was told his two infant children had an incurable genetic disorder that would kill them in less than a year. He refused to accept this, so he founded a biotech company (with no prior experience) which pioneered an experimental enzyme therapy that saved their lives
Susie Elle 3 years ago (edited)
Detail which will probably make me come off as sour: he didn't found the company that pioneered the enzyme, he teamed up with someone (a glycobiologist, MD and PhD) and co-founded Novazyme which invested in the research which had already been done on Pompe (the disease) and the two enzyme replacement therapies that were ready to be tested to cure it. His children receibed the first dose a few years after the initial human trials had started, and that did, in fact, save their lives :)
Upstaged75 3 years ago
They made a movie about it - Extraordinary Measures with Harrison Ford. His children had Pompe disease. Interesting fact - my brother and my nephew are carriers of Pompe disease but do not have the version where they are affected. (I may be a carrier too but I've never gotten tested since I never planned to procreate anyway) We didn't even know about it until my nephew was born and it was discovered in his newborn blood screening. His wife thought it came from her side of the family since she is Jewish, but nope; it came from my family's pasty white Anglo-Saxon genes. My brother's 2nd kid does NOT have it. Genes are weird! If there is one working gene and one non-working gene for the disease, the person will be a carrier.
Bruce Mardle 3 years ago
It's the subject of the 2010 film 'Extraordinary Measures'. I took my girlfriend to the cinema to see it on our first date and we're still together.
#18
TIL Cato once believed he caught Caesar reading a note implicating himself in a conspiracy to assassinate Cicero during a session of the Senate. Forcing the note to be read to the Senate, it turned out to be a love letter from his own sister to Caesar who had slept w her the night before
Susie Elle 3 years ago
And this, kids, is why proper sentence building is important (unless I'm the only one who at first though the 'his own sister' referred to Caesar's sister and not Cato's).
glowworm2 3 years ago
I also thought that it was referring to Caesar's sister.
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Randolph Croft 3 years ago
Double points for it being Cato the Censor. Well known for having no sense of humour.
Martin Kaine 3 years ago
That sister was Servilia, mother of Brutus, who eventually killed Caesar.
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
Serves Cato right for writing those impossible-to-understand, haughty, boring Latin texts we were forced to read in advanced Latin classes.
Goth Nurse 3 years ago
For those who don't know, Caesar is not a name. It's a title. For example Julius Caesar is a Caesar and his name is Julius. So therefore it's important to specify which one of the Caesars you're talking about.
#19
TIL when one adventurer drove a Jeep Wrangler to the world record altitude of 6,646 m, he left a sign saying "Jeep Parking Only: All others don't make it up here anyway.". The next record breakers, who had a Suzuki Samurai and climbed up to 6,688 m on the same volcano, removed that sign
Frank S 3 years ago
Getting some Top Gear/Grand Tour vibes here, and loving it!
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Richard Nichols 3 years ago
Omg the Suzuki Samurai was one of my two favorite cars at one point. They're so small and cute.
AzKhaleesi 3 years ago
haha suzuki samurai, my parents had one, I loved that thing. Learned how to drive in it too. I would love to find one and re build it just like theirs. They had one of only THREE special paint jobs ever on that little thing. It was so awesome.
#20
TIL that Toyota is headquartered in the city of Toyota, Japan and was founded there, but is not named after the city. In fact, the city (originally called Koromo) renamed itself after the company in 1959, because Toyota had become so famous
Vorknkx 3 years ago (edited)
Toyota was named after its founder, Kiichiro Toyoda. They changed the "d" to a "t" because it sounded better.
Frank Ropen 3 years ago
"Rizaburo Toyoda preferred "Toyota because it took eight brush strokes (a lucky number) to write in Japanese, was visually simpler , and with a voiceless consonant instead of a voiced one. Since toyoda literally means "fertile rice paddies", changing the name also prevented the company from being associated with old-fashioned farming"
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#21
TIL: The Coconut Monk was a pacifist mystic who founded the Coconut Religion in Vietnam. He lived on an island, meditated in a palm tree for hours every day, had a cat and mouse as his companions, made shards of bombs into a gong, and went to prison for his opposition to the Vietnam War
Carl Galante 3 years ago
If he lived out on an island, how did anyone know of his opposition to the Vietnam War? I think the mouse must have ratted on him!
Marcelo Mabuchi 3 years ago
He must've been a hella pacifist if he managed to keep a cat and a mouse on friendly terms
François Carré 3 years ago
I'm not a religious person but I would convert to this with no doubt.
#22
TIL in 2013, JCPenney sold a stainless steel tea kettle that attracted controversy due to its perceived resemblance to Adolf Hitler
Rannveig Ess 3 years ago
I actually have one. I put it up on eBay 4 times because I want to sell it and they took the listing down, saying I was promoting "Nazi" themed items. I never used that word, never mentioned the person who it looks like. Trolls reported it because it "offended them" even tho nothing was ever mentioned. I'm rolling my eyes out loud as I type this :)
Anna Lessens 3 years ago
Hey...that's an insult to kettles. At least they don't plan genocides
#23
TIL 12% of the world's total languages are found in Papua New Guinea, which has over 820 indigenous languages. There are more languages on this island than in any other country
Ozzie Ogawa 3 years ago
It's caused by isolation of populations. It can take days to travel from one village to another, due to it's mountainous geography and dense jungles.
David A Paterson 3 years ago
My hypothesis is that it's caused by war. It is not in the interests of any tribe to let their enemy tribes know what they are speaking.
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Aniket Kulkarni 3 years ago
*laughs in Indian* https://indianexpress.com/article/india/more-than-19500-mother-tongues-spoken-in-india-census-5241056/
Shay Tracy 3 years ago
And pretty much each village speaks a different dialect, whether it's hiking or flying distance away. I went to high school on the Indonesian side of the island and got to spend some time in a handful of the interior villages-- absolutely fascinating.
David A Paterson 3 years ago
I've heard that Australia has more, but am not absolutely sure of that. On checking, no it's not true, Australia has less than 363 indigenous languages with fewer than 150 in daily use. The indigenous languages are extremely diverse, they come in classes of course, and within some of these classes there is no more difference than say between Sanskrit and English. But between indigenous languages of different classes, the variation is greater than between any two Asian/European/American languages.
#24
TIL in 2000, an art exhibition in Denmark featured ten functional blenders containing live goldfish. Visitors were given the option of pressing the “on” button. At least one visitor did, killing two goldfish. This led to the museum director being charged with and, later, acquitted of animal cruelty
Tenacious Squirrel 3 years ago
How horrible. Whoever thought this up is disturbed. Don’t think the director should have been acquitted, and neither should the visitor who pressed the button.
Auntriarch 3 years ago
All of them. "Artist", director, and murdering bastard.
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LRevello 3 years ago
Why wouldn't they just make it a social experiment and instead of the blender turning on, there was a giant BUZZ or the lights in the room all changed to red or something?? So many ways to get the same effect without harming the goldfish.
Auntriarch 3 years ago
Exactly. Though I would probably favour an electric shock
Load More Replies... Andy Acceber 3 years ago
Down-voting this simply because I hate it. I wish I did not learn that today.
Caroline Nagel 3 years ago
One of our most famous Belgian artists, Jan Fabre, thought it was a good idea to torture kittens for an 'art' project, by throwing them in the air. He is now found guilty by a court of law for sexual harrassment. This goes to show what a disgusting piece of c**p this 'artist' is. Using/torturing animals for 'art' is dispicable.
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
Can we go back to art being things like pictures, paintings, sculptures, music, etc? You know, things that don´t involve animal/human cruelty, blank canvas, or monkey NFTs?
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Art has no boundaries, it is subjective, that's quite a ridiculous thing to say, though I am in no way condoning this horrible animal cruelty but art has no guidelines or boxes to fit it into to.
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Paul Davis 3 years ago
what was that short story about the button that would give the person pressing it $1 million but some random stranger in the world would die...was supposed to be this big, tense, dramatic thing. And somebody did a skit on it where the person being tested just kept hammering the button without even the slightest hesitation because why would they hesitate over some random stranger dying? Cash mon-ey man
Radha Gopinath Mandir 3 years ago
But doing the exactly same thing to baby male chickens is somehow ok...?
#25
TIL A killing committed on an iceberg outside of any country's territorial waters led to such a massive kerfuffle over the questions of jurisdiction and who had the right to try the defendant that it is being examined as a possible case study in the event murder occurs in outer space
Joe Reaves 3 years ago
The jurisdictional fight was somewhat simplified by Canada (the nearest country) basically saying - we really do not want to get involved in this - and passing the ball. It was an American military run base on an ice floe in international waters with a mix of military and civilian employees from multiple countries.
O.M.Miki 3 years ago
it depends where in space ( if it happened on a spacecraft or space station belonging to that country the accused should be tried in their home country) If on a planet other than earth or the moon I think some kind of outer space council would need to be established that only deals with criminal activity outside of earth involving a citizen of earth.
John Dilligaf 3 years ago
in such cases don't most nations claim legal jurisdiction over their citizens? So, for example, if a Canadian killed someone on an iceberg in international waters (or in space) wouldn't the Canadian gov't have jurisdiction?
Mary Leverett 3 years ago
"........... in the event murder occurs...." It's JUST a matter of time.
Dawn Marie 3 years ago
Shouldn't it be the origin of the country of either the victim or the murderer?
#26
TIL The Tarzan Character Was Temporarily Removed From Disney Parks Because People Kept Pinching His Butt Cheeks
E Menendez 3 years ago
How awful that so many think that if it is a man, it is ok to touch them inappropriately. Consent is required for everyone.
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BorrowedThoughts 3 years ago
yep ive seen a video of trying to squeeze his *chest area*
Load More Replies... Margie Ang 3 years ago
The Tarzan character was removed, but what about the harassment to the female characters like Ariel? I haven't heard of any such measures there...
Cory Tollman 3 years ago
I saw a thing where it seems like pretty much all of the face characters have issues with park guests being inappropriate to them. Gaston apparently gets felt up a bit but people playing Ariel get outright assaulted. Smart asses thinking it's funny to remove the employee's shells. The post I saw indicates that there was a park policy for when people did things like this and took inappropriate photos. Considering that Disney World has had its own police force since the 70s I'd like to think that there'd be more than just having the photos of the assault being removed though.
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Cory Tollman 3 years ago
Disney World need to post a sign at its gates stating that they have their own police force and they are in the everglades. "Nope, grabby McDouchenozzle never made it to the park". News: "World Record Rators all around Disney World. Biologist Stumped"
#27
TIL that one if the original ingredients for a Milkshake was Whiskey
Vorknkx 3 years ago
There were times when giving whiskey to a kid was seen as (somewhat) acceptable...
Nemo 3 years ago
When you buy heroïne at the pharmacy for your cough, giving whiskey to your kid isn't a far stretch
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Huddo's sister 3 years ago
I've been making smoothies with Baileys and similar things recently.
TheNewJenBrady 3 years ago
Fireball+McDonald's vanilla milkshake=best grown-up milkshake. So tasty
Zero 3 years ago
Milkshake + Baileys... both chocolate and vanilla are good.
Load More Replies... Cuppa tea? 3 years ago
No one is stopping you from adding whiskey into your milkshake. Just have filled up hipflask at ready.
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#28
TIL that Hans Zimmer deliberately used a broken piano for the score of Guy Ritchie's "Sherlock Holmes" to make it sound like something you would hear in a pub
Carrie de Luka 3 years ago
Yep, every pub I go into has a broken piano being played daily 🤷 Or maybe they mean 'way back when' ??? Works though so that's all that matters I suppose!
Orillion 3 years ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sherlock_Holmes_(soundtrack) At first, Zimmer had his own piano detuned. But he found that it did not accomplish his goal. It simply sounded out of tune. He asked his assistant to locate a broken piano for him. The first piano they located was passed over as it had obviously been loved and cared for. But the second piano they found was the one they used in the production of Sherlock Holmes. Zimmer said "We rented 20th Century Fox’s underground car park one Sunday and did hideous things to a piano."
CelticElff 3 years ago
I thought they'd tuned it that way for effect. This ^ makes more sense to me now.
Sharkie 3 years ago
Like record a movie score in a pub? They did not specify origin of the piano only that it was broken...
Load More Replies... #29
TIL that Daniel Inouye, who served 50 years in the U.S. Senate, destroyed three German machine gun nests in a single assault in the WWII Italian Campaign. The third nest was destroyed after Inouye grabbed a live grenade from his severed right hand and threw it through the firing slit with his left
Frank Miller 3 years ago
Ha! Look up Smedley Butler if you want badass...
Load More Replies... tmw 3 years ago
and he was japanese. He wasn't allowed to enlist at first. (thank you, drunk history)
Martin Kaine 3 years ago
He was a 17-year old volunteer with the Red Cross during Pearl Harbor. He talked in Ken Burns' The War about the wounded sailors coming in......they were not pleased to see him as an American of Japanese descent.
Load More Replies... Martin Kaine 3 years ago
....and when he awoke from being unconscious, and saw his men standing around him, he told them "Nobody called off the war!"
Joy Hunter 3 years ago
I never knew any details but he was a thoroughly impressive man with great gravitas. A linguist by profession and, as I recall, a damn good Senator.
#30
TIL Mini pigs aka Teacup pigs are a hoax. They are just potbellied pigs that have been underfed to stunt their growth and will eventually grow to weigh 100-150 pounds
Tigerpacingthecage 3 years ago
I had a co-worker with two house pet-pigs in her apartment. They are full size pigs and eat a lot. She used to go home on her lunch break to feed them.
Eva Ribes 3 years ago
People buy them and ditch them when they find out how much expense and work goes into their care. How do I know? My friend runs a sanctuary and currently has 11 rescues. Every single day she gets requests to take more in too!
Paul Davis 3 years ago
You'd think it would be easy and profitable enough to breed an actual teacup pig species.
Adrienne Mcginley 3 years ago
As with any pet, do your research before you get one, & always, ALWAYS check shelters first. They have many more animals than just dogs & cats.
Vanessa Richardson 3 years ago
I completely believe this, but if so, can someone explain the famous mini pigs Prissy and Pops? Serious question (Instagram for reference) https://www.instagram.com/prissy_pig/?hl=en
B181 3 years ago
While I can't speak for those specific pigs, there ARE actual mini pig breeds in the world. Besides that, there are also regular pigs that can suffer from rare genetic disorders which limit growth, much like dwarfism in people (apologies, I know there's a newer more acceptable term for it but I don't know it in English). This one is slightly misleading, because there most certainly ARE pigs that well-fed still won't grow to over two or three kilograms. They're just much rarer than people think, and MOST sold or passed off as teacup pigs are simply underfed piglets.
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#31
TIL about Jon Lech Johansen, a self-trained software engineer who created software that decoded DVD copy protection. Johansen defended himself against computer hacking charges, arguing he didn't access anyone else's information: he owned the DVDs. He was acquitted in 2003
Paul Davis 3 years ago
This is one of those situations where a corporation charges someone of breaking a law that doesn't exist and the defendant has to prove that the law doesn't exist - meanwhile, the agencies who are supposed to understand and enforce the law just do whatever the corporation said to do.
Immortal Emperor Paradox 3 years ago
Just saw his wiki and blog. This guy is just awesome.
Load More Replies... #32
TIL the first reality show was 1973’s An American Family documenting the life of a family, but ended up breaking it up – 10 million people watched as mom Pat complained about husband Bill’s cheating, moaned about their sex life and then, midway through filming, asked him for a divorce on camera
nooneimportant 3 years ago
...and that was the last time that "reality" was used on Reality shows
Jennifer Crompton 3 years ago
This is still a documentary in my opinion. It doesn't sound like there were situations contrived by the film makers. If they were just following the family, what makes it a reality show vs a documentary?
Lizzie Smith 3 years ago
7 up was a British reality show following a group of kids from age 7 in 1964 and revisiting them every 7 years, most recently in 2019.
#33
TIL about the Financial Modeling World Cup, which is essentially the World Cup for Competitive excel users. Participants solve real-life case studies by building financial models in Microsoft Excel. $25,000 prize fund
Troux 3 years ago
Though no longer running, the nerdiest competition I can think of is Cicada 3301.
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Brian Michael 3 years ago
Looked it up, such a cash grab. You have to pay to receive case studies that you create the model for, than you accrue points in your respective category you are competing in. The most accumulated points in each category win and they SPLIT the $25,000. The leader in 1 category is 2456 points and by my math has spent around $1400 on case studies to complete to get there....the top prize is $100. If you compete in the World Cup you can win $7000 in first and it descends after that.
Naesil 🇫🇮 3 years ago
I have not looked into this competition, but I have seen years ago some promo photos either from this or some similar competition, and I think if you have "best Excel user in North America" credentials I would think you can pretty much choose the company you work for :D
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New Everywhere 3 years ago
Damn competitions for everything you can think of. Competitive Excel users...like, Whaaa?!
#34
TIL that January is the first month of the Gregorian calendar because it is named after the roman god of all beginnings, Janus
Laura Ketteridge 3 years ago
This is not correct! Originally the Roman calendar had 10 months. There were also different calendars for different usages. The consular year started when consuls first took office. This was originally around the 1st of May, but then moved back to the around the 11th of March. Around 700BCE two new months were added, January and February. It wasn't until about 154BCE that the 1st of January was declared to the start of the year. When Julius Caesar instituted his new calendar, he maintained the 1st of Jan as the start of the year. Pope Gregory kept that date too. However, that is the Roman empire. In Scotland, the switch to the 1st of Jan was in 1600 (1599 was a short year Mar-Dec). In 1752, the UK and British Empire adopted the Gregorian calendar, and joined Scotland in having the 1st of Jan as the start of the year.
Laura Ketteridge 3 years ago
The switch to the 1st of Jan and the Gregorian happened at the same time in some countries, but in other countries there could be a century or two difference.
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#35
TIL that after 5 Tamil chiefs defeated the Sri Lankan king Valagamba, one of them became king but was eventually slain by another, who also became king before being slain by another, and so on until only one remained, then Valagamba returned, slew the last one and took back his throne
Remi 3 years ago
Dunno... chefs can be vicious and they aren't short on knifes 😅
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#36
TIL the reason why coffee makes you poop is because caffeine activates contractions in your colon and intestinal muscles
ChimeraBubbles 3 years ago
I've often wondered because I don't get this reaction from coffee and thought I was weird. Idk.
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Eat Dirt Crow 3 years ago
Caffeine keeps you awake by filling your adenosine receptors in your brain basically cutting off your brain from adenosine. Adenosine is the chemical your body makes that makes you tired. The only way to flush it out is to sleep. The reason you "crash" is that the caffeine eventually gets removed and the adenosine rushes in and fills the void faster than would happen naturally.
RandomFrog 3 years ago
Omg this makes so much sense!! I have a coffee every morning before the car ride to school and I’m always so gassy/need to poop on the drive there and I thought there was just something in my beans/flavoring/milk
Mer☕️🧭☕️ 3 years ago
Same here - I don't think there are different "types" of caffeine yet Pepsi Zero and teas don't have the #2 effect on me yeeeeeeeeeeet Coke Zero...does. I don't understand it.
Load More Replies... Joy Hunter 3 years ago
In my experience decaf has/can have the same effect, so it may be that VERY little caffeine is needed.
#37
TIL it took an Iowa man named Otto Frederick Rohwedder some 16 years to perfect and sell the first bread-slicing machine. A prototype made in 1912 was destroyed in a fire, and he didn't sell his first slicing machine until 1928. Within 5 years, 80% of bread sold in the U.S. was pre-sliced
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
And the best idea before sliced bread was Betty White.
Load More Replies... James Doe 3 years ago
Word. That has nothing to do woth bread! Just check how much sugar is in that "bread "
Load More Replies... Amanda Hunter 3 years ago
I much prefer a whole loaf so I can choose the thickness of the slices.
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 years ago
Most bread (white, brown, seed, wholegrain, etc.) in Mzansi comes pre-sliced. You can still get unsliced loaves, but they're usually the 'store bread' which is cheaper (and usually a bit smaller). I love sliced bread - I am very clumsy due to bad eyesight and having evenly-sliced bread is fantastic.
#38
TIL that one of the earliest recorded variations of classic dad phrase "Women: can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em" is found in a speech from 102 B.C. by Roman Censor Q. Caecilius Metellus Numidicus, in a speech that would be repeated by Caesar Augustus nearly a century later
Anna Lessens 3 years ago
Yeah men are trapped in our paradox....but we're trapped in their world
MarioRossi 3 years ago
"[...] nec cum illis satis commode, nec sine illis ullo modo vivi possit."
Niall Mac Iomera 3 years ago
"Sex, drugs, and rock 'n' roll" is just the modern version of "wine, women, and song"
#39
TIL that the 2014 Nobel Prize in physics was awarded to the three men who invented the blue LED. Until their discovery in the 90s, white LED lights couldn't be produced
Anagram margana 3 years ago
A most unfortunate discovery. Christmas and pathway lights just aren’t the same. (And don’t get me started on those blinding white LED auto headlights.) Bring back the bulbs with the warm yellow glow!!
T. D. Bostick 3 years ago
The ones that use 10x as much energy? No thanks. Have you seen electricity prices recently?
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#40
TIL that when his film Uncut Gems began to receive critical acclaim, Adam Sandler threatened the world with making "the worst movie ever" if he did not receive a nomination for Best Actor at the Oscars. He was not nominated
Bashicka 3 years ago
and since then he keeps his promise trying to make the worst film ever ... that explains a lot
New Everywhere 3 years ago
Yes, it had a great story and characters. Also and I did enjoy Blended as well.
Load More Replies... Kim Shannon 3 years ago
Almost everything he made up to that point already WAS the worst film ever, so, hollow threat, Adam. I thought he did a great job in Uncut Gems, but WHY was everyone screaming at each other the whole time??
Francisco Garcia Bustamante 3 years ago (edited)
and that promise somehow was retroactive to all their other films
Ivana Bašić 3 years ago
And still waiting for the next one, his stuff isn't Oscar material, but I love it anyway.
#41
TIL of Samuel Upham, a Philadelphia merchant who printed over $15 million Confederate dollars from 1862-63. The fake notes widely circulated in the South. When investigated by the US Government, his case was dismissed as it's not illegal to counterfeit currency of a country not recognized by the US
#42
TIL that the 1970s disco mega-hit "More, More, More" was recorded in Jamaica by American porn star Andrea True. She was there to film some commercials, but a diplomatic dispute with the USA forced her to choose between spending her pay there or forfeiting it. She decided to pay for a demo record
#43
TIL that in 1946, the Argentinian government imported 50 beavers in an attempt to start a fur trade. There are now 200,000 and they are threatening over 39 million acres of forest
Shannon Kathleen 3 years ago
Nutria, a similar looking (minus the tail) but unrelated species, were introduced to the USA from South America for the fur trade. The population exploded in our marsh lands where they are terribly destructive. The fur proved to be unmarketable.
Karl Leaning 3 years ago
yeah, possums were imported to New Zealand from Australia in an attempt to start a fur trade. Unfortunately there are no natural predators for the possums here, and they are busy eating the native plants and birds. Until settlement by humans, NZ had no native mammals (other than a few species of bat). Birds had evolved to fill the gaps normally occupied by mammals, and had little to no defences against creatures such as the possum.
Darla Taylor 3 years ago
Same deal with raccoons in Alaska, don’t know if they’re threatening forests but know they were introduced there for their pelts.
Caroline Nagel 3 years ago
There are nearly 8 billion humans, who threaten nature everywhere. I think that is much worse than a few beavers.
François Carré 3 years ago
I get your point but that's not fair to put the blame on the whole human species. Actually only a handful of rich assholes is threatening and harming the planet and making big profit on it.The biggest part of the 8 billion humans you're talking about is not guilty of that, and most of them are poor people who will likely be the first to suffer the consequences of the greed of others. Don't tar everyone with the same brush. Even with 8 billion people we could still all have a decent and environment-friendly life, if it was not for the completely f****d-up economic system we insist on maintaining.
Load More Replies... #44
TIL that the Dutch secret service set up a fake pro-China communist party to gather information on the Chinese government. The party's leader, secret agent Pieter Boevé, developed warm relations with the Chinese government and even met Mao Zedong himself
mulk 3 years ago
no "Left": communists are on the "left side".... ahahahah
Load More Replies... #45
TIL that in 1914, 17 year old Princess Mary decided to distribute tin boxes containing small Christmas gifts to British Empire troops at the frontlines in WW1. After trying to finance it from her own allowance she set up a fund, appealed to the public and raised the equivalent of £17M today
#46
TIL that the Red Cell, a team led by the original commander of SEAL Team 6 (Richard Marcinko) to test the security of government installations. Red Cell would sneak into military bases, steal classified information, kidnap high ranking officers and admirals, and even plant bombs near Air Force One
Troux 3 years ago
He's written several books on his life, and advised on a few Tom Clancy books/video games IIRC.
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#47
TIL of the Experimental Lakes Area. A research station of 58 formerly pristine freshwater lakes in Canada purposely polluted with everything from fertilizers to anti-depressants to study the effects on aquatic life. It is the only such site in the world
Kassiopeia 3 years ago (edited)
Don't be sad. Go to one of these lakes and drink a bit, the anti-depressants are gonna help (joke)
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David A Paterson 3 years ago
I would love to see the results. Serotonin is a natural neurotransmitter chemical in animals as diverse as humans and locusts. In locusts it has a dramatic effect on behaviour, essentially making them much less depressed. The SSRI anti-depressants act on serotonin to stop depression in humans without having significant negative effects, so hopefully should make life better for a whole suite of animals, including hopefully all vertebrates. That could make them extremely useful in saving species from extinction.
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
I think the definition of "significant negative effects" is important here, as well as how each individual would define that for themselves. For me, the complete obliteration of my sex drive was a significant negative effect, but I didn't want to die anymore, so I accepted the side effect.
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Alex Foster 3 years ago
While this is quite the statement- Canada also has the greatest amount of fresh water in the world, so it's basically the only place that could get away with it. I find it not much different to body farms where they lay out corpses to see what happens to decay in different conditions- They're using a controlled area to test the effects of pollutants, so they will not only be able to better protect water sources in places with less accessible freshwater, but also look into the possibilities for effective ways of removing the pollutants.
#48
TIL That philosopher Voltaire got rich by exploiting the French state bond lottery with the help of a mathematician Charles Marie de la Condamine by forming a syndicate that bought huge number of low value lottery tickets (connected with state bonds) effectively ensuring constant payouts
François Carré 3 years ago
Voltaire was a malicious guy. Quite a flawed character actually, conceited, opportunistic and greedy, but a brilliant and awesome man all the same.
Eat Dirt Crow 3 years ago
He worked out that the winnings were more than the ticket costs. Step 3: profit.
#49
TIL of “Nobel Disease”, a tendency for Nobel Prize winners to adopt pseudoscientific ideas later in life
InfiniteZero 3 years ago
Young Sheldon is going to end with a reveal that after his Nobel Prize win he and Penny teamed up to sell essential oils at train stations up and down the west coast.
David A Paterson 3 years ago
OMG. I can think of several sufferers. Linus Pauling being a famous one, two Nobel Prizes.
#50
TIL that a 1959 archeological expedition attempted to re-enact Hannibal's route through the Alps with an actual Elephant. After 10 days of travel, they successfully led the former circus elephant Juno from France into Italy
David A Paterson 3 years ago
The elephant species that Hannibal crossed the Alps on is now extinct. The North African elephant, also called the North African forest elephant. But it may only have been a subspecies of the African bush elephant found sub-Sahara.
#51
TIL the reason why many 90s cartoons had a shoe horned educational message for kids is because of the introduction of the 1991 "Children's Television Act" which required kids TV programs to serve the "educational and informational" needs of childen
Na Schi 3 years ago
As a kid I found this often so annoying as the educational purpose was so poorly hidden/integrated into the plot... On the other hand I truly loved the French cartoon series "Once upon a time...". This was so fun to watch while learning new things.
T'Mar of Vulcan 3 years ago
Yes! It was dubbed into Afrikaans here when it was shown (late '70s/early '80s) and was called "Eendag Was Daar..." (One Day There Was...). When my brother found it online I was over the moon!
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Susie Elle 3 years ago
I gotta admit that loads of the so-called educational messages were totally lost on me
StarmanWaitingInTheSky 3 years ago
"Sailor Moon says" . Gargoyles had some blatant messages, like when Hudson was talking about the importance of reading. It was a bit cheesy when you caught those messages. Most of the time it went over our heads. Watching them again, as an adult, they hit different. I don't think I understood much of everything that was going on in the shows. Likely because I was doing other things and had them on in the background.
Eat Dirt Crow 3 years ago
Wheel of morality, turn, turn, turn, tell us the lesson that we should learn... And today's lesson is...
Nikki Sevven 3 years ago
In the '70s, we had PSA "advertisements" during the commercial breaks. My favorite was: https://youtu.be/U3jgo5ea_zc (I Hanker for a Hunk of Cheese).
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
Reminds me of the old Sonic cartoon. "Don't play in the washing machine or it'll break your bones."
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
The 80's show I watched all had a nice little message and/or lesson at at the end, I definitely remember Orko from He-Man and Snarf from Thundercats giving little speeches at the end.
Yoinks! 3 years ago
The Fenslerfilm GIJoe PSA parodies are hilarious. On the other hand, British PSAs from the '70s are nightmare fuel I cannot believe anyone showed them to children. If one can find 'em, watch Apaches, The Spirit of Dark and Lonely Water or Building Sites Bite! But don't blame me for any trauma you suffer.
Load More Replies... Anna Lessens 3 years ago
Now they do it so subtle you don't realize until someone says it..like Zootropolis
#52
TIL about "mundane science fiction," a sci-fi literary movement driven by creating plausible extensions of existing science and technology; situating stories on Earth or within the Solar System, thereby lacking the use of interstellar or intergalactic travel; and not considering contact with aliens
Randolph Croft 3 years ago
That used to be the separation of 'science fiction' and 'science fantasy.'
François Carré 3 years ago
Exactly my thought. Each episode of Black Mirror made me think "wait, this is not really science-fiction, we're just one crazy tech trend or a few years away from that kind of s**t". This is precisely what made me thrill, each time. Same feeling with the British series "Years and years" that takes place in GB between 2020 and 2030.
Load More Replies... SCP 504 3 years ago
Not really. It’s plausible, but still not a fact. It’s just a made up story. A more real made up story, but made up nonetheless
Load More Replies... #53
TIL golf champion Ben Hogan was in a near-fatal car crash. Hit head on by a bus, Hogan threw himself in front of his wife to protect her, that saved him from being impaled by the steering wheel. After 2 month in the hospital and multiple surgeries, Hogan won 6 more majors, including 3 in one year
#54
TIL Mazda had to issue at least *two* recalls because spiders could cause their vehicles to catch on fire
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
Seriously, how did the spider do that? Was it or it's net set on fire by the engine or something?
#55
TIL If you are blind in the UK, you can get 50% off your TV license (£79.50). Also, you can have a black and white licence which is only £53.50
Dill 3 years ago
A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts, or the possession of a television set where some broadcasts are funded in full or in part by the licence fee paid. The fee is sometimes also required to own a radio or receive radio broadcasts. In the UK it gives us the BBC... and ad free tv. The BBC Charter is due to end in 2027 and at that point licensing may be scrapped and a new way to fund the BBC created. Sorry, probably an overly detailed answer!!
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#56
TIL Sanrio, the company responsible for Hello Kitty, started out selling silk in the 1960s. When they started to sell sandals, the founder noticed that sandals with cuter designs sold better. This caused him to hire cartoonists to create cute characters for his company
Call Me Mars 3 years ago
I used to be obsessed with Hello Kitty when I was younger! Hello Kitty everything!
Seán Baron 3 years ago
Hello Kitty is English, and is the height of four apples stacked on top of each other.
#57
TIL there's a fake American Wild West town in England, called Laredo, built by re-enactors, who bring it to life every other weekend
Tenacious Squirrel 3 years ago
It’s in Kent for anyone who’s interested, though it’s not open to the general public. I had to look this up as though I’m from the UK originally, I’d never heard of it!
Laugh or not 3 years ago
There are several in Spain that were used to film Western movies, completed with Native American or Mexican villages. In case someone wants to re-enact the magnificent seven or the good, the bad and the ugly.
Fat Harry 3 years ago
Now it makes sense why the Western AR game they play in Series 6 of Red Dwarf, episode "Gunmen of the Apocalypse" is called "Streets of Laredo".
TheNewJenBrady 3 years ago
This photo looks like it's from Bodie, California. Bodie is a really interesting, well preserved ghost town in the Sierra Nevada mountains. Definitely worth visiting
#58
TIL that a small part of southern Florida is the only place in the world where crocodiles and alligators coexist
Eat Dirt Crow 3 years ago
I think we can all agree that you won the internet today.
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Upstaged75 3 years ago
The Everglades - where you now have twice the chance of being eaten alive!! :) I wonder if they tag team or it's first come first served?
#59
TIL - Tapeworms can live inside you for up to 30 years and grow 80ft long
#60
TIL that the Host of the famous tv show America’s Most Wanted, John Walsh, became an advocate for missing children after his 6 year old son was abducted and brutally murdered in 1981
John L 3 years ago
I thought this was commonly known. But then again, I was an adult at the time.
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
How horrible, and respect to him for turning it into something to help others. Hats off my man.
Wendy Lampl 3 years ago
It wasn't hard to learn, there was a movie, I think it was called Adam, his son's name. IIRC it was a TV movie, maybe in 2 parts.
Wendy Lampl 3 years ago
IMDb: : Adam https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0085136/
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Synsepalum 3 years ago
His son, Adam, was killed by serial killer and Henry Lee Lucas associate Ottis Toole.
BasedWang12 3 years ago
Commonly known in many age groups, but I can see younger people not knowing this
#61
TIL that the Pope is the head of two separate and distinct sovereign entities. Vatican City, A Sovereign City State, and the Holy See, a sovereign juridical entity that acts as the Universal Catholic Central Government
Vorknkx 3 years ago
Other branches of the Catholic government include the Holy Hear, Holy Smell and Holy Touch.
Nathaniel 3 years ago
The Holy Touch has been under a lot of scrutiny of late.
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Jeff Christensen 3 years ago
A See is the domain of a bishop, hence the story that is told of a man who became a bishop after a long time in the Church and remarked "Long time no See".
InfectedVoice 3 years ago
Disgusting nonce-enabling piece of s**t, FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK the Catholic Church, I'm ashamed that I was raised Catholic, denounced that s**t as soon I was able to form my own thoughts and opinions.
#62
TIL in 2017, a Pittsburgh restaurant hosted an event with French-Canadian chefs serving horse tartare. The event sparked public outrage, USDA investigation, and a petition to ban horse meat in Pennsylvania. Horse meat is a delicacy and staple throughout much of French-Canada, Europe, and Asia
Nathaniel 3 years ago
Horse meat was regularly eaten, willingly in the UK, for a long time, and unwillingly until quite recently in cheap lasagnes.
Na Schi 3 years ago
Oh, you had also the horse-meat scandal in the UK? Thought it happened only in Germany. TIL something new.
Load More Replies... DE Ray 3 years ago
A part of why horse meat is not accepted in the US and other locations is because so much medicine was (possibly still is) made with horse serum (plasma). Eating horse meat when you are taking medication made with horse plasma can reduce the effect of the medicine or trigger an adverse reaction.
Zedrapazia 3 years ago
I live in Switzerland, I love horse meat for the grill in summer. It's actually quite tasty
Huddo's sister 3 years ago
I've never tried it (I don't know if you can get it in Australia) but would love to to see how it tastes. For some reason I'm thinking it would be similar to kangaroo, which is nice.
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Plenty Pineapples 3 years ago
I'm not a vegetarian, but why is it cool to eat a cow and not a horse? A life is a life?
K 3 years ago
the western idea of domestication and the idea of horses as pets and "high work" animals rather than multi animal farming like cows, pigs, and chickens. I don't have a problem eating pork, beef, and chicken, but I couldn't eat a horse.
Load More Replies... #63
TIL that the reason Hawaii has the union jack on the top of its flag isnt because they were colonized by the UK, but rather because the king at the time liked the design of the flag when the British arrived
David A Paterson 3 years ago
Hawaii had been familiar with the union jack for many years. Captain James Cook died there in 1779.
sofacushionfort 3 years ago
Beretania Street in Honolulu was named for the pidgin pronunciation of Britain.
#64
TIL that in the original novel of "The Silence of the Lambs", Hannibal Lecter doesn't drink Chianti with the Census taker's liver, but instead Amarone. Amarone is frequently paired with offal, such as Liver, and also with Hunted game
Scooter 3 years ago (edited)
I thought that line was ad-libbed by the actor. Or was that just the lip sucking part?
Alan Gale 3 years ago
Chianti is too light & subtle for heavy meat, but most people have not heard of Amarone; and it was the lip thing that he ad-libbed.
Load More Replies... #65
TIL The Halifax Explosion was the largest man made explosion in recorded history up until that point. Explosives were measured in “Halifaxes” afterward. The first atomic explosion was 10 Halifaxes
David A Paterson 3 years ago
The explosion was in 1917, there were 1,782 confirmed deaths in Halifax, Nova Scotia. This was a French cargo ship laden with high explosives, mostly picric acid. A fire set off all the explosives at once. It retained the record for non-nuclear explosions for 30 years until 1947 when operation Big Bang in Heligoland by British engineers deliberately set off a 3.2 kiloton explosion. Even then, Big Bang was only 10% larger.
Upstaged75 3 years ago
I visited there when I was in high school. We were doing a bus tour and the driver was showing us how far reaching the effects of the explosions were. It was absolutely incredible. We could barely even see the water and felt like we were really far away from the harbor - but they had so much force that buildings were still destroyed and people were killed where we were. I can't imagine the power of something like that!
Bee she/her 3 years ago
I call the atomic bombs giant murder weapons to murder thousands of people. My history teacher likes the description
#66
TIL about the 1st Minnesota Infantry who lost 82% of their fighting strength on July 2nd 1863 at the Battle of Gettysburg. This stands as the largest loss by any surviving US military unit in a single days engagement
Tamra Stiffler 3 years ago
I live not far from Gettysburg. There are grave markers and memorials all over the place, it's rather overwhelming.
#67
Til that during Vietnam soldiers often grafitied their helmets as a form of indivual expression or protest. "Born to Kill" "War is Hell" and many other phrases were often overlooked by officers even though they were against military code of conduct and dress code
#68
TIL James Cameron was refused permission by the Picasso Estate to use Les Demoiselles d’Avignon but he used it anyways. Its depiction in Titanic suggested the painting sank to the bottom of the ocean did not please the Picasso estate
#69
TIL Carl’s Drive-In Barbecue became Carl’s Jr. when the owner opened a smaller version of the restaurant geared to faster service, which eventually outsold and replaced the original
Batwench 3 years ago
It’s a reproduction diner based on a location from American Graffiti film. It is in Florida as a part of Universal Studio’s in Florida.
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#70
TIL that Muhammad Ali painted his friend Joe Frazier as an uncle tom, turning many against Frazier. Frazier's children were bullied and he received threats. Ali promised that he would crawl across the ring and call Frazier the greatest if he beat him, which he refused to do after losing to Frazier
Jayne Kyra 3 years ago
Uncle Tom: OFFENSIVE•NORTH AMERICAN a black man considered to be excessively obedient or servile to white people. a person regarded as betraying their cultural or social allegiance.
BasedWang12 3 years ago
Uncle Ruckus in the Boondocks is based off this notion incase anyone knows the reference and needed it
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Joe Reaves 3 years ago
The thing is for Ali it was all just part of the show to sell tickets and he didn't really mean any of it. This doesn't make it any better and it's not an excuse, but that was why he did it. He had a lot of respect for Frazier as a boxer, especially after their last fight in Manilla where he actually told Frazier's teenage son, who was crying because 'my daddy got beat', to never say that again because his father was a winner and he should hold his head up. He regretted his remarks later in life but the damage had been done.
Eastendbird 3 years ago
The Ken Burns documentary on Ali goes into more detail on this. During Ali's "exile" from boxing, due to his refusal to fight in Vietnam, Frasier had supported him and even lent him money. Ali's later treatment of Frasier was awful. The name of the boxing match "The Thrilla in Manila" came from Ali's rhyming boast that the match would be "a killa and a thrilla and a chilla, when I get that gorilla in Manila". He even had sparring partners dress up in gorilla outfits for public training sessions as a "joke".
Hedgeh og 3 years ago
"I don't understand this, clearly someone else's fault."
Load More Replies... #71
TIL That there was a plot to kill or kidnap George Washington early in the Revolutionary War - the traitors were from Washington's Life Guards, similar to today's Secret Service. One of the traitors was the first person to be put to death for treason, Thomas Hickey, in front of 20,000 people
#72
TIL that the Empire State Building, built in 1930 was designed with the ability for an Airship/Zeppelin to dock at the very top of the skyscraper, overlooking all of NYC
Vorknkx 3 years ago
It's a pitiy we gave up on airships. They'd be quite safe with the technologies we have nowadays.
User# 6 3 years ago
Safe yes. Also slow, expensive, difficult to maneuver, susceptible to bad weather and with limited carrying capability. I'd love a cruise on one but they're hardly a practical mode of transport.
Load More Replies... David A Paterson 3 years ago
Thanks for that. I can tell you a lot of interesting things about airships. One for instance, had the ability to launch and land aeroplanes. The US airship Macon carried five aircraft on board.
#73
TIL that in 1879 Alabama dissolved the debt-ridden city of Mobile and simultaneously incorporated the 'Port of Mobile', with most of Mobile's land and population but none of its debt. The Supreme Court ruled in 1886 that the new city was the successor to the old and still owned the debts
#74
TIL in 1991 As a Captain HR McMaster lead a legendary tank battle in Iraq that destroyed a much larger Iraqi tank force. He defeated 28 Iraqi Republican Guard tanks in 23 minutes with no loses. This earned him a Silver Star for valor
Lizzie Smith 3 years ago
I knew that big cats could be dangerous, but that's a whole new level!
Load More Replies... David A Paterson 3 years ago
The full story of this battle is worth reading. The Iraqis were not expecting an attack. He destroyed three Iraqi tanks in quick succession even before the second US tank was in a position to start firing.
#75
TIL that In-N-Out Burger food containers include Bible verses. Since at least 1987, the soda cups, milkshake cups, burger wrappers, and french fry holders all have references to Bible verses inscribed on the packaging
Jessica Wood 3 years ago
Exactly. Their job is to sell food, not convert people.
Load More Replies... Darla Taylor 3 years ago
When you own a company that employs others then you can decide what sayings you want placed on the packaging…
InfiniteZero 3 years ago
"On the seventh day, God rested. In the back seat of his sedan while the Archangel Gabriel ordered the first ever In-N-Out burger."
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