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“Today I Learned”: 40 Lesser-Known Facts About The World That Should Be Common Knowledge (New Pics)
One of the distinguishing features about pandas, one that separates them from other mammals, is their curiosity. Sure, they can get a bit lazy and too preoccupied with bamboo (we can't blame 'em). And yet, they go out and poke things with their fluffy paws, do somersaults until they learn something new about their environment.
And that is one of the reasons why we, dear pandas, can't get enough of the r/todayilearned subreddit which never fails to keep our inner pandas somersaulting from all the new things we learn. Whether it's bits of trivia related to hit TV shows like "Friends" or something new about the always weird, always surprising Weird Al Yankovic, we couldn't help but handpick the tastiest facts for your curious inner pandas.
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#1
TIL I learned that the the town of Boring (Oregon, US) established relationship with village of Dull (Scotland, UK) in 2012; the following year they were joined with the Shire of Bland (New South Wales, AU) to form the League of Extraordinary Communities.
Carrie Laughs 2 years ago
Fair number of them in England. The system was first used in the kingdom of Wessex from the beginning of Anglo-Saxon settlement, and spread to most of the rest of England in the tenth century. Bedfordshire, Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Cambridgeshire, Cheshire, Derbyshire, Gloucestershire, Hampshire, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Huntingdonshire, Lancashire, Lincolnshire, Leicestershire, Northamptonshire, Nottinghamshire, Oxfordshire, Shropshire, Staffordshire, Warwickshire, Wiltshire, Worcestershire and Yorkshire.
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Jan Rosier 2 years ago
Our funny Flemisch names, sadly in Dutch... 'Jeuk' (= itch) and best one 'Reet' (= slang for a**e)... Last one made headlines in the 1960's when they welcomed a new priest for the community. Banners all over the town saying 'Welkom in ons Reet' (= welcome in our a**e)
Leigh 2 years ago
William Boring founded the town and was the first postmaster. His descendents still live there.
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For many people, maintaining curiosity and continuously learning new things can be a lifelong journey. By now, it’s probably not a secret to most of you that new experiences, like visiting new places or trying something out for the first time, make it feel like time slows down. Or as one headline of a scientific article brilliantly put it: "It's like you're Doctor Strange, but only in your head."
The feeling of discovering something you didn't know before, in other words, can be deeply rewarding and satisfying. As we noted in one of our previous articles, our brain rewards us for learning or achieving small things with dopamine, which, although addicting, can give enough encouragement for those "Duolingo" streaks.
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#2
TIL during World War II, Papua New Guinean ‘Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels’ carried 750 wounded up/down the Kokoda Trail. They prioritized feeding patients & built shelter with 4 sleeping on each side at night. No known injured soldier was ever abandoned by the Fuzzy Wuzzy Angels, even during heavy combat.
Lord Tubbington 2 years ago
It’s a horrible term. As an Australian I’ve never worked out why it’s still being used. The Papua Niu Guineans however were absolutely amazing.
Greenmantle 2 years ago
I guess the question should be "do the modern PNGs consider it offensive" if so, then yes it should be stopped.
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Rodney McKay 2 years ago (edited)
Fuzzy-Wuzzy had no hair. Fuzzy-Wuzzy wasn't fuzzy, was he?
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CP 2 years ago
The Allies were nice to the locals and got assistance. The Japanese were not nice and made enemies with the locals.
K- THULU 2 years ago
Unfortunately not the case.... Many of them were conscripted.... Often against their will...
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Gustav Gallifrey 2 years ago
The picture was taken on Christmas Day 1942, by New Zealand photographer George Silk. The soldier is Pte. George Whittington, who later died of bush typhus in February 1943. The man guiding him is Raphael Oimbari, who was identified many years later, and made an Officer of the Order of the British Empire.
Ge Po 2 years ago
Any idea where 'Yankees' comes from? It's all about those Dutch guys who's name was all too often Jan and who would be blond, the color of young/fresh cheese. Jan cheese became Yankees. Because of the way they looked.
Shyla Bouche 2 years ago
I knew Yankee had originally been an insult, but I didn't know why.
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Another great reason why we can't get enough of communities such as r/todayilearned is the ability to open up new worlds and perspectives. Whether you're exploring a new subject area, reading about a historical event, or delving into a scientific discovery - just take a look at the top facts of today - learning new information can help you to better understand the world around you and the people in it.
Of course, being curious and hungry for knowledge can often challenge our assumptions and beliefs, prompting us to reconsider opinions and expand our understanding of different cultures, experiences, and perspectives. Do you remember what it was like to unlearn that the poor ol' Pluto is not worthy enough to be considered a full-sized planet like its ball-shaped contemporaries?
#3
TIL after the fires that followed the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, many insurance companies tried to avoid covering the losses, except for Lloyd's of London: "Pay all of our policyholders in full, irrespective of the terms of their policies." This cemented Lloyd's reputation in the U.S.
John L 2 years ago
It's sad that we have come down to lauding companies that actually do what we pay them to do. Low bar....
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scag$y 2 years ago (edited)
Times have changed at Lloyd's. I had a house contents policy with them in the late 1990s and I was burgled. My late Great-Uncle's gold watch was stolen along with the hi-fi, a (music) keyboard and some other stuff. I had no excess and expected everything to be fully covered. After the police and loss adjuster had attended, Lloyd's first offer barely even covered the stereo. After a year of back and forth with them, I was so fed up of the whole mess, that I accepted an offer for £300 less than the watch was worth (£1000 back then, but it wasn't about the money, it was an 18th birthday present from my Great-Aunt before she passed). So I am sure you will understand why I think that Lloyd's of London are absolute thieving scumbags. At least the burglar was quick about it.
Jcusack 2 years ago
I'm glad someone said it. As a former Property Insurance Adjuster, Lloyd's is literally THE WORST company I had to deal with... They don't answer, won't cover anything and when they do, the claims all go to the board before being approved, so it will take you forever to get anything. The only people that use Lloyd's now are people that will not be covered by somewhere else. Or you don't know any better... Allstate, Liberty Mutual, Met Life & State Farm = 100% GARBAGE! Nationwide, Amica, AIG, Chubb and USAA. Those are your go to's. They at least try, doesn't mean they'll be able to, but they'll try.
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Bill Swallow 2 years ago
And this disaster led directly to the creation of 'Bank of America', which stepped up to the plate to provide humanitarian financial assistance to those devasted by the quake. Pity about their recent history.
Ash Conner 2 years ago
Integrity gets your business a long way. Integrity is how you build trust.
Stan Brooks 2 years ago
That would be unheard of today. A company with a moral compass, who would of thought it.
Sinnsyk Jakte 2 years ago (edited)
If only any insurance companies these days had such morality.
Stanley Yayo 2 years ago
Nice one. Unlike mine here in Nigeria called AIICO Insurance which refused to pay me for flood damage to my car. Despite me having a comprehensive plan and being an old customer. Smh
#4
TIL of Solomon Islander Jacob C. Vouza. During WW2, he was captured by the Japanese during the Guadalcanal Campaign, tied to a tree, bayoneted, and left for dead. He then chewed through the ropes with his teeth and made his way to American lines warning them about an impending attack. He survived.
David H 2 years ago
A hero will balls big enough to weigh down a battleship. That is a man of courage and a complete badass. I looked him up, he was a retired police officer who when Japan invaded put back on a uniform to fight. BTW he made an honorary US Marine, and was given permission to wear a Marine Uniform, which he wore until the day he died and was buried in it. He was also awarded a Silver Star by General Vandegrift for his conduct, and he also was given the Legion of Merit . And because he was from the British Solomon Islands, he was later given by the British a MBE and KBE
xolitaire 2 years ago (edited)
I am especially impressed by the "chewing through the ropes part". Made me google human bite force and damn, we have a lot more of that than we need
parmadillo 2 years ago (edited)
Except when we need to chew through rope, then it’s just what we need
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Marleina Hershberg 2 years ago
This is why it pays to take proper care of your teeth, and visit the dentist regularly!
WFH Forever 2 years ago
I suspect there weren't a lot of dentists in the islands. Better a diet with no refined sugars!
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Isaac Harvey 2 years ago
Mental willpower can overcome many otherwise-impossible scenarios- or, per my senior award, "shear determination."
#5
TIL that while 'Beat It' by Michael Jackson peaked at #3 in Australia, 'Eat It' by Weird Al Yankovic peaked at #1
Libstak 2 years ago
Yep as an Aussie this makes perfect sense. Taking the Mickey out of a situation is how we roll
MacFrog 2 years ago
Don't want no Captain Crunch, don't want no Raisin Bran.
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D. Pitbull 2 years ago
You have to admit, Weird Al's videos were AMAZING. When he did "Fat" (parody of Michael Jackson's "Bad") he even used the same set! Sure they're parodies - and his stuff shows that the wordy 'parody' doesn't necessarily mean cheap-shoddy work. Totally on-point.
Terry Tobias 2 years ago
I loved 'Eat It'! He had the choreography DOWN! His work was always first class!
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Paul Neff 2 years ago
I consider Weird Al to be a genius. This makes perfect sense to me that he would be popular like this.
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Seabeast 2 years ago
I was walking through a store one day when "I Want It That Way" started playing on the muzak. So of course my mind instantly substituted Weird Al's "eBay Song"
It's no surprise, then, that curiosity has been described as the driving force behind scientific and technological advancement. The desire to understand the unknown and discover new truths about the world has led to some of the most significant breakthroughs in human history. From the discovery of penicillin to the exploration of space, curiosity has been at the forefront of human progress. What else, do you think, put humans all the way on the Moon?
#6
TIL the first U.S official coin in circulation, the Fugio Cent, had the motto "Mind Your Business" instead of "In God we Trust".
Tim Douglass 2 years ago
It didn't mean what you think it meant. It was a very capitalistic ideal, basically saying "keep your focus on making money."
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scag$y 2 years ago
Please start a movement! This is a cause that I can really believe in. Hang on a sec. We can't do that, can we? We'd be hypocrites.
Load More Replies... David H 2 years ago
It meant as in a shopkeep taking care of his business, not how we use the term today
Jon Mock 2 years ago
People, it doesn't say "mind ya bidness", it says mind your business. As in take care of yourself and your money. Y'all talking like they were telling folks to shut up and walk on.
Id row 2 years ago
I so wish they'd go back to that. We need to keep peoples' personal religious preferences personal instead of on currency, in court rooms, politics and schools.
Bec 2 years ago
E pluribus unum is supposed to be the national motto, much better than In God We Trust
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Billy Harrelson 2 years ago
It became law in 1956, but the practice had started during the Civil War.
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TIL In ancient Greece, men weren't allowed to become midwives because it was required by law one had to have given birth themselves to qualify as one.
Kristiina 2 years ago
This makes weird kind of sense. When you have experienced a birth, you can be more sympathetic and knowledgeable about the pain and proses of birth.
Stannous Flouride 2 years ago
Alas, the exact opposite of America where uterus-free politicians make decisions about something they have no experience with and are uneducated about.
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Mark Fergel 2 years ago
Maybe we could apply this same rule to those that feel that they should govern women's bodies.
MellonCollie 2 years ago
TBH I don't find this so strange. I'm surely not the first person who's heard and read stories of midwives understanding the whole thing a lot better after having given birth themselves. Gynaecologists as well. I had a very intimate conversation with my obgyn after she gave birth to twins, and she told me it was something that completely changed her view on her own profession.
Satan Laughs 2 years ago
Agree! I was a nurse before my daughter was born and still one— wow: kids change everything.
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Al Padilla 1 year ago
Actually, the term "mid" is cognate with German "mit" (with) - and "wife" meant woman, cognate with Weib. So, it's with-woman. Makes sense!
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Anne Jones 2 years ago
After I gave birth, a midwife in the next bed had just had her first baby. She kept telling everyone “I had no idea it was like that!”
David 2 years ago
Also you apparently had to be topless. I get the woman giving birth being naked. I'm less sure about the topless midwife. The midwife who delivered my daughters managed to do the whole thing with her clothes on.
gotham-panda 2 years ago
Often in earlier periods women assisting the birth were often nursing women themselves. Being the midwife and the wet nurse was not that unusual.
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Celtic Pirate Queen 2 years ago
One of the reasons many women prefer a female doctor. No you ignorant f*ck, I am NOT exaggerating my menstrual cramps, and fibromyalgia is NOT all in my head.
#8
TIL in the early 1930s, Cadillac's policy was to not sell cars to black people. In 1933, Nicholas Dreystadt, a middle manager at General Motors, crashed a GM executive committee meeting and convinced them to drop the policy and instead market to black people. Sales increased by 70% within a year.
Dave In MD 2 years ago
As usual BP gives half a story. Nicholas Dreystadt was a service manager and he noticed that a large number of African-Americans were bringing their cars in for service even though corporate policy was to not sell them cars. Cadillac was in danger of be discontinued, he proposed that Cadillac could boost sales by cultivating African-American buyers. This was in 1932, he was given 18 months to show what he could do. Soon Cadillac was breaking even and by 1940 had seen a 10 fold increase in sales. There is always more to a story than just the bullet points.
Dragons Exist 2 years ago
BP did not, the Redditor who they stole the post from did
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Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
It never pays to be racist - it always costs!
Load More Replies... PGB 2 years ago
Pity that black customers ever bought anything from them again. That would have been a more valuable lesson
Bender Bending Rodríguez 2 years ago
Thank you for typing what I was thinking.
Load More Replies... Miranda Veracruz de la Joya Cardenal 2 years ago
If Tucker Carlson were reporting back in that day, he would have said that GM went woke.
Olive Harper 2 years ago
Can we please leave politics and political jokes off of this web site? I am not trying to be rude, I just really don't like the division that politics create.
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Son of Philosoraptor 2 years ago
Ever think that a lot of the problems with this country are because the founding immigrants were racist as f*ck?
Al Padilla 1 year ago
I agree. The Pilgrims (as in Plymouth Rock colony) first emigrated from England to the Netherlands, but were offended by the tolerance of the Dutch. They came here (to what would become the US) so they could persecute Quakers and those holding allegiance to other religious franchises.
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Abrufal 2 years ago (edited)
Considering these cars sold for $5000 (roughly $90k in today money) and 1933 would be the middle of the Great Depression, with unemployment at roughly 18 percent and median income being about $1200 a year.....seems like this was less about helping black people and more about if we don't expand our market we are going under. Did some quick research. The guys logic was essentially rich black people are already buying our cars by paying a white guy to buy the car for them. Let's cut out the white guy who's profiting off our cars and just sell to black people directly. Hardly seems altruistic. https://www.americanheritage.com/man-who-saved-cadillac Gotta scroll through a few paragraphs to get to it but this explains it in more detail
Nightshade1972 2 years ago
Pepsi really increased their market share over Coke back in the 1940s, because Coke refused to market directly to black consumers in the US, and definitely didn't want to hire black employees, either. Pepsi said, "Well, we'll just see about that," and not only marketed directly to black customers, but actively encouraged blacks to apply for employment with Pepsi.
David H 2 years ago
Well I mean when you dont sell to huge customer base, sales won't be as good. Always maximize your potential customer base, it's basic economics. BTW we know companies in the South that sold to blacks did better. Famously in Arizona the Goldwater department store chain was the only one in the region that sold to both black and white customers at the same counters with the same staff (A policy change that was the first idea of Barry Goldwater when he was made an exec in the family business, before he entered politics), turns out most white customers did not care, and very few were lost, but it brought in black customers from all over the US, racking up huge sales
Douglas Tucker 2 years ago
We (generalization), have done things along racial lines that can be seen as anti capitalism based on what you look like all through our U.S. history. Red Lining in real estate, extreme divisions in U.S. GI benefits in securing real estate and education. Even now with the current medical revelations that Black women are at times given different procedures versus other groups, etc etc. Bottomline is the commenters here get it but still we need to ask why.
Then again, curiosity isn't just important for scientific advancement - it's also essential for personal growth and development. The more we learn and explore, the more we understand ourselves and the world around us. It's also been scientifically proven that curiosity can improve our creative problem-solving skills. Not to mention the enhanced empathy and compassion for others.
#9
TIL in 2018 a mom put out an ad to borrow an orange cat so her kids could have "a lasagna dinner with Garfield" and succeeded.
Oerff On Tour 2 years ago
She's currently being inundated by texts from BP members and leaches from all over the world
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Laura Lett 2 years ago
I will loan my cats to anyone. The dj on my local radio station, needs a solution to her mouse issues. I offered two of them . Haven't heard back, yet.
#10
TIL that unlike most animals, African wild dogs follow an age-based food sharing system where pups are given immediate access to kills, making older dogs wait before they can eat.
TotallyNOTaFox 2 years ago
They are also the most successfull african predators with an 80% hunting success rate
UpupaEpops 2 years ago
Not just in Africa. They are the most successful predators. Their kill rate is mostly down to their hunting method. Which is brutal but very efficient.
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Wendy DeWitt 2 years ago
This way, the kids are less likely to put them in the "Old Dogs'Home."
Joshua David 2 years ago
Everyday I read: Dad Kills Toddler. Cult mom Lori vallow killed her kids. Every day on crime sights I see parents killing children over selfish reasons like video games. Dog are pure. I want to be a dog.
Abrufal 2 years ago (edited)
(I jumped the gun on posting this seems this was already stated. Enjoy the link though animals are actually pretty bad at killing things) Bonus fact African wild dogs are the most effective hunters with an 85 percent kill rate. https://www.discoverwildlife.com/animal-facts/mammals/hunting-success-rates-how-predators-compare/
#11
Today I Learned Roman physician Galen would use wine as a disinfectant for all types of wounds, and even soaked exposed bowels before returning them to the body. Only 5 Gladiators died under his watch.
David Wambold 2 years ago
Honey surprising also prevents infections. It is anti-bacterial and was used by ancient Egyptians.
Greenmantle 2 years ago
Better than nothing though I guess. The alcohol content would be too low to reliably kill bacteria but given that wine contains antioxidants and is acidic... better than nothing.
D. Pitbull 2 years ago
... he... marinated his patients in wine... well, dang. It sounds almost like one of those borderline satire/parody of the uber-rich "Well, OUR disinfectant is only the finest wine..."
Jane Hower 2 years ago
Guess the alcohol in the wine killed germs and sanitized things. Great thinking.
Justin Thyme 2 years ago
Alchol sterilizees-- part of why so much wine was used, water wasn't safe
Our openness to new experiences and information varies according to the personality trait of being curious, it turns out. This trait is linked to the Big Five personality traits: openness to experience, conscientiousness, extraversion, agreeableness, and neuroticism. As Regan Gurung, an American psychologist and award-winning author of "Study Like a Champ", explained to Bored Panda, there are certain variables, such as the Need for Cognition, which encourage deeper processing rather than surface processing, leading people to want to know more.
#12
TIL: The consensus is that octopuses are most likely sentient.
October 2 years ago
Shall we just assume that all living creatures are sentient? I'd prefer to err on the side of caution.
Luke Branwen 2 years ago
I always feel like people are confusing sentient (has senses, is able to feel) and sapient (is self-aware, has higher cognitive functions)
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DC 2 years ago
Sentient, it seems, is redefined whenever humans find out there isn't much exclusivity in the current definition. It isn't defined as attempt to answer "does this individual think, feel, know?", but rather "how does human thinking, feeling, knowing differ from other species'?", in order to allow us more than we could justify, but still make it, formally, justifiable.
kath morgan 2 years ago
They are special, but animals should be respected even if they aren’t.
EP 2 years ago
I had to log back in just so I could upvote your comment. I had been putting it off for a week or two because I’m too lazy to type all the login info lol. But finally this did it for me. I couldn’t scroll past the octopus debacle without upvoting that animals need respect, plain and simple. The poaching that goes on in the safari breaks my heart. Where’s the respect :o(
Load More Replies... Tim Nicebutdim 2 years ago
Yep, I stopped eating them some time ago (after Paul the German octopus became famous).
Greenmantle 2 years ago
I'd put my cat in the sapient category. My friends after all are convinced that I've pissed off an ancestor and he is the result. Love the lil bugger though
The Original Bruno 2 years ago (edited)
Please define "sentient" here. Octopodes (squabble among yourselves) are certainly capable of sensation, one definition of sentient. However, "sentient" usually connotes the ability to have an cognitive emotional response not only directly to the stimulus, but to the memory of the stimulus. Some even go so far as to mean capable of feeling the emotion, processing it, and making a rational decision to make an action in contradiction to that emotion for some greater good or delayed gratification, although that's less ambiguously described as "sapience." Some would go so far as to use sentient to mean capable of a meta-awareness of that sapience.
Tyranamar Seuss 2 years ago
That is always have seen sentient used. As having an awareness of what's going on. Not merely responding to stimuli. I wonder if the dictionary needs to update their definition based on how the word is actually used in society.
Load More Replies... #13
TIL that ginkgo trees are a symbol of hope and tenacity in Japan, as they were one of the few living things to survive the nuclear bomb at Hiroshima.
Thomas Bentley 2 years ago
They outlasted the dinosaurs, i'm not surprised that a nuke would be shrugged off.
𝓚𝓮𝓲𝓽𝓱 2 years ago
I live in a small town in Western Australia and the Japanese government gifted one of these trees to us as a symbol of friendship and prosperity
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PurpleUnicorn 2 years ago
Ginkgo biloba, commonly known as ginkgo or gingko, also known as the maidenhair tree, is a species of gymnosperm tree native to China. It is the last living species in the order Ginkgoales, which first appeared over 290 million years ago. Fossils very similar to the living species, belonging to the genus Ginkgo, extend back to the Middle Jurassic approximately 170 million years ago. The tree was cultivated early in human history and remains commonly planted. Ginkgo leaf extract is commonly used as a dietary supplement, but there is no scientific evidence that it supports human health or is effective against any disease.Wikipedia
Highball 2 years ago (edited)
I understand that some large east coast cities use them to line highly traveled parkways as they are the only tree to stand the carbon monoxide. They grow very slowly though so this one may have seen dinosaurs. I believed they originated someplace in the high country of China and were once only grown in monasteries there.
Bill Marsano 2 years ago
It fruit, once it hits the ground, quickly begins to rot--and stink of rancid butter. Gingko is an antioxidant and has medical uses.
#14
TIL The pika is a small rodent that collects plants and dries them out in the sun to store them for winter.
Vasha 2 years ago
Here you go - an episode of Oregon Field Guide: https://www.pbs.org/video/oregon-field-guide-pika/
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Virginie Michaud 2 years ago
As a girl guide, I was given Pika as a totem "because it's small, cute and sociable". 😂😝🤭
"From an external standpoint, it is reinforcing to know facts (silly or random) when people around us give us attention for knowing or value us knowing," Gurung argued. "There is also a satisfaction some derive from knowing the answers to 'Why' questions (not something all share). It gives some [people] meaning."
#15
TIL that everyone wears Crocs in the 2006 movie Idiocracy because the costume designer had a limited shoe budget, and thought the cheap plastic shoes made by the then startup company were futuristic yet too stupid looking to ever become popular in real life.
Agfox 2 years ago
TIL that this movie has been reviewed as a disturbingly prophetic look at the future of America – and the era of stupidity https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2021/jul/19/idiocracy-a-disturbingly-prophetic-look-at-the-future-of-america-and-our-era-of-stupidity
anon panda 2 years ago
Among gen z, they actually are. That doesn't mean they're good, but they are quite popular
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Clearly sunny 2 years ago
So yeah apparently they became popular in 2006!
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#16
TIL about the Pizzly Bear, a Polar and Grizzly Bear hybrid. This hybrid species isn't sterile and can actually procreate.
Haywood Jablome 2 years ago
Everybody in this thread is geeking about the cuteness and the name, but really the most ferocious type of bear and the only one that will actively hunt humans are mating to make Pizzly Bears
Smiley MG 2 years ago
Pizzly...... Hehehhehehehhehhehehehheheheheehehhehehehrhrheh!!!!!!! Pizzly..... Pizzly bear.... Hihihi hihihi
Robert T 2 years ago
And there was my thinking that it was because he was well-endowed. Pizzle is slang for a *****.
The Other Guest 2 years ago
Yeah, my thought was "Someone doesn't know the definition of 'pizzle.' Or they do, and were counting on others not knowing." And since BP (of course) censored the word, it's penis. You know, the anatomically correct term for male genitalia; please stop censoring it, BP. It's not a dirty word and we're not toddlers.
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okpkpkp 2 years ago
A polar bear was a grizzly bear that evolved and adapted to life in the Arctic
Al Padilla 1 year ago
Agree. Read that genetics show them to be the same species, akin to breeds of dogs (or people)
Load More Replies... The Original Bruno 2 years ago (edited)
Pizzly bears ARE fertile!!! In fact, they are frequently cited as a reason for redefining "species" since, according to the definition my generation was taught in school, the fertility of pizzly bears would make grizzlies and polar bears merely two separate subspecies of a single species. (The current definition is absolutely absurd, and has led to identical, interbreeding populations being classified as separate species. That creates great, but misleading media hype about organisms such as Lonesome George, identified as the last member of his species, the Pinta Island Galapagos Tortoise, despite the fact that he has close relatives breeding and forming a stable population with other tortoises from morphologically identical species on other islands.)
#17
TIL a boy was hit in the head with a foul ball during a televised game, rather than wait for EMTS to arrive, Jim Rice Ran into the stands and took him into the clubhouse, where he was immediately treated by the team's medical staff. He is credited with saving the boy's life.
AliJanx 2 years ago
I believe Rice played the rest of the game wearing his same, bloodied clothes.
Susan Robinson 2 years ago
Can I be a brat? I think everyone should act like this, especially in times of emergency. I understand there is more to this, and lots of people freak out in emergencies (I do), but I just wish people would be willing to put aside their differences in bad times, ya know?
AK to LV 2 years ago
I agree! Unfortunately, nowadays most people would pull out their phones and start filming instead of help.
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CJay M 2 years ago
realenancy170 explains it really well, im not going to take her upvotes. minor leage medics stink
Load More Replies... CJay M 2 years ago
Jim Rice is a legend. the facton the bottom is false, tho. Willie Mays did it
Patrick A Mulcare II 2 years ago
I used to have season tickets for minor league baseball. If a fan got injured from a stray baseball, the medical team would very slowly saunter over to them.
realenancy170 2 years ago
Jim Rice is a fantastic player, a good man of action and a really snazzy dresser!
Graceann Macleod 2 years ago
They had a little reunion on the 40th anniversary of the event, in August 2022. https://nesn.com/video/jim-rice-reunites-with-boy-he-rescued-40-years-ago-at-fenway-park/
*Confused Screaming* 2 years ago
Baseball. Kid got hit in the head with a ball, and instead of waiting for EMTs, Rice carried him to the dugout, where he was treated by team docs. The speed of the response is what is thought to have saved his life.
Load More Replies...Gurung also pointed out that the digital age and social media have made obtaining information much easier compared to the time-consuming process of physically visiting a library. "Those of us who are more curious may go down deeper rabbit holes due to social media (calling for higher levels of managing the self)."
#18
TIL Christine Maggiore founded the HIV/AIDS denialism group Alive and Well. Maggiore herself then died of aids in 2008.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
Sorry but I really think this is a darwin award, I can't feel bad for her. We had an aids denialist president and we estimate the death toll as over 100 000 as a result.
DadManBlues 2 years ago
She was diagnosed with AIDS 3 years before she founded Alive and Well. This was not simply a denial of HIV, but the reaction of a sick person who could not accept her illness. Most of terminally ill people go through this phase - she stayed in it.
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gerard julien 2 years ago
" Marcus Lamb, the chief executive of a Christian television network who frequently denounced Covid-19 vaccinations in favor of prayer, died on Tuesday after contracting the coronavirus." COVIDIOTS ! marcus-645...0b8ad3.jpg 
Rachel Ainsworth 2 years ago
He obviously wasn't donating enough money for his prayers to be answered. /s
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Jaaawn 2 years ago (edited)
Wow. My own dad died of AIDS. I just looked up that group and erm...what a crazy woman.
Caroline Nagel 2 years ago
She was responsible for the death of her own daughter, giving her HIV through breastfeeding. Furthermore she was responsible for the disastrous policy about AIDS in South Africa by influencing Thabo Mbeki who stopped the necessary medication. An estimated 330.000 people died of AIDS in SA because of this policy. She is a monster.
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Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
To no one's surprise, saying "I don't have it and it isn't real anyway" has yet to save a life.
tuzdayschild 2 years ago
I work in an ICU and watched more than 1 person die of COVID while denying it with their last breath.
Miss Tinker 2 years ago (edited)
According to Wikipedia: "In 1992, as part of a routine medical exam, Maggiore tested positive for HIV, as did a former boyfriend. Subsequently, Maggiore became involved in volunteer work for a number of AIDS charities, including AIDS Project Los Angeles, L.A. Shanti, and Women at Risk. However, following an interaction with prominent AIDS denialist Peter Duesberg in 1994, Maggiore began to question whether HIV causes AIDS. Maggiore came to believe that her positive test may have been due to I exnfluenza vaccination, pregnancy, or a common viral infection."
H.M. V. 2 years ago
Sounds like she was desperate to believe and do Something, it just ended ended up being the less helpful thing.
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Michael Vickery 2 years ago
This woman cost literally hundreds of thousands of lives because she convinced the president of South Africa of her nonsense.
#19
TIL that Wild European hamsters in Vienna, Austria have learned to survive harsh winters by feasting on the oily, protein-filled candles left by mourners in gravesites.
The Scout 2 years ago
There is a saying "Death must be from Vienna". Vienna takes pride in its enourmous cemeteries, people flock to them , it is deeply ingrained into the city culture. There are famous mausoleums and crypts, mummified remains, death as a pompous staging. So it makes sense that even the hamsters take advantage of the dead.
Max Fox 2 years ago
Pet hamsters are not european, bt Golden hamsters from the Middle East. All of them are descendants of a single female and her brood collected by I Aharoni back in 1930.
piruoztek 2 years ago (edited)
Post is about wild hamsters, they are common here and also protected (I think I read it is because they don't have too many babies, but I'm not sure), they are much bigger than pet hamsters (size like rats) and look like that one on photo. Latin name is Cricetus cricetus, while golden hamster is Mesocricetus auratus.
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Riley Quinn 2 years ago
Intellectually, I realize hamsters are wild creatures that have been bred as pets, but part of my brain won't accept this truth.
Amelia Honeychurch 2 years ago
But what about all the chemicals and paraffin? It seems like that wouldn’t be very healthy for them. Not all candles are made of natural ingredients…
#20
TIL that the low cost wine brand "Two Buck Chuck" was created by Fred Franzia, who bought the Charles Shaw name from a bankrupt winery for $27k. Once when asked why his wine was cheaper than water, he replied "They're overcharging for the water. Don't you get it?"
Nikole 2 years ago (edited)
Frank Franzia as in Franzia boxed wine?? Edit: Fred. I was too excited about the connection.
Ann Coffman 2 years ago
I am enjoying(?) a glass of Franzia Crisp White at this very moment, May 15, 2023, 3:50 am CST. At $13 for 5 liters, these days that's a bargain.
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The Dusty Rhino 2 years ago
My buddy lived in Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. They had Villa wine..."come alive for a dollar five", was what they called it.
David Beaulieu 2 years ago
Excellent podcast about it: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trader-joes-no-buck-chuck/id1413374332?i=1000417842444
debor ahn 2 years ago
yep.. god knows why you need to buy bottled water. tap stuff is good enough. probably the same stuff.
Tom Morrison 2 years ago
A similar product made from grape pomace used to be sold in New Zealand, named "purple death" and promoted as having a "bold aroma of horses**t and old tram tickets".
#21
TIL Anti-climb paint, a class of non-drying oil paint, was developed in the 1960s. It can take over 3 years to dry, It is used to prevent trespassing and mark trespassers as it is very difficult to remove.
AnnaRachelle 2 years ago
A women at the end of our block of houses squirted anti vandle paint all over the side of her house. Neighbourhood kids were using her house to kick footballs against..solved the issue
G O 2 years ago
It's also used to stop people climbing lamp post's. Learned that one in the dark while the thing was broken
Susan Robinson 2 years ago
See, the wrought iron bars are what would convince me to NOT climb, but then again, I consider myself a pretty boring person
#22
TIL that the deepest scuba dive of all time was 1,090 feet, set by Ahmed Gabr in 2014. It took him nearly a decade to properly prepare for the dive. While the descent took only 15 minutes, the ascent back to the surface took over 13 hours.
Red PANda (she/they) 2 years ago
If he ascended as fast as he descended, his blood would carbonate like a soda. He had to wait for his body to adjust to the pressure.
Take me to dinner first 2 years ago
For a second I thought it took him a decade to descent, what a commitment lol
ShellsBells 2 years ago
I'm pretty sure he had on a drysuit, so his hands wouldn't be pruny. But I bet his lips were super chapped and puckered.
Load More Replies... Robert T 2 years ago
“Ahmed and his support diver team will use about 90 tanks (plus 17 twinsets) in the course of the dive. His ascent is so long to allow for his enormous decompression time.”
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Far Cough Khan 2 years ago
decompressing. too fast his lungs would burst.
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Jared Robinson 2 years ago
Phew I don't even want to imagine the damage that would have happened to him had he tried to come back up immediately. He might have actually physically Popped.
#23
TIL about “One Night Cough Syrup” was sold in the late 1800s, and it contained alcohol, cannabis, chloroform, and morphine. This mixture was available over the counter and promised to eliminate your cough in one night so you could sleep.
Jaaawn 2 years ago (edited)
Still available now. I used to have this back in my clubbing days of my early 20s, except it was called 'An Average Saturday Night.' It's a wonder I'm still alive, thank god I saw sense.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
Just have to find some good suppliers, then make your own.
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Beck 2 years ago
You could order a syringe full of morphine from the sears catalog in the late 1800s or early 1900s
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Joe Gandalf 2 years ago (edited)
Only 8 mg of Morphine/fl oz. - not that bad. That's only 2/3 mg per dose. Chloroform was 2.5 minim/ fl oz. A minim was about a drop, or specifically 1/480 of a fl oz. The dose was 1/2 tsp, or 0.08 of a fl oz, so not a lot of questionable stuff per dose. I have no idea what the cannabis content would end up being by today's standards, though.
smugdruggler 2 years ago
Was wondering about this. Thanks for the info 👍🏻
Load More Replies... Nichole Harris 2 years ago
Wait..... Yes.... There's definitely a tickle in my throat..... cough 😷 cough.....
#24
TIL King Charles & Prince William always travel in separate planes in case there is a crash, one needs to survive.
Marion 2 years ago
Absolutely, not a royalist, but this is such a honest and happy photo, sweet!
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Ansi 2 years ago
They also travel with black clothes in case someone will die when they are on a trip.
Emma S 2 years ago (edited)
Because the Queen was in Kenya when her Dad died and had no black clothes with her. When she landed in the UK she had to have someone bring her an outfit and get changed on the plane so she could leave the plane in black.
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Betsy Ray 2 years ago
This was something parents did in the 1950s in the US, so as not to leave their children orphaned.
PeepPeep the duck 2 years ago
This is probably the only time I’ve seen Charles truely happy and I don’t know why that smile makes me feel uncomfortable
deanna woods 2 years ago
I am giving you an up vote because you didn't deserve a downvote.
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K Kalama 2 years ago
Worked as an exec asst. for a global corp. When I booked flights for the top execs, 10 of them, it was mandatory for me to book them all on separate plane due to the "if they die, the company dies" scenario. I literally got 2wk training for this. SINCE they are the top brass, some are particular when flying. No departing at night, no departing on morning, wanna land somewhere else first before original destination, etc. For 10 of them to be at their intended destination, it took a couple weeks to organize. Don't get me started on when these bastards want to change last min. Minimum 3 peeps change all the time. I treated it like Defcon 1 every time.
Joshua David 2 years ago
Recently, William took a helicopter flight with his whole family and the queen was not happy 2 future kings disobeyed protocol.
#25
TIL Mt. Thor on Baffin Island, Canada, has Earth’s greatest sheer vertical drop (4,101 feet).You can take one step off the peak and fall nearly a mile before you hit anything.
Agfox 2 years ago
So, you'd take around a minute to hit the ground. On a related topic, TIL there's a tool called The Splat Calculator to help calculate how fast you're moving after falling a certain distance
Ray Perkins 2 years ago
17 seconds. https://www.angio.net/personal/climb/speed.html
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Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 2 years ago
Damn, that's a brutal last 17 seconds of your life... long enough for me to die of fear first
the engineer 🇺🇦 2 years ago
scource: AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
#26
TIL of a courtier, Jeffrey Hudson, in the court of King Charles I of England who was only 18 inches tall. He challenged a normal-height man to a duel with pistols over an insult. His opponent came to the duel armed with a water squirt gun. Hudson shot him in the head with a real gun, killing him.
Mrs.C 2 years ago
Just listened to a podcast about him. He was "given as a gift" to royalty as a child and grew up and was educated in court. Had a rough life because he was seen as a pet and not a person. Not sure if the 18 inches tall thing is true, but that's what they say.
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Ray Perkins 2 years ago
More info. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jeffrey_Hudson
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PeepPeep the duck 2 years ago (edited)
He just didn’t know when to stop using the ‘M’ word, know the feels. (I’m 4’10’’ )
Cat Chat 2 years ago
Adding they apparently have the inability to be accurate. 🙄
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#27
TIL: That scam baiters managed to trick Nigerian scammers into traveling 1400 miles and left them stranded in Darfur in a warzone.
Take me to dinner first 2 years ago
Okay that's awful wth I know they are not princes and yeah they scam people (who still fall for this?) but wtf, a warzone????
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
Sorry, but I can't muster up any sympathy for them. It all went to the mostly elderly people whose lives they've ruined.
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AnnaRachelle 2 years ago
I laughed way too hard reading this. I know it's awful, but I couldn't help myself
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Sander 2 years ago
Dude, those scammers are actually pretty sad. They are p**s poor and often do these scams because they're desperate. Leading them into a war zone is f*****g aweful.
Kensi 2 years ago
It is terrible, leading them to warzone and I certainly disagree with it. But many of those scammers are not poor - on the contrary, they live lavish lifestyle, I would recommend to watch Social catfish on YouTube, there is an interview with one of them telling his story and saying he spent that money he stole from people for cars and houses and electronics etc. For many of them scamming is a 'regular' job.
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Bill Swallow 2 years ago
Can we do this with American scammers? *Particularly* the ones who prey on the ill and elderly!
Joshua David 2 years ago
Hope they know how to fight as good as they are at scamming my elderly grandma.
Rupp 2 years ago
OK, now let's hear the comments from people whose grandparents have lost every penny they spent the last 60 years saving to these scammers. The ones who are losing their house and who no longer have money for medical treatments.
Ms.GB 2 years ago
Yeah, they don't seem to have a problem with scamming people out of so much money that they lose their lives...
Load More Replies... Nichole Harris 2 years ago
Having worked 3rd shift and been awoken by scam callers (landline days);I can totes get behind this
#28
TIL that the famous dish: tikka masala - is British, not Indian and it was invented in the 70’s, not some cultural cuisine that’s been around for ages.
Brian Hawley 2 years ago
Britain has had a thriving community of people of Indian descent for centuries.
Tushar Roy Mukherjee 2 years ago
I'd suggest Idlis as a good Indian Dish. They're really light on the stomach, so perfect for that one week when your digestive system is just done with the s**t you have been throwing at them for the last one week.
Stardust she/her 2 years ago
They’re delicious with either sambar or chutney. I had them for lunch just now
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Diana 2 years ago
Be careful ordering chop suey in Maine. You get goulash.
Load More Replies... Troy Parr 2 years ago
So many so-called traditional dishes are simply an invented name for marketing, or to put something on a menu. For example, the Ploughman's Lunch was created just to sell food in pubs. Hungarian Goulash, not heard of in Hungary. There's far too many to list. For a nation that actually thought "curry powder" was a real thing from curry-eating countries. Tandori Chicken Masala, Tikka Masala and the others were astoundingly convincing. I don't know anything about Chineese food menus, but I bet the same thing applies there too.
UpupaEpops 2 years ago
Erm... Hungarian here. Gulyás means "cowboy" and was the traditional meal of the OG Hungarian cowboys because traditionally, it's made with ingredients that don't spoil on the road. The fancy stuff sold for tourists is a modified version. The reason why it's not terribly popular is because quality beef is insanely expensive and the stuff that is accessible comes from milk cows that have been killed for being old. Resulting in meat that is barely edible and can only be described as leather shoe.
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Ricardo Ferreira 2 years ago
Tempurá is a Japanese dish inspired by the Portuguese that arrived there. The name tempurá comes from the Portuguese word "tempero" (= condiment).
#29
TIL that Madame Tussaud's skill at making wax replicas of people is what saved her from the French Revolution's Guillotine.
Stary_cat 2 years ago
I wonder how she survived did she made a wax figure of herself? Any knowledgeable pandas please enlighten me as I’m intrested
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
There was a brilliant documentary about her on the BBC a few years ago. I think she was quick to set up a ‘Chamber of Horrors’ where she would show who had been executed lately and would have the actual death masks of the most high profile people. Also, her husband was an absolute cyunt to her. Made her penniless twice but she wouldn’t divorce him.
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Literal Pigeon 2 years ago
That's not actually true. She was never arrested in the first place.
D. Pitbull 2 years ago
Holy sheet... being talented at an art/craft saved her life? If only that were true today...
anon panda 2 years ago
But there was more servants than aristocrats in general
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Sheena Leversedge Wood 2 years ago
didn't she start out doing wax casts of dead people? death masks.
#30
TIL in 1656 Boston, a ship's captain was sentenced to sit in the stocks for two hours because he had engaged in "lewd and unseemly behavior" on the Sabbath. Upon arriving home on a Sunday after a three-year voyage at sea, Captain Kemble had kissed his wife
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
ah, christian governments. More worried about bedrooms than genocide.
Susan Robinson 2 years ago
I bet when the ship docked, the first question the sailors asked was what day it was, lol!
Istvan Kozak 2 years ago
Shame on him and I bet he was a complete pervert and lifted her skirt......... Catch an eye of her ankle.. .
#31
TIL about Troy Hurtubise, a Canadian man who built multiple suits of armor to study grizzly bears up close in nature. He'd test these by having his friends hit him with 2x4s or drive trucks into him.
Doc Moran 2 years ago
There was a documentary about him years ago. I could be wrong but I don’t think he made the suits to “study” bears. I believe he was just terrified. He tells the story of how he saw a grizzly bear once, wasn’t attacked by one, just encountered one, but that was enough. Started making the suits after that. All very odd and sad really.
avi11420 2 years ago
I own a copy of the movie. He wanted to get close to the bears.
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#32
TIL that the Voynich Manuscript, a a 240-page medieval codex written by an unknown author, in an unknown language, and illustrated with unknown plants, strange creatures, and naked women, was radiocarbon dated to the early 15th century. Despite 600 years of study it has never been deciphered.
Nacho Man Sandy Ravage 2 years ago
"We have been trying to reach you about your horse and cart's extended warranty"
Scarlet23 2 years ago
Imagine it was all just a elaborate prank or someones diary
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OmBoyGanesh 2 years ago
My initial thoughts before I click any of the links on the comments: both vivid imaginations and schizophrenia aren’t modern constructs. Now, I shall read the actual theories.
Lois Reese 2 years ago
That's an excellent point. That never occurred to me.
Load More Replies... censorshipsucks 2 years ago
There have been several attempts and some success claims. here's a recent claim. https://arstechnica.com/science/2017/09/the-mysterious-voynich-manuscript-has-finally-been-decoded/
gotham-panda 2 years ago
That was thoroughly debunked as an attempt to land one of those dubious pop-culture "documentaries". The claimant just threw together some research done by others, added some unfounded and un-provable, but flashy speculation of his own, and claimed he'd solved it.
Load More Replies... Jeremy James 2 years ago
I like Randall Monroe's theory. Made up language? Descriptions of strange plants and creatures? This was ancient Dungeons & Dragons.
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 years ago
It's a medical textbook in shorthand, according to the link below. But on History's Greatest Mysteries, one theory is that it's Hebrew written in a different alphabet.
tuzdayschild 2 years ago
Maybe, just maybe someone had undiagnosed medieval schizophrenia and the whole book is nonsense.
Brian Hawley 2 years ago
It was probably nonsense written as a scam. “Strange old books” sold for huge amounts in those days.
#33
TIL Eleanor Roosevelt's maiden name was Roosevelt. Her husband, Franklin, was her fifth cousin once removed.
David H 2 years ago
The Roosevelts were old New York knickerbockers, and an old political family in New York. TR was the uncle of Elenor but also cousins with FDR. They were old money and politcal power from the original New York Dutch
Cari Owens 2 years ago
Teddy Roosevelt was also at Franklin and Eleanor's wedding.
Load More Replies... Apps 2 years ago (edited)
This kind of marriage can be a nightmare for genealogists when trying to figure out family trees of adoptees using dna.
H.M. V. 2 years ago
Fifth cousins aren't that closely related. They share one pair of Great-Great-Great-Great-Grandparents. Chances are they wouldn't have even noticed if they didn't have the same family name. No one's ancestry tree actually grows exponentially.
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Jenný Samúelsdóttir Herlufsen 2 years ago
Nearly every native Icelandic persons are related 6 generations back or less. Its been shown its "quite safe" to marry first cousins, but its really frowned upon. My kids father and i are sixth cousins :)
#34
TIL: 1 in 5 German parents regrets having children and would prefer to live their life without them.
Kristal 2 years ago
I imagine this statistic will be similar in every country until society doesn't treat and pressure women into having children
Belynda Young 2 years ago
Among those who wish they did not have children are women who wanted children.
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Teresa Sacristan 2 years ago
I see many comments saying people may regret having children due to having them under societal pressure, but I totally see how you can just regret it even though you really wanted to have kids. No one really knows what it means to be a parent and how much it changes you and your life until you are one. Each experience is unique, and it is forever. I love my son, I couldn’t live without him, but if I would have been shown the trailer of my life as a mum before getting pregnant, I probably wouldn’t have gotten pregnant. And I will never ever tell my son this!!!
Mona 2 years ago
In my humble opinion (and I'm not a sociologist), the question in the study is somewhat badly phrased. "If you could do things over again, would you still have kids? Yes/no." I suspect that not all answers easily fit in the yes/no paradigm. Given the reasons cited (fewer career opportunities, etc), it seems that what people are regretting is not the having of kids but the shrinking of their own future. Those are certainly related but aren't really the same thing, when it comes down to it.
One direction addict 2 years ago
Honestly I feel like the same would go for the US. Considering people are being pressured into having kids
Karl 2 years ago
My old man frequently told me he regretted having kids - esp. when he was drunk
Yayheterogeneity 2 years ago
Sorry Karl! I hope you know by now that he was a prick and you deserved better. Hope you healed from the abuse and overcame the mf.
Load More Replies... Mona 2 years ago
According to https://yougov.de/topics/politics/articles-reports/2016/07/28/regretting-parenthood-wenn-eltern-ihre-kinder-lieb, the original study interviewed 23 Israeli women. Follow-on study interviewed 2,045 Germans, both women and men. Men and women were found to experience this regret equally, so it's not just mothers (though mothers and fathers cite different reasons for their answer).
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Joanna Drzewieniecki 2 years ago
They pressure women to have children in Germany? How very odd. Here in Latin America women who don't want children are rare though people no longer want as many children as before. In the US, I found more people who just didn't like children much and, in many countries, there are young people who decide not to have children because they are very pessimistic about the future. Finally, I feel terribly sorry for those German children who learn their parents are sorry they had them. Awful!
Amelia Honeychurch 2 years ago
This seems like a reasonable stat. Until the falsehood that the peak achievement of a woman’s life is to be a mother is eliminated, the regret will continue. Just because I have a uterus doesn’t mean I want to (much less HAVE to) use it. If you want to have kids, you can, but it is not and has never been, a requirement. Society should stop pressuring young women to have kids. The world is overpopulated already.
#35
TIL that EU citizen can demand a copy of all personal data that companies hold about them. However, most Android and iPhone apps completely ignore this right, a study has found.
James016 2 years ago
GDPR which has been in force since 2018. If you wanted to know what data an app has on you, the most common way is to make a Subject Access Request to the developer, they would then have 30 days to respond. You can also ask a company to delete all your personal data.
Julia H 2 years ago (edited)
Similarly medical providers, in the US at least, have 30 days to send medical records after they're requested. The records belong to the patient and must be made available upon request
Load More Replies... Yayheterogeneity 2 years ago (edited)
There was a guy in Austria I think, who took Facebook to court over that right. They tried to refuse but in the end had to give in. Since then it has become way easier.
OmBoyGanesh 2 years ago (edited)
Many of the small percentage of Americans who also hold EU citizenship are very aware of Subject Access Requests. At least those who have concern for their overall privacy. A Dutch/American national made a request as a Dutch citizen and was denied because they were an American. It was redressed by EU/Netherlands and approved. Although, there was much red tape and hoops to the actual access.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
Same for South Africa, we have a thing called POPI and PAIA. They both give us this same right and that if you lose our info or get hacked we can technically sue you.
PurpleUnicorn 2 years ago
Also the EU has said that if apps based outside the EU process info about EU citizens, they must abide by GDPR or risk being kicked out.
Mickie Shea 2 years ago
What great idea for any phone maker who wants the trust of its customers.
#36
TIL that Kit Kat Bars come in over 200 flavors. Soy Sauce, Matcha, Orange, Blueberry, Lemon Vinegar, Yuzu, Blood Orange, Salt, Banana, Fruit Parfait, Melon, Muscat, Maple Syrup, Red Bean Soup, Cherry Blossom... just to name a few.
Argie Smith 2 years ago
Wonder no more: you are correct. The match, green tea and blood orange are delicious!
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Riche White 2 years ago
Just had a peach one last night. Also banana which I got in Japan last month.
Tim Nicebutdim 2 years ago
And they're all made by a company that killed babies in Africa for profit.
#37
TIL that a McDonald's in the Netherlands once fired an employee for selling a coworker a hamburger and then separately giving them a piece of cheese, arguing that she should've charged more for a cheeseburger. Courts ruled in the employee's favor, ordering the rest of her contract paid out in full.
Apps 2 years ago
Wow, people went to court over a piece of cheese? I bet working for McDonald's in Europe is treated as a real job with a living wage and benefits and that's why the free cheese case went to trial.
Ian Shaw 2 years ago
It wasn't over cheese, it was about wrongful dismissal.
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Sami-Jo Ross 2 years ago
This sounds like something out of the US. I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn't.
#38
TIL about a painkiller present in human saliva called Opiorphin which is stronger than Morphine.
Powerful Katrinka 2 years ago
"Therapeutic application of opiorphin in humans would require modifying the molecule to avoid its rapid degradation in the intestine and its poor penetration of the blood–brain barrier.[11]" J. Physiol. Pharmacol. 61
Gamin Coda 2 years ago
Even immodium used for diarrhea can be a strong opiate if it can break the blood brain barrier.
Load More Replies... Nikole 2 years ago
Haha that’s like a PG-13 version of that Peaches song.
Load More Replies... xolitaire 2 years ago (edited)
Toothaches are mostly caused by inflamed nerves/roots. Sadly painkillers don't work on nerves
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Luis Hernandez Dauajare 2 years ago
So... that means that "kissing the boo-boo to make it better" *does* work
Riley Quinn 2 years ago
I'm not arguing Opiorphin is stronger than Morphine, but given how painful some dentistry procedures are, I can only assume we don't produce enough saliva to control the pain.
#39
TIL In 2000, when the cast of "Friends" wouldn't come down from their $1,050,000/episode salary demands, NBC's Garth Ancier produced promos saying "You've loved them for seven years, see how it all ends with the series finale of Friends this Thursday". The cast agreed to lower salaries.
Lady Perkele 2 years ago
Personal opinion, I never liked the show or them, and this little things of abusing the greed and fame. No
Haywood Jablome 2 years ago
Grows and fame aside, it may have beern a collective bargaining milestone for TV actors. Jennifer Aniston probably could have made far more money being the breakout star, but the cast wanted everybody paid the same
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xolitaire 2 years ago
And what does the rest of the team earn in comparison? I know actors work a lot, but everyone else who works on a production like that does too. 1,000,000 per episode is ridiculous
CP 2 years ago
Ah the old I want to tear down other workers instead of being upset at management take. Do you just want executives to make more? Do you think the extra money saved would go to other workers?
Load More Replies... OmBoyGanesh 2 years ago
Clearly, revenue needs to be better dispersed amongst talent & crew, particularly stage hands, writers, PAs & such. But what the cast was demanding was $17,500 per hour, including travel and downtime on set. During this current writers’ strike I read a really interesting article on pay breakout. The cast & crew of Friends was an example. I wish I could find it to link, but you may find it worth a search.
jennifer_34 2 years ago
NBC wasn’t a charity. They made a ton of money on that show. The cast banded together on all negotiations and NBC hated that.
Caroline Nagel 2 years ago
If a series or a movie brings in a lot of profit why shouldn't actors get their fair share of that profit? It is the actors who make the profit, not the writer, not the guy who fixes the lighting,. Nobody watches a movie/series because of the person who did the make up. Would anybody go and see the Mission Impossible-movies if some third grade actor played Whathisname? No, people go to see Tom Cruise do dangerous stunts, and people pay money in their millions to go and see him do them. Why shouldn't he be paid big bucks?
Lama 2 years ago (edited)
Sorry to be blunt, but this comment is really ignorant. The people behind the screen study and work very hard, and if they are good at what they do, only then a film will succeed. The actors might be good and famous, but if you throw in a crappy crew, no one will notice. Everyone should make money off the profit, please respect the hard-working non-famous people!
Load More Replies... Chewie Baron 2 years ago
What’s the tax like for actors who make $1m an episode? How much do they have to pay? I’ve always been curious.
Tee Rat 2 years ago
That's the fun of US tax law it never breaks down to percentage owed by dollars earned. While it would place them in higher tax bracket with proper management they could have pared down their tax owed with proper expenses and other deductions. Lawyers, financial advisers, and accountants are a necessity of course and what they pay them is deductible the next year. See? Fun.
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Jaaawn 2 years ago
I think it was 'just' $1m each an episode. Bloody outrageous.
Load More Replies... Celtic Pirate Queen 2 years ago
NO ONE is worth that amount of money & guess what? NO ONE is irreplaceable.
#40
TIL of Irene of Athens (750-803 CE), the first sole-ruling empress in Roman history. Her husband the emperor having died, she had her son's eyes gouged, and him imprisoned, becoming sole ruler for 5 years, when she was exiled to the island of Lesbos and forced to support herself by spinning wool.
Karl 2 years ago
Well the Bible says that, if your child disobeys you, they should be stoned to death so I think he got off lightly 😀
Load More Replies... David H 2 years ago (edited)
Not exactly true. Empress Plucheria ruled for a number of years on her own, she w as a religious fanataic who persecuted not just Pagan's and Jews, but also "the wrong christian sects", leading to actions taken to force her to share power, and then push her to the background. She destabilized the Eastern Empire with her religious fanaticism.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
wow she sounds disgusting, why would you do that to your own child?!?
UpupaEpops 2 years ago
People weren't so sentimental back in those days. What with the child mortality rates, mourning your children wasn't really a thing. But basically, in her case, people were *really* unhappy with having a woman on the throne so they tried to overthrow her. It wasn't the case of a mother having her son's eyes gouged out. It was the Empress punishing an act of high treason.
Load More Replies... H.M. V. 2 years ago
There were plenty Roman Empresses that made sure their husbands died so they could rule through their sons too. The sons just weren't always that complacent (e.g. Nero who wanted to become a poet and not (initially) emperor and later tried getting rid of mother dearest multiple times until succeeding)
#41
TIL Bob Norris, the first Marlboro Man, was discovered after being seen in a photo with John Wayne. While Norris was the Marlboro Man for 12 years, he never smoked. He also told his kids not to smoke. After they asked why he was doing cigarette ads, he quit his job as the Marlboro Man the next day.
Betsy Ray 2 years ago (edited)
You're on the right track. Subsequent Marlboro Men did die of lung cancer. Five of them. Too sad.
Load More Replies... Caroline Nagel 2 years ago
So what? I take it you don't work for peanuts. This guy had to feed his family just like everybody else.
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Deb Smith 2 years ago
What's really cool about this is he got paid by a cigarette company and they didn't insist on him really smoking. My Dad let me take a puff from his Marlboro red when I was 11 and he asked me if I liked it and I said NO! He said good, never smoke. My Dad was wise. He had four daughters and none of us have ever smoked.
#42
TIL That the Last Emperor of China was, after being deposed, forced to work as a street sweeper in Beijing. On his first day, he got lost and asked for help by telling strangers “I'm Puyi, the last Emperor of the Qing dynasty. I'm staying with relatives and can't find my way home”
🇳🇬 Asi Bassey 🇳🇬 2 years ago
I’d be wary of telling strangers I was the just-deposed emperor. 😁
H.M. V. 2 years ago
I can imagine. Weren't Chinese Emperor's extremely secluded?
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two-sided llama 2 years ago
I USED THE RULEEEEE THE WORLD (or china) SEAS WOULD RISE WHEN I GAVE THE WORD NOW IN THE MORNING I SLEEP ALONE SWEEP THE STREETS I USED TO OWN (perfect repersentation of his life)
Chrissie Anit 2 years ago
Recently watched a documentary about him. Whereas before I had always felt a bit sorry for him, I now think he deserved everything that happened to him. Apparently he was a sadist from childhood on.
Connor Noah 2 years ago
serves him right the emperor used to wear theirs enemy's balls around their neck in jars
#43
TIL that 13% of people who receive CPR outside of a hospital are still alive a year later.
Anyone-for-tea? 2 years ago
Did you know the face of Resusci Annie is based on a death mask? A teenage girl found dead in the River Seine in Paris in the late 19th century - whose body was never identified and her face was captured in a mold and made into a mask.
The Scout 2 years ago
...and alter leading up to a great Michael Jackson song (The phrase "Annie, are you OK" in "Smooth Criminal" is a reference to Resusci Annie).
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Satan Laughs 2 years ago
AND new guidelines state JUST CHEST COMPRESSIONS is great. So if someone is unconscious and not breathing, please pump their blood for them until paramedics arrive. Too many people were bystanders and afraid of going mouth to mouth with a total stranger (think someone who is frothing/homeless/vomiting/you name it). The one out of ten alive could be you. ER nurse for 9 years— it works.
Kate Priestley 2 years ago
And do it to the rhythm of 'staying Alive by the Bee Gees as this is the correct speed for the compressions.
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Donkey boi 2 years ago
Correlation is not causation. The reason the person needed CPR in the first place is because something is not right, and it may not necessarily be fixable. And the 13% includes those that were not successfully revived. Besides, I bet those 13% are pretty fecking happy.
Jon Parker 2 years ago
Sounds like 87% of people who receive CPR outside of a hospital are dead a year later...
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
And only 13% because it's nto that effective, sadly,s o don't believe TV/movies. And if you don 't know how to do it properly, at least Youtube it first. Don't shatter someone's ribs when 1. they still have a pulse and/or 2. you have no idea where to compress. Punctured pancreas, anyone? Yeah. Punctured lung? Yep. Seen both. One colleague swears they saw a broken spiune from bad CPR, so the patient lived, but was paralyzed.
#44
TIL that Japan’s Tobe Zoo conducts lion escape drills using a human in a lion costume. Due to Japan’s earthquake-prone location, these elaborate drills are crucial to prepare for emergencies
John L 2 years ago
You can see a video of one. I would advise you look for it, it's hilarious.
Upstaged75 2 years ago
SO funny! They do a zebra one too. The "acting" of the person in the animal costume is what makes it so hilarious. And you should see the faces of the general public at the zoo wondering what the hell is going on!
Load More Replies... #45
TIL: Kobe Bryant is mostly responsible for the fall of high top basketball sneakers. Raised in Italy, Kobe noticed that soccer players play in a fairly similar way to basketball player. Kobe told Nike point-blank, 'I want the lowest, lightest-weight basketball shoe ever’.
Steve Robert 2 years ago
Yeah but my P.F. Flyers let me jump higher and run faster than a regular shoe.
Barong 2 years ago
Do high top shoes really do that much. Possibly no. “These findings provide preliminary evidence suggesting that wearing high-top shoes can, in certain conditions, induce a delayed pre-activation timing and decreased amplitude of evertor muscle activity, and may therefore have a detrimental effect on establishing and maintaining functional ankle joint stability.“ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3943374/
#46
TIL during the Cambodian genocide (1975-1979) life expectancy in the country fell to 12 years.
UpupaEpops 2 years ago
Because it happened in the West. Try the Rohingya genocide, the Bosnian genocide, and Rwanda, all in our lifetime.
Load More Replies... #47
TIL Aristotle's payment for teaching Alexander the Great was the reconstruction and repopulation of Aristotle's home village, which had been destroyed and enslaved by Alexander's father.
SkekVi 2 years ago
oooh was it the one that actually acknowledges Bagoas???
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Violet1854 2 years ago
I still cant believe that we call him 'the great' after he behaved like a psychotic douchebag all his years
juice 2 years ago
well "great" doesn't have to have positive connotations, in this case it's more like "powerful" because he was skilled at military stuff
Load More Replies... #48
TIL The creator of Barbie and the creator of Hot Wheels were married.
OnlyFranks 2 years ago
I don't know why the down votes, this is true. The designer of Barbie designed the the dolls after her children, Barbara and Kenneth. The story about the toys makes them a couple, but the actual people they were named and designed after, were indeed siblings.
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Jonathan Labelle 2 years ago
i heard that the creator of barbies also created realistic implant for woman who had a masectomy
#49
TIL you shouldn’t eat more than 5 Brazil nuts in a day. They contain selenium, which can cause gastrointestinal problems, brittle hair and nails, joint pain, and tiredness. In large amounts, it can cause kidney failure, heart failure, and heart attacks.
Henrik Schmidt 2 years ago
They're also slightly radioactive. And they are the only foodstuff where allergy to them can be transferred sexually. No, really.
Julie Snelling 2 years ago
I love Brazil nuts at Christmas I can sit and eat loads in one sitting.
David Paterson 2 years ago
This is probably a myth. Firstly, selenium in small doses is an essential nutrient. Without selenium you will die. Secondly, the amount of such elements in a particular type of food depends entirely on the mineral content of the soil in which the plant is gown. Only a few of the many Brazil Nut trees would be grown on soil rich in selenium. Thirdly, food quality control would reject any food containg dangerous levels of selenium, so any such dangerous nuts would be rejected before it reached the supermarket shelves
Margaret H 2 years ago
That said, eating a couple of them a day is very good for people who are selenium deficient and who have thyroid problems.
Elwood Schwartz (it/that) 2 years ago
Selenium is good for testicles. That is why it is in most men's mulilti-vitimins. Although, that would explain my joint pain and very brittle hair
Belynda Young 2 years ago
These are my favorite nuts, but it is hard to find them except for small expensive bags in the baking section of grocery store.
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
My son told me this. They are really good for you but don't eat more than 5 a day.
#50
TIL that the first national speed limit law of 55mph passed in 1974 in the US was not because of safety concerns, but because fast-traveling vehicles would have exacerbated the oil shortage at the time.
Upstaged75 2 years ago
I didn't. Seeing as I was negative-one years old at the time. :)
Load More Replies... James016 2 years ago
I remember when visiting the USA for the first time when I was about 10 that on the hire car my dad had, 55 on the speedometer was actually coloured orange while the rest of the numbers were white.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
we still have that on cheaper cars in SA, our limit markers are also often coloured (60, 80, 100, etc).
Load More Replies... David Paterson 2 years ago
The first law against leaded petrol in the US was not because of safety concerns about lead, but because lead in petrol causes catalytic converters to become clogged.
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
"The time" was nearly 50 years ago. You're welcome.
Load More Replies... The Scout 2 years ago
Well, here in Germany, even a general speed limit of something like 150 mph would probably start a revolution... Some people really, really like to speed.
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
It's not speeding unless it's over the limit, otherwise it's just driving fast! XD
Load More Replies... #51
TIL that most blackboards are actually green because boards that were black tended to reflect a lot of light, while green boards reduced glare and were favored by teachers who had to stare at them all day.
zerofoxgiven 2 years ago
i went to school in the early 2000s and we still had green boards. even in my university in the 2010s
Load More Replies... Upstaged75 2 years ago
My 4th grade classroom was the first in the history of the school to get a dry erase board. It was the most exciting thing that happened all year. I believe it was 1984. :)
Antony Aston 2 years ago
not quite right, black does not reflect more light. Rather white on black caused more eye strain than yellow chalk on a green board.
DiscoqueenJ 2 years ago
When I was kid, most boards were green - I knew there were actual blackboards and had seen them before but never understood why ours were green.
MichelleDonut 2 years ago
We mostly called them "chalkboards" rather than blackboards (midwest US 1970s and 1980s)
Upstaged75 2 years ago
I'm from the Mid-Atlantic/East coast and we called them chalkboards too.
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Margaret H 2 years ago
Our school has electronic blackboards, I'm told. It must be easier to erase than those blasted chalkboards!
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
you are kidding me, you have never noticed this from going to school?
JoNo 2 years ago
The point isn't that anyone failed to notice that blackboards are green, it's that they aren't called GREENBOARDS instead. Sigh.
Load More Replies... #52
TIL that as revenge for Oscar Wilde being in a relationship with his son, The Marquess Of Queensbury planned to present Wilde with a bouquet of rotten vegetables at the opening night of The Importance Of Being Earnest, Wilde’s hit play. But Wilde was tipped off and stopped Queensbury getting inside.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
whew. They should start the sentence with Marquess of Queensbury otherwise it reads as " Oscar Wilde being in a relationship with his son" ... which sounds a bit banjo.
Marley Nachi 2 years ago
This is poorly written. It should be the Marquess of Queensbury's son, not Oscar Wilde's son. This is why puntuation is important
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
The Marquess of Queensbury was also the man who drew up the first rules for boxing.
Brian Hawley 2 years ago
And made the famous comment “whenever I smell rotting vegetables I shall think of you Queensbury “
#53
TIL an 1861 Japanese book about the "history" of the United States included such colorful scenes as George Washington punching a tiger and John Adams killing a giant snake.
Jeffery Stricklin 2 years ago
THAT.....sounds awesome....What's next? Lincoln wrestling Elephants or Jackson chasing Cheetahs?
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
To be fair, Jackson probably would do that. And considering the direction the Republican Party has gone, Lincoln wrestling the elephant is probably a fairly accurate representation at this point.
Load More Replies... Rodney McKay 2 years ago
Regarding Washington, that's only because cherry trees are sacred in Japan, and no one would believe it if they wrote the "truth".
unfilteredCigarette73 2 years ago
Yeah the trees make sense but I want to know more about Adams and the giant snake
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Hailey Strong 2 years ago
Maybe the snake has something to do with the don’t tread on me flag?
#54
TIL the song "Lesbian Seagull" from Beavis & Butt-Head Do America was not written for the film as a comedy bit, but already existed as a real song written in 1979 in response to a scientific study of long-term monogamous lesbian behavior observed in seagulls on Santa Barbara Island.
#55
TIL after the outlaw George Parrott was executed in 1881, his skull was used as an ashtray, and his skin was made into a pair of shoes and a medicine bag. The doctor who performed the autopsy later became Governor of Wyoming and wore the shoes to his inaugural ball.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
An ashtray... How ignominious! Viking raiders used the skulls of those they vanquished as drinking vessels. Hence "Skål!", which most English speakers translate as "Cheers!". Personally, I say "Skull!"
sofacushionfort 2 years ago (edited)
The shoes’ toes were George’s nipples. A photo of them were circulated online as “proof” that Black slaves were skinned and made into shoes.
the_avenging_knight 2 years ago
I bet the doctor would've been great friends with some certain Nazis.
#56
TIL that the 1994 film “The Mask,” was based on a much more violent comic book. The protagonist, Stanley Ipkiss, goes on a revenge spree, murders a number of cops, and is eventually shot in the back and killed by his girlfriend, Kathy, who sees the Mask for what it is, and plans to destroy it.
Jeffery Stricklin 2 years ago
Same thing with TMNT....started out to be a much more violent/adult than what you see now.
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
Pretty common, though -- many comics out there are pretty graphically violent, but the general public associates the genre with the "funny pages" comic strips: Peanuts, Garfield, Dennis the Menace, etc. Cartoon characters in three-panel (or just one panel) jokes. I mean, take Batman. We all know that it's a really dark narrative, lots of trauma and angst. Ever watched any of the old Adam West series? That is how the vast majority of the public perceived comic books for a long time, and that perception is only just beginning to shift.
Load More Replies... #57
TIL that smoking prevents broken bones healing - smokers have 2.2 times the risk of delayed and/or non-union bone healing after a fracture.
Julie Snelling 2 years ago
The more I hear about this smoking lark the more I start to think it's not good for you.
Upstaged75 2 years ago
I saw a video of a doctor talking about this and how patients always lie, saying they don't smoke. And then they end up with a broken leg that won't heal.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 2 years ago
same with recovery from tooth removal. it's because it constricts capillaries.
#58
TIL Sublime’s debut album "40oz. to Freedom" was recorded in secrecy at the studios in California State University. The lead singer, Bradley Nowell, recalled how they would sneak in after closing time, stay there till 5:00 AM, hide from security, and managed to get $30k of studio time for free.
SkyBlueandBlack 2 years ago
... I'm gonna express some doubt here. First, the practice rooms at CSU Long Beach don't close. Second, you do have to be a student to use them. And third, you have to book them in advance, because the music program there is big and it's packed. They're never not in use. Unless they went to Fullerton -- I'm not familiar with the setup there, but they certainly would've spent time in that area, considering they did a lot with No Doubt then.
#59
TIL in 1975, Stevie Wonder, frustrated with the U.S. government, considered quitting music and emigrating to Ghana. He reconsidered and wrote and recorded Songs In The Key Of Life, an album widely considered a masterpiece.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
Is there anyone who is *not* frustrated with the U.S. government? It's surprising that Ghana et al are not more crowded.
#60
TIL: 100 Americans a year choke to death on pen caps, but that the number used to be higher before manufacturers put a hole in the cap.
Susan Robinson 2 years ago
What are you doing?! Quit typing and go get help while you can!
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#61
TIL Canadian Geese poop every 12 minutes.
#theKingofOlympus 2 years ago
It's not just canadian geese. It's any type of goose, and the 12 minutes is an AVERAGE
OmBoyGanesh 2 years ago
Thank you!!! I was starting to wonder if I was misremembering my education and had been naming them incorrectly my entire life. Canada Geese. Side note, especially for Californians: The Sierra Nevada mountain range shortened as “The Sierra” and not “The Sierras.” I just read a news article that got that wrong and it grinds my gears.
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#62
TIL Soccer legend Diego Maradona used a fake penis to pass drug tests at the height of his cocaine use. The phoney phallus was stolen from a Buenos Aires museum in 2003 and has never been recovered.
Jeremy James 2 years ago
I know someone who used one. They're sold under the name, "The Whizzinator."
Yvonne Dauwalder Balsiger 2 years ago
1. You are rich and other rich people get even richer with you 2. You can just commission a prop master to build a realistic fake penis
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Uncanny 2 years ago
I’m guessing he’d put someone else’s urine in there and then ‘pee’ in front of the testers, I’m pretty sure they’d not get that close they could tell it was fake.
Load More Replies... Betsy Ray 2 years ago (edited)
Wouldn't you guess it was something like a fountain pen?
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#63
TIL it’s illegal for civilians to wear camouflage in 11 countries, including Jamaica, Barbados, and Zimbabwe, to prevent them from being mistaken for military personnel or law enforcement.
Mtownmick 2 years ago
Only purpose of camouflage is to hide so you can k*ll people. Hunters need to be seen.
David Paterson 2 years ago
I saw people in Jamaica wearing camouflage while guarding a shipment of illegal marijuana. Were they considered military personnel or law enforcement?
#64
TIL That John O’Hurley, the actor who played the fictional version of J. Peterman on Seinfeld, now owns the J. Peterman company with the real J. Peterman.
#65
TIL that an estimated 1 of every 8 workers in the USA has at some point been employed by McDonald's.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
So, we all need to go to McDonald's frequently to prevent unemployment among the young (and young at ambition). Got it.
#66
TIL The temperature on the moon at the Apollo 11 landing site was 200ºF (93ºC).
David Paterson 2 years ago
They deliberately landed early in the morning before everything had heated up. They left well before midday when the temperature reaches that high. Both midnight and midday on the moon have extreme temperatures.
NoNamePanda 2 years ago
That would be a problem if the moon had an atmosphere to conduct the heat...
#67
TIL that Will Lee, who played Mr. Hooper on Sesame Street, was blacklisted for refusing to testify to the House Un-American Activities Committee.
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
The British Film industry was a huge benefactor of this whole witch hunt. A lot of people who were blacklisted and unable to carry on acting, writing, directing etc came over and worked in the UK. They boosted the quality of British films, and gave them the opportunity to work on the London stage. Including Sam Wannamaker, who was father to Zoë Wannamaker, who portrayed Madam Hooch. Sam was the driving force behind the project to rebuild The Globe Theatre, on London’s Southbank.
sofacushionfort 2 years ago (edited)
Trivia: HUAC was a witch hunt from the House of Representatives, chaired by opportunist Texas congressman Martin Dies. The Senate Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations was under opportunist Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy. McCarthy mainly went after federal employees (which proved his undoing since there were powerful people there), while HUAC went after less powerful people in the movies, TV and radio, education, workers in unions, etc.
#68
TIL about the "Loneliest Tree on Earth," a Sitka spruce on Campbell Island, over 170 miles from the nearest tree. It was planted by a lonely meteorologist in 1907.
#69
TIL about Edwarda O'Bara, a Florida woman who went into a diabetic coma for 42 years after contracting pneumonia. Nicknamed "Florida's sleeping Snow White," her mother took care of her to the point that by 2007, 5 years before Edwarda passed, she was at least $200k in debt.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
this is why living wills / do not resuscitate laws are so important. What's the point of being a vegetable for 42 years?
Jenny Galbraith 2 years ago
Only $200k in debt for 37 years in a coma? That's one cheap hospital bill.
Barong 2 years ago
That’s $200,000 in debt. Thats not including what was already paid.
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#70
TIL The longest ever personal name was that of a German-born American called Hubert Blaine Wolfeschlegelsteinhausenbergerdorff Sr. His full, unabbreviated name is made up of 26 names, each starting with a different letter of the alphabet, in alphabetical order, followed by a 666-letter surname.
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
And then there was Malcolm Peter Brian Telescope Adrian Umbrella Stand Jasper Wednesday (pops mouth twice) Stoatgobbler John Raw Vegetable (whinnying) Arthur Norman Michael (blows squeaker) Featherstone Smith (whistle) Northcott Edwards Harris (fires pistol, then 'whoop') Mason (chuff-chuff-chuff-chuff) Frampton Jones Fruitbat Gilbert (sings) 'We'll keep a welcome in the' (three shots) Williams If I Could Walk That Way Jenkin (squeaker) Tiger-drawers Pratt Thompson (sings) 'Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head' Darcy Carter (horn) Pussycat (sings) 'Don't Sleep In The Subway' Barton Mainwaring (hoot, 'whoop') Smith who stood as a candidate for the Very Silly party in the Harpenden South East constituency in an Episode of Monty Python.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
Imagine trying to fit that into the name box on one of those damned forms where I struggle to fit my own "Rodney McKay".
#71
TIL that while the English language is classified as a West Germanic language, its vocabulary also shows major influences from French (about 28% of words) and Latin (also about 28%), plus some grammar and a small amount of core vocabulary influenced by Old Norse.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
yep. Skirt -> old norse. Shirt -> west germanic (saxon). Skipper -> old norse. Ship -> saxon. In the sentence above, (TIL), everything is west germanic except: language (french); classified (latin with germanic past tense), vocabulary (latin), major (latin), influences (latin via french), French (frankish germanic), grammar (greek).
Purple light 2 years ago
Skipper is from (Old) Dutch (schipper) Many nautical words originate from (Old) Dutch or Frisian.
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Regal Kitten 2 years ago
English is a language that mugs other languages in dark alleys and rummages through their pockets for loose grammar and words
Dodo 2 years ago
I love that saying but at the same time I always find it strange. England was invaded by Norsemen and Romans and Normans, rather than the other way around.
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Rinso the Red 2 years ago
Here's a hint, the 28% you call French are really just the Latin that was used to build French as well. The real number is that more than 1/2 our language is based on Latin.
Freya the Wanderer 2 years ago
The Norman Conquest enriched English with French. It is why we call cow flesh beef, pig flesh pork, deer flesh venison, etc.
David Paterson 2 years ago
My wife used to say that English is a barstud of a language. Its mother is German but no-one is quite sure who the father is.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
And people get offended when I refer to English as a "bastard language". Heck, it'll probably get censored here.
Strings 2 years ago
English is a language that hides in alleys, waiting to mug other languages for any loose vocabulary
Peter Trudell Jr 2 years ago
"The problem with defending the purity of the English language is that English is about as pure as a cribhouse whore. We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary." --James D. Nicoll
Load More Replies... #72
TIL in 2018 a flatulent passenger who refused to stop farting forced a plane to land and police to be called to remove four fliers after a fight erupts on board.
Emily Ward 2 years ago
I find it funny how they used the term "refused" as if he wanted to be farting
Upstaged75 2 years ago
Well, my brother can fart at-will continuously for large periods of time. And he definitely wants to. :) Thankfully he restrains himself in public, but I could absolutely see him doing something like that and getting kicked off a plane! I swear they never grow up. He's 45 years old and still tries to hold me down and fart on me. His poor wife is a saint! LOL.
Load More Replies... Mark Fergel 2 years ago
It really wasn't his fault. He kept telling passengers "Pull my finger" and they did.
Powerful Katrinka 2 years ago
He wasn't kicked off the plane for farting, but because he got into a fistfight with the passenger sitting next to him. Kind of an important detail.
Jared Robinson 2 years ago
refused to stop farting like it isn't an uncontrollable bodily function lol
Upstaged75 2 years ago
See my comments above re; my brother. :) He uses it as a weapon.
Load More Replies... T'Mar of Vulcan 2 years ago
Some people can fart on purpose or prevent themselves from farting. I can't and used to be verbally abused by my aunt and uncle when I would fart... too bad I didn't think of fistfighting them!
#73
TIL after the death of Bruce Lee in 1973, film industries in Hong Kong, Taiwan, and South Korea raced to find his replacement in order to build off of his legacy. This period, later known as 'Bruceploitation', would feature actors with screen names like Bruce Li, Bruce Lai, Brute Lee, etc.
#74
TIL Lightning McQueen from “Cars” isn’t named after Steve McQueen, but after late Pixar animator Glenn McQueen, who died during the film’s production.
Mrs. Ginger McSarcasm 2 years ago
So was his name always Lightning McQueen, or did they change his name after the animator died?
#75
TIL the famous riff to INXS’ song “Need You Tonight” appeared in guitarist’s Andrew Farriss head while waiting for a cab to go to the airport. He then asked the cab driver to wait a couple of minutes while he grabbed something from his motel room. In reality, he went up to record the riff.
JB 2 years ago
I'm always so disappointed when I hear this on the radio but they cut off "Mediate". It'd be like if they played ZZ Top's "Waitin for the Bus" without "Jesus Just Left Chicago" - Heresy!
Tee Rat 2 years ago
The bus would have showed up, but muddy water would have never been turned to wine.
Load More Replies... #76
TIL: Kobe Bryant's "33" High School basketball jersey was stolen in 2017 and sold to a collector in China who returned it after suspecting it was stolen.
#77
TIL that people with hypermobility carry a gene that makes them much more likely to have children with autism.
Mela Queen 2 years ago
Oh my gosh and ADHD this made me google it as I'm hypermobile and my kids are neurodivergent!?
Elizabeth James 2 years ago
I’m have hypermobility and Asperger’s so I could believe this, though I don’t believe either of my parents have either condition
#78
TIL that the feeling of being awake when you’re actually sleeping is a disorder called paradoxical insomnia and the reason for it is unclear.
Yeet_girl360 2 years ago
"Researchers do not understand what causes paradoxical insomnia, but some research suggests a link between the condition and mental health issues, such as anxiety or depression." I think I have this. I match most the boxes.
Red PANda (she/they) 2 years ago
Are these those days when you think that you’ve pulled an all-nighter but you actually fell asleep at like 1am and woke up before your alarm
Terry Tobias 2 years ago
Every other night this week I've gone through this. It's almost worse than not sleeping at all. You start to doubt your senses and you feel like you're going crazy.
#79
TIL that “Stars and Stripes Forever” is an emergency alert at the circus. When it is played by the band it usually means there is a fire and that the performers and circus hands should go to their emergency stations and start evacuating people.
Swoo 2 years ago
it's ok it's still some interesting bit of useless trivia to shine at social events :)
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Petra Schaap 2 years ago
this reminds me of the "code 1000" at IKEA. Its supposed to be secret but EVERYONE knows it means big threat everyone get out
#80
TIL About Starlite, an insulator invented by a hairdresser that was said to be able to withstand a laser beam of 10,000 °C and was 90% organic and eatable, but despite even NASA being interested in it, its creator took the formula to his grave.
Giles McArdell 2 years ago (edited)
I saw this demonstrated on "Tomorrows World" - they coated a fresh egg in this and then turned a blow torch on to it - afterwards the egg was still fresh and uncooked. I understood at the time that the inventor was being greedy, he wanted some enormous payment up front before releasing the formula or even giving out samples, but NASA and others, suspecting some sort of con, sensibly refused to pay up without being able to test it for themselves.
Lene 2 years ago
English is my 2nd language and even I was confused about this. Lol. I remember when I learned that it's edible because I felt so ashamed for not knowing sooner. Lol.
Load More Replies... Jared Robinson 2 years ago
People that do this are f*****g a******s. Oh here is this miraculous thing that could possibly change all human kind for the better, but I'm not gonna tell na na na boo boo stick your head in doo doo. F**k those people I hope they are burning in hell.
#81
TIL that the Moon is one of the dullest objects in the solar system, and if Neptune's moon Triton was in its place it would appear 7 times brighter.
David Paterson 2 years ago
This one is false. True the Moon is much duller than Triton and Earth, but it is much brighter than the Martian moons Phobos and Diemos, and even brighter still than all of the carbonaceous chondrite asteroids in the asteroid belts.
#82
TIL Lynyrd Skynyrd the band who had a massive hit with their song 'Sweet Home Alabama' are actually from Jacksonville, Florida
#83
TIL that in 1950’s Britain, it was noted that the middle class used overly complex language in an attempt to be more posh. However, the actual upper class themselves preferred the more straightforward language of the working class such as scent instead of perfume.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
Exactly. And people get pissy with me when I say "what" instead of "I beg you pahdon". Pretensiousness irritates me.
Troy Parr 2 years ago
More recently, office working types of middle management would do very much the same thing. Several major organisations such as the Civil Service, Customs and Excise actually distributed instructions to office workers to "simplify" their vocabulary with a long list of examples. If followed it would have had the effect of creating an us & them differation between workers and mnagement.
UpupaEpops 2 years ago
Wildly, I found that the lower classes were much more snobbish and more interested in maintaining the class system.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 2 years ago
posher people tend to say pudding rather than dessert. and people who refer to that course as "the sweet" are often the same kind of people that put on a posher voice when answering the phone.
#84
TIL there is a cliff on Miranda (moon of Uranus) named Verona Rupes that is estimated to be 20km high. It is the tallest known cliff in the solar system and if you jumped off of it you would fall for about 12 minutes before hitting the ground due to the lower gravity.
Scott 2 years ago
I'm not sure, but I suspect that you'd die long before you hit the ground due to lack of breathable atmosphere.
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Ian Webling 2 years ago
When falling under the influence of gravity in a vacuum a body is constantly accelerating. On Miranda you would fall for just under two hours and hit the ground at just over two hundred kilometres per hour.
Adam Jeff 2 years ago
200km/h is right but the time taken is just under 12 minutes, not 2 hours. t=sqrt(2*h/a)
Load More Replies... David Paterson 2 years ago
Just thinking, that cliff is exceedingly high, but is far from vertical. You'd hit the ground long before you got to the bottom of the cliff.
#85
TIL in 1283 King Edward I of England had the last Prince of Wales executed and started the custom of giving the title to his first born son instead.
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
He promised the Welsh that he would give them a Prince of Wales who would speak no English. He did. Although his son was only four days old at the time.
T'Mar of Vulcan 2 years ago
In "The Crown", Prince Charles was sent to Wales to learn Welsh. The Welsh have long memories and are still upset about their own prince being executed and having a foreign king foist a foreigner on them.
𝖊𝖜𝖔𝛋 2 years ago
This is why there was so much animosity when the then Prince Charles had his investiture as the Prince of Wales right? Or in part at least
Justme 2 years ago
English oppression of the Welsh people, their language and culture is more recent than 1283. Until recently, children weren’t allowed to speak Welsh, they were actually punished for it if they were caught.
Load More Replies... #86
TIL In 1987, a Boeing 747 was hijacked by a lone attacker armed with dynamite from a gold mine. After 6 hours, the flight engineer hit the attacker over the head with a whiskey bottle. He was given a suspended sentence and then became a member of the House of Representatives of Fiji.
#87
TIL In 1971, Alan Shepard hit a golf ball on the moon. He made four swings, “a shank” with the third, and on the fourth swing he caught the ball flush. “Miles and miles and miles,” he said to the TV audience
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
And that ball killed the last surviving dinosaur on the moon, whose corpse NASA keeps locked away in a secret vault.
Aqsa Azam 2 years ago
Sounds like something out of the hitchhiker's series
Load More Replies... #88
TIL consumption of crickets, mealworms or other insects can trigger an allergic reaction in people with shellfish allergies. This is true even for farm or pet store workers with occupational exposure to crickets.
Jeremy James 2 years ago
They way things are going, we may have to soon. They are much more resource-efficient to farm than other protein sources.
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Linde Van Den Berg 2 years ago
I mean I wasn't planning on eating any but good to know I guess?
Sheena Leversedge Wood 2 years ago
I mean it's only cultural that insects aren't more widely eaten in the West. look at Chinese street food, they haven't got the same squeamishness about it. I've been a lot more open to the idea since someone pointed out, how different is it to a prawn? I'm not seeking out bugs, but I'd try them if the opportunity came up. that really made me see it differently.
#89
TIL Oliver Smoot, whose body was used to measure Boston's Harvard Bridge as part of an MIT fraternity prank in 1958, went on to become the chairman of the American National Standards Institute and the president of the International Organization for Standardization.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago (edited)
americans will use anything except metric! jeez what now, bodies as a unit of length?
ALittleKnownGoddess 2 years ago
TIL that the main MIT web page has over 1000 hits for 'Smoot' :-)
#90
TIL that in 2017, several Maryland college students consumed so much alcohol at a house party, that the air in the house registered a reading of 0.01 on a breathalyzer.
#91
TIL "Tater Tots" were invented by Nephi Grigg, co-founder of Ore-Ida in 1953 using excess potato shavings from making frozen french fries. Originally, these shavings were sold as livestock feed.
#92
Til that Thailand bans the sale of alcohol on election days.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
Thailand has other weird stories including (a) a queen drowning due to no-one being willing to risk death for touching her to save her, (b) that money must be face-up to not put the king face-down, and (c) you can still get severe punishments for insulting the king.
joe Shmoe 2 years ago
I have it on good authority that the king of Thailand loves having sex with goats, as a bottom and that he lives on a diet of cat poop and ginger ale.
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Steve Robert 2 years ago
In the US, bars and liquor stores were closed so that you couldn't get someone drunk enough to vote for your candidate.
Michael Olsen 2 years ago
Also alcohol sales are only allowed between 11am-2pm and after 5pm unless you are eating while drinking in a restaurant. Different rules apply to tourist areas like Phuket, Chang Mai and Pattaya. Source lived in TH for 6 years.
#93
TIL the Steamboat Willie version of Mickey Mouse is set to enter the public domain in 2024, which means that anyone will be able to use or adapt this version of the character without fear of copyright infringement.
Panda Boi 2 years ago
Yep, the culture vultures at Disney have enough capital to change the law if they want to.
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ScootyPuffJr 2 years ago
https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/john-oliver-disney-mickey-mouse-last-week-tonight-b2313071.html
Rizzo 2 years ago
There is a shooter game on the way with very similar characters. It's called "Mouse". ;) mouse_6231...daa4e6.jpg 
#94
TIL that after leading a peasant revolt in Hungary in 1514, György Dósza was punished by being chained to a heated iron throne and had pieces of flesh torn off by hot pliers. His followers were then forced to eat him alive by biting the spots where the pliers were inserted and to swallow his flesh. Of the nine rebels who were forced to head to the heated throne to eat Dózsa, around three or four refused to munch on their leader. They were swiftly cut up, while those who obeyed were released and left alone. Also among those who were led to the throne was Dózsa's brother, who did not even have the luxury of eating his brother alive, and was instead chopped into three pieces. György's death, and the brutal torture of 40.000 rebels who took part in the revolt, may have aided the Ottoman forces during their 1526 invasion, as the Hungarians were no longer a politically united people. The result was that for the next few centuries, Hungary was partitioned between the Ottoman Empire, the Hapsburg monarchy, and the Principality of Transylvania.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
See? People stink. This is why we need laws - modern laws - which recognise human rights. This is so disgusting.
zerofoxgiven 2 years ago
Aw, I love when I see such lovely moments from my country's history on the internet... /s
#95
TIL The largest illegal dump in Europe is the Triangle of Death in Naples, Italy. As the landfills filled up in the 1990s organised crime increasingly dumped and burned trash in this area, driving in garbage as far away as Venice. The area's population has significantly higher rates of cancer.
MellonCollie 2 years ago
Some more information and lots of sources below the article for those interested: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triangle_of_death_(Italy)
#96
TIL the 1983 film "Scarface" was originally given an X rating three times in a row by the MPAA. On the fourth appeal, the film was finally given an R rating, but director Brian De Palma released the original version anyway, only admitting to it months after the film's release.
Brian Hawley 2 years ago
Hammer Horror films had nudity to ensure an X certificate. It was thought that audiences would not go to see a horror film without one.
#97
TIL about the Lost Children of the Alleghenies, two young children who disappeared from their home in Pavia, PA in 1856. They died from exposure after being missing for several days and were found in the forest by a local farmer who dreamt,for two nights, of clues that led to the children's bodies.
#98
TIL that the 7ft 2in actor who played the Predator and Harry, from Harry and the Henderson’s died from AIDS because of a HIV infected blood transfusion he received from a car accident.
#99
TIL of the Order of Malta Passport. It's the rarest passport in the world and is only issued to a few hundred people. j__z added: Just wanting to point out there is no relation between the Order of Malta and the nation of Malta. The Order of Malta is the descendant of the former Knights of Malta who ruled the island until the French Occupation removed them, and still lay claim to the island but are now based in Italy.
The Scout 2 years ago
The Order of Malta is a sovereign entity of international law, like the Red Cross and the Holy See.
Toni Ahlgren 2 years ago
Sorry dear, but the Red Cross is far from being a sovereign entity.
Load More Replies... #100
TIL Of the Chinese drywall health issues. Between 2001 and 2009 the United States imported large amounts of drywall from China that would off-gas, slowly releasing chemicals like hydrogen sulfide and corrode pipes. The South-East was especially affected because of rebuilding following hurricanes.
Glengoolie Blue 2 years ago
That drywall also contained significant amounts of asbestos and was installed in homes in the US.
Toni Ahlgren 2 years ago
Rebuild the new houses with drywall and the next hurricane will blow the down again like the Big Bad Wolf.
#101
TIL - The Onion Futures Act is a US law banning futures contracts on onions. In 1955 two traders bought so many onions and futures they controlled 98% of the onions in Chicago. They forced growers to purchase their stock by threatening to flood the market.
#102
TIL legendary footballer Lionel Messi's first contract was written on a restaurant napkin during a meeting with FC Barcelona executives. That napkin is now held in a safe in the Credit Andorra bank.
#103
TIL that, in the 1930's, the only commercial airport serving New York City was in New Jersey. To protest this, NYC Mayor LaGuardia once refused to deplane in NJ because his ticket said "New York City," so they flew him to NYC.
Mtownmick 2 years ago
There is literally an airport in NYC called LaGuardia. JFK was called Idlewild.
Load More Replies... #104
TIL Ekiben are bento (Japanese box meals) made specifically for train travel. The meals vary by train station and are typically a local speciality. At their peak in the 1980s an estimated 12 million ekiben were consumed daily in Japan.
#105
TIL Chicory has been a historic substitute for coffee. Frederick the Great banned coffee in Prussia which led to the mass production of chicory by 1795 and the chicory drinks were common in Napoleonic France. Chicory drinks also became popular in Confederate states because of the Union blockade.
Huddo's sister 2 years ago
I love adding chicory essence to my coffee on the rare occasion I have one.
censorshipsucks 2 years ago
I was under the impression that most powdered "coffee" contained a large proportion of it, so not sure whether the first sentence is that interesting. The rest is ok.
#106
TIL since 2020, white LED streetlights have been turning purple because of a defect during the manufacturing process between 2017 and 2019. The yellow phosphor coating was delaminating, and the blue LED began showing through, giving off a purplish glow.
#107
TIL that in over 50 years, 'In N Out' has kept their menu essentially the same, with the exception of the "Secret Menu Hack" of Animal Styles fries or burgers that started in the '60s.
Blondie23 2 years ago
I am not a fan of In and Out burgers but can see how this is sound business practice. No need to have a complicated menu or changing items over and over. Clearly they are successful so it's works to keep things simple!
I am Egg!!! 2 years ago
Ur missing out on the awesomeness of In-N-Out just saying
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#108
TIL that six American soldiers have defected to North Korea after the end of the Korean War.
Surenu 2 years ago
Assuming they haven't somehow returned and are still alive they're still AWOL.
Load More Replies... #109
TIL that in 1982 Delta Air Lines employees raised $30 million dollars in order to buy a new Boeing 767 as a sign of gratitude and appreciation to the company during economic hardship in the airline industry.
Regal Kitten 2 years ago
Presumably, at some point they were, if they liked the company enough to do that (Pity the current generation of CEOs cant embody the same values)
Load More Replies... censorshipsucks 2 years ago (edited)
wow talk about stockholm syndrome... buying a thing that YOU made from the person who enslaved you. Marx would have an apopleptic fit.
Johnnynatfan 2 years ago
Enslaved? Lets not toss that word around so lightly.
Load More Replies... #110
TIL that Rage Against The Machine Bassist Tim Commerford once confronted Buzz Aldrin at a party, saying the moon landing was faked.
#111
TIL Kingsford Charcoal originated from Ford Motor Company selling scrap wood from the construction of their Model T vehicles.
George Nichols 2 years ago
Lookup Fordlândia. He built a city in the Amazon rainforest to tap rubber trees for... well.... rubber.
#112
TIL Jaywalking laws vary dramatically from country to country. In most countries crossing outside of designated a crosswalk is illegal (atleast when one is available). In some countries like India and the UK it is only illegal if one obstructs traffic. The Netherlands has no concept of jaywalking.
Jaaawn 2 years ago
Being a Brit, I can't imagine not being able to cross the road wherever I want (that's safe of course) without having to use a set of traffic lights! They're so widely spaced apart here!
Nikki Sevven 2 years ago
In the US, not all crosswalks are at traffic lights.
Load More Replies... censorshipsucks 2 years ago
Jaywalking as a crime was invented to be able to a) randomly arrest black people in usa who were originally not allowed to buy cars and (b) to persuade people that it's better to drive a car so you have right of way always and don't have to walk across streets. Inadvertently I am pretty sure the charge of jaywalking created the Wall-E effect on peoples' waistlines.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
Some places in the U.S. (like Virginia) are currently decriminalizing jaywalking, not the same as legalizing (as any stoner knows), but getting there.
Seán Hannan 2 years ago
As far as I know, the rule in Ireland is that a pedestrian who crosses the road within a certain distance (say, 100m) of a Zebra Crossing or Pelican Crossing, but not at the crossing, is presumed to be in the wrong in the case of an accident.
Sheena Leversedge Wood 2 years ago
the jaywalking laws are weird. here we just call it crossing the road. you look both ways, you cross, the drivers are also required to be watching the road, not just assuming nobody is going to cross. making crossing the road illegal is bonkers, if it's not a motorway
#113
TIL there was a Baywatch spin-off show called "Baywatch Nights", starring David Hasselhoff. Intended to be a grounded procedural crime show, it pivoted in its 2nd season to being a full-on paranormal show with monsters, ghosts, mummies, vampires, parallel universes, and time travel a la The X-Files.
Rodney McKay 2 years ago
In other words, it was like every DC Comics television series (though, some have waited until their third or even fourth seasons to go loony).
#114
TIL that, when Cleopatra VII. Philpator (the one we know from Shakespeare/Asterix) was born in 69 b.c., her greek family, the Ptolemies, had already been ruling Egypt for 236 years since 305 b.c., and been there since the conquest of Egypt by Alexander the Great in 332 b.c. or his death in 323 b.c.
troufaki13 2 years ago
"the one we know from Shakespeare/Asterix"????? You mean history books?
Chewie Baron 2 years ago
Well, Asterix is very historical. Also, her nose..
Load More Replies... #115
TIL that Dwight Eisenhower took up painting during the last twenty years of his life and did about 260 paintings including a portrait of Abraham Lincoln.
#116
TIL Nick Offerman was originally up for another role in Parks and Recreation, Rashida Jones’ love interest Josh, who ended up turning into Mark Brendanawicz. Nick got turned down because he wasn’t “handsome” enough.
Jennifer_Crowley_Luci 2 years ago
I think its on here just because Nick Offerman ROCKS! :D
Load More Replies... #117
TIL that opossums only live two years...
#118
TIL that, prior to the arrival of the Mayflower, a thriving Patuxet village existed on the Massachusetts coast. An endemic wiped out 90 percent of the population, and the pilgrims converted the abandoned settlement into Plymouth Colony.
Dar Mal 2 years ago
This is what happens when "people" remove all of the horrific things people did from history books.
Load More Replies... #119
TIL that the rapper Immortal Technique went to high school with Lin-Manuel Miranda and used to bully him.
Red PANda (she/they) 2 years ago
Never heard of Lin Manuel Miranda?! He wrote and performed in Hamilton, wrote songs for Moana and Encanto, and has written several other musicals such as In the Heights and he is very awesome and talented and cool and *rambles in Theater Kid*
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George Paradise 2 years ago
and Chris Hayes and Desus Nice, the episodes with them were some of the best old Desus and Mero's from Vice
#120
TIL: The punishment of the dogs was an annual sacrifice of Rome where live dogs were suspended from a cross & paraded. In the same procession, Geese were decorated in gold and purple and carried in honor. Because The Dogs didn't Bark and the Geese honked When the Gauls launched a nocturnal assault.
The Scout 2 years ago
Not comparable as those people actually WANT to be crucified...
Load More Replies... #121
TIL that Big Ben is leaning to one side and may eventually become unstable. 🇬🇧
Jaaawn 2 years ago
Big Ben is the bell, Elizabeth Tower is the building in which the bell is housed but anyway. From Google: 'Changing ground conditions have affected the London clock tower, and it leans ever so slightly to the north-west, with an inclination of 0.26 degrees (that's just one-sixteenth the tilt of the Leaning Tower of Pisa). Notwithstanding this slight lean, the tower should be safe for 4,000 to 10,000 years.'
whatever 2 years ago (edited)
My gay cousin went to London on vacation and was very disappointed to find out that Big Ben was a clock.
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Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Big FYI on the "40,000 Americans are hurt by toilets". No, we don't have rampaging wild feral toilets. About 39,000 of those injuries are back injuries caused by improper lifting and carrying of toilets being replaced or installed by plumbers (OK, that's my guesstimate, based on back injuries seen as a medical doctor). The other 1,000 are people who aren't plumbers trying to lift, carry, etc., toilets. Sometimes they get dropped on your foot, sometimes they explode because a drunk idiot threw a firecracker in and got toilet shrapnel in his face, but mostly... It's basic "Oof, my back!"
David Paterson 2 years ago
Today I learnt that Braille has numbers, punctuation marks and abbreviations, and not just letters. Obvious in retrospect, but it had never occurred to me.
Leo Domitrix 2 years ago
Big FYI on the "40,000 Americans are hurt by toilets". No, we don't have rampaging wild feral toilets. About 39,000 of those injuries are back injuries caused by improper lifting and carrying of toilets being replaced or installed by plumbers (OK, that's my guesstimate, based on back injuries seen as a medical doctor). The other 1,000 are people who aren't plumbers trying to lift, carry, etc., toilets. Sometimes they get dropped on your foot, sometimes they explode because a drunk idiot threw a firecracker in and got toilet shrapnel in his face, but mostly... It's basic "Oof, my back!"
David Paterson 2 years ago
Today I learnt that Braille has numbers, punctuation marks and abbreviations, and not just letters. Obvious in retrospect, but it had never occurred to me.
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