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45 Fascinating “Today I Learned” Posts That May Leave You Questioning Reality (New Facts)
Interview With Expert
Today, we have access to more information than ever before in human history. You don’t even need to visit a library to learn about history or science, and there are dozens of different methods for acquiring knowledge. Yet for some reason, more and more people are relying on artificial intelligence to spit out information, rather than working on expanding their own understanding of the world.
So if you’re interested in learning some fun facts (and bettering your chances at trivia night), we’ve got the perfect list for you right here. We took a trip to the Today I Learned subreddit and compiled some of their most intriguing posts down below. Keep reading to also find conversations with trivia experts David Jacobson, Founder and CEO of TrivWorks™, and Denny Grizzle, Owner of Pour House Trivia. And be sure to upvote the facts you plan to impress your friends with!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL when Great British Bake Off hosts Mel and Sue would see a contestant crying out of frustration or disappointment, they would use their coats to block the person from cameras, or start swearing a lot, so the footage was unusable
Helena 7 months ago
Wow in the US that moment would be milked for all it's worth. It'd be on tv, the promo's, hell it'd be a meme.
Auntriarch 7 months ago
Oh it usually would in UK, which is why they did it.
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Roxy222uk 7 months ago
Mel and Sue had a **huge** influence on how GBBO turned out. When it started the producers were filming sob stories about contestants and all that nonsense. M & S put their foot down and said they weren't going to be in that kind of programme. They were going to be in a programme that was about people doing their best baking. They used their power for good and that side of it was, thankfully, dropped.
Mabelbabel 7 months ago
It would have been awful done the way the producers wanted-the reason its such a success is because its gentle and the only drama is 'will the custard set in time?" I had a friend who was a contestant on Come Dine With Me, and she said the production assistants created all sorts of drama-they turned one of her group's oven off. They knocked one of her starters to the floor. They encouraged the contestants to be really nasty and b1tchy about each other, and she ended up heavily criticised for her shoe collection.
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Otto Katz 7 months ago
And this is why we like the GBBO and dislike the American versions. the British version is so much nicer, sweeter, calmer.
fly on the wall 7 months ago
GBBO was a dinner time ritual. We carefully rationed ourselves to one episode a night inorder to make the pleasure last.
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RELATED:
#2
TIL Grant Imahara made a lifelike Baby Yoda robot to visit children in hospitals and cheer them up before he passed away
Boris Long-Johnson 7 months ago
What a stupid comment “before he passed away”. Well he didn’t do it after did he? The guy died of an undiagnosed aneurysm not something he knew about so it’s not even like he did it as a legacy.
Sophia Pandia de Delphia 6 months ago
He was the only one I liked. I couldn't stand the others and part of me regrets no longer watching b/c of the other three.
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#3
TIL that a cat named Tommy called 911 to help its owner, Gary, who had fallen from his wheelchair and couldn't get up. Gary had tried to train Tommy to call 911, but never expected it to work.
Clown fish 7 months ago
https://www.good.is/cat-apparently-dialed-911-to-help-his-owner-but-no-one-knows-how
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Uncle Panda 7 months ago (edited)
"Hi, this is the police again. Tiddles says she can see the bottom of her food dish again."
Virgil Blue 7 months ago
"I could wait and eat you, but I like the tuna you make for me. 911 it is then"
WubiDubi 7 months ago
Obviously the cat was due a feed at the same time. Seriously though- some cats do respond to training.
Ravioli 7 months ago
There are literally circus cats that do complicated tricks. They are pretty smart animals and can be trained, it's just not baby easy like with dogs because we didn't spend millennias selective breeding them, they are almost the same as when they were wild animals, which makes it even more amazing how good of house pets they are
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Kika González 7 months ago
I read about this before. The guy had a medical condition and went unconscious. Unless the version of the story changes again
To learn more about the wild world of fun facts, we got in touch with a couple of trivia experts: David Jacobson, Founder and CEO of TrivWorks™, and Denny Grizzle, Owner of Pour House Trivia. They were kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda and discuss what they love most about trivia.
"As a professional trivia event writer, producer and host for almost 20 years, what I love most about trivia is the way people get excited about it," David shared. "It's an incredibly rewarding feeling to correctly answer to a piece of trivia, especially if it's something nostalgic you haven't thought about in a long time, such as a pop culture reference."
#4
TIL Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) always ended scenes with co-star Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) by apologizing for his character's awful comments and behavior. Dance said Dinklage is "the most adorable man. After all those scenes, I apologize to him" because "I have to treat him like sh*t."
L.V 7 months ago
Funny how so many actors who play the villains are usually super nice in real life
Beak Hookage 7 months ago
It's the same with most writers. I write VERY dark and violent novels but in person? I'm basically a human teddy bear who doesn't even like to raise her voice at other people. Actors and writers and other creators use their art to express their dark side, and it has been said (by Sir Anthony Hopkins) that our dark side is also our most creative side.
Load More Replies... Multa Nocte 7 months ago
Charles Dance is one of my favourite actors, and I always love when he does his bit on The Big Fat Quiz of the Year.
"From my perspective running trivia events for corporate audiences, there's really nothing better than seeing the reaction people have when their team gets an answer correct!" David continued. "I also love the challenge of finding that 'sweet spot' between questions that aren't too easy, but aren't too hard either - what I call 'tip of the tongue' questions. Those are extremely rewarding for people to get right - including me!"
#5
TIL that Weird Al Yankovic doesn't need permission (under US copyright law) to make a parody of someone's song. He does so as a personal rule to maintain good relationships.
Kim Kermes 7 months ago
The only person to say no was Prince. I believe it was Michael Jackson who said he knew he'd made it when Weird Al asked.
cogadh 7 months ago (edited)
Kurt Cobain. He said in an interview once that he knew Nirvana had made it when Weird Al decided to parody them. Kurt's only question when Al asked for permission was "Is it going to be a food song?"
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Forrest Grump 7 months ago (edited)
The U.S. Supreme Court unanimously agreed in Hustler v. Falwell (1988), that a parody, which no reasonable person expected to be true, was protected free speech under the First Amendment to the Constitution.
Chewie Baron 7 months ago
Also worth checking out is French & Saunders and their parody songs, tv shows and films. You made it in the UK when you were parodied by them. Also, their parody of ABBA is awesome, the song, C’est La Vie, is an absolute masterclass!
Leslie B 7 months ago
Michael Jackson enjoyed Weird Al's music and helped his career. He didn't want him to parody Black or White because of its message.
Catlady6000 7 months ago
I would have loved to see a "makimg of" documentary
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DowntownStevieB 7 months ago
I imagine that, as an artist, I'd be thrilled if my song was good enough for a WA parody.
The Phantom Stranger 7 months ago
Weird Al wrote a parody of "Live and Let Die" called "Chicken Pot Pie", which Paul McCartney--very politely--refused to let him record due to Paul being a lifelong vegetarian. Sir Paul would happily have allowed Weird Al to parody another of his songs, or even "Live and Let Die" if Al had changed the lyrics, but the inspiration never struck again, so sadly we have no parodies of McCartney, Wings, or the Beatles. However, for lucky fans, Al does apparently sometimes perform "Chicken Pot Pie" during his live shows.
As for Denny, he says his favorite aspects of trivia are "the camaraderie and the opportunity to hang out with friends and play a game while challenging ourselves."
#6
TIL a Royal Marine lost part of his "You'll Never Walk Alone" tattoo after a leg amputation, leaving "You'll Never Walk"—now he uses it as a joke in speeches and has become a gold medalist and record-chasing runner.
Ace 7 months ago
Shame they couldn't find a picture of a Royal Marine and chose an American one instead,
Jaya 7 months ago
Someone in the original Reddit post commented this: "Kinda feel sad for his lost leg. Just out there somewhere with the word “Alone” tattooed on it." 😄
Verfin22 7 months ago
Not only is the photo an American marine, it's also a woman. The story states "he" lost his leg.
Dar Mal 7 months ago
you don't expect these "writers" at BP to actually do work, do you?
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#7
TIL Steven Spielberg offered Tom Sizemore a role in Saving Private Ryan (1998) under the condition that he would be given a drug test at the end of every day of filming, and if he failed even one time, all his scenes would be re-shot with someone else. He stayed clean and completed the movie.
ManuelQue 7 months ago
I thought his death would be caused by d***s - but a brain aneurysm killed him. He was only 61.
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Next, we asked the experts if they could share some of their favorite fun facts that they've picked up from the trivia world.
"My strength as a trivia writer is in pop culture (TV/movies, music, celebrity news, fads, etc.) - however, trivia events need to be well-rounded with general knowledge questions, as well as questions specific to the audience: company history, industry-specific facts, etc.," David says.
"Through this, I've learned some really fun things I never knew about before I became a trivia professional: The largest bottle of wine is called a 'Nebuchadnezzar,' which can hold about 20 regular-sized bottles," he shared. "The only country in the world today with a head of state using the title 'Emperor' is Japan."
#8
TIL Eminem wrote 'Brain Damage' about his actual childhood bully, DeAngelo Bailey. Bailey boasted in an interview that he gave Eminem a concussion so bad, his ears bled and he lost his vision. He had also attempted to sue Eminem for slander in 2001. A judge dismissed the claim in the form of a rap.
Nadine Debard 7 months ago
"Mr. Bailey complains that his rap is trash / so he’s seeking compensation in the form of cash. / Bailey thinks he’s entitled to some monetary gain / because Eminem used his name in vain. / The lyrics are stories no one would take as fact / they’re an exaggeration of a childish act. / It is therefore this court’s ultimate position, / that Eminem is entitled to summary disposition."
arthbach 7 months ago
Baba complained about fact checking. Here's a link to the BBC's report on the ruling by Judge Deborah Servitto. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3204318.stm
Borje Stromming 7 months ago
Well yeah BP are notorious for not fact checking or using correct images
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Darryl Martin 7 months ago (edited)
"Way before my baby daughter Hailey, I was harassed daily By this fat kid named DeAngelo Bailey An 8th grader who acted obnoxious because his father boxes So every day he'd shove me in the lockers One day he came in the bathroom while I was p*ssing And had me in the position to beat me into submission He banged my head against the urinal 'til he broke my nose Soaked my clothes in blood, grabbed me and choked my throat" - Eminem "Brain Damage"
Agfox 7 months ago
https://www.rollingstone.com/music/music-news/judge-drops-eminem-rap-183834/
Load More Replies..."The longest nonstop commercial flight in the world (19 hours) is between New York City and Singapore. There's only 2 'double landlocked' countries in the world (landlocked countries, which are completely surrounded by other landlocked countries): Uzbekistan and Liechtenstein," David continued.
"Also, plenty of pop culture fun facts I never knew before: Limahl, the lead singer of Kajagoogoo, also sang 'The Neverending Story' theme. Only 2 teams of the original NBA still play in their original host cities (Knicks & Celtics)," the expert shared. "Actor Bruce Willis released an album on Motown Records in 1987 ('The Return of Bruno'). The small divots on golf balls are called 'dimples.'"
#9
TIL Napoleon had planned an invasion of the UK but it was never carried out. Preparations were financed by the sale of the Louisiana territory to the US which the US financed with a loan from a British bank, so Britain was indirectly funding an invasion of itself.
Pyla 7 months ago
I read that as horse and carnage…which also is a historical fact
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Michael Largey 7 months ago
"The Capitalists will sell us the rope with which we will hang them." - Lenin
Mark Serbian, PK&RG,W 7 months ago
And the banks wouldn't have cared. A clear indication that "they" have been "doing it to us" for a very long time.
Ian Coghlan 7 months ago (edited)
The bank got it's comeuppance, it was the forerunner of Barings
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Harry Gondalf 7 months ago
hmm i could be wrong but I seem to remember that the rothschild banks financed both sides of the franco prussian war... war is good business for banks & other big businesses
David 7 months ago
No, that is a antisemitic myth. For one, the different branches of the family operated different banks, 5 different ones in Germany and one in England, all separate entities (and not all branched got along, like the Frankfurt ones did not get along or do business with thew Hamburg ones for example). Second, they did not finance the French. However classic antisemitic conspiracies like to place them as the center of everything, and make it one big conspiracy
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Ian Coghlan 7 months ago
I have some of the remittance letters that someone in the UK received in repayment of his share.
"The animal with the highest blood pressure is the giraffe," Denny told Bored Panda. "Their blood pressure can reach up to 280/180 mmHg, which is more than double the normal human blood pressure of 120/80 mmHg."
The trivia expert also added that "bananas are radioactive!"
#10
TIL a 35-yr-old man found an age-progression image of himself on a missing children's site in 2010. Though he knew he was adopted, this would lead to him discovering that his mom had kidnapped him from his dad when he was an infant 34 years earlier.
Hellcaste's Wife 7 months ago
Sounds like something that'd be made into a movie. And I'd watch it.
JB 7 months ago
“Man buns” have existed for millennia. Just because someone comes up with a new name, or repurposes an old word, doesn’t mean whatever they are referring to didn’t previously exist.
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TIL that in 1900, a physician named Jesse William Lazear wanted to prove that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. He allowed an infected mosquito to bite him, and he became infected with yellow fever, proving his hypothesis correct. He died 17 days later.
joann fielding 7 months ago
He had a wife and small child, too. He apparently felt this was the only way to get the attention to the mosquito theory that ultimately turned out to be correct. He made log entries as 'a patient', who was himself. Tragic, but heroic.
Mabelbabel 7 months ago
A similar proof happened in 1984-Barry Marshall and Robin Warren confirmed that peptic ulcers were caused by H pylori bacteria. Marshall swallowed a broth of H pylori that had been cultured from a patients gastric juices and a few days later, developed rampant gastritis and ulcers. Until then, peptic ulcer disease was really hard to treat-often patients were offered surgery to cut the nerves to the stomach to reduce acid production, or had to follow bland milk diets. Huge numbers of people died as a result of bleeding or perforated ulcers, or losing masses of weight and being in permanent pain. And now they just take a couple weeks of antibiotics.
Wysteria_Rose 7 months ago
Meanwhile, Stubbins Ffirth, "Ffirth chose to bring himself into direct contact with bodily fluids from people that had become infected with yellow fever. He started by making incisions on his arms and smearing infected vomit into the cuts; he then proceeded to pour it onto his eyeballs.[5] He continued in his attempts to infect himself by frying the vomit and inhaling the fumes,[6] and finally, when he did not become ill, he resorted to drinking the vomit undiluted. Endeavoring to prove that other bodily fluids yielded the same results, Ffirth progressed on from vomit, also smearing his body with blood, saliva, and urine.[5] He still failed to contract the disease and saw this as proof of his hypothesis that yellow fever was non-contagious."
And if you're looking to expand your knowledge on random topics, the experts have some advice. "The best way to learn fun facts on a range of trivia topics is to completely immerse yourself in self-learning opportunities, utilizing a variety of media formats," David shared. "Reading extensively is key - not just the news and nonfiction, but fiction as well. You'd be surprised how many fun facts you can pick up from novels!"
"For pop culture, it's really a matter of keeping your eyes and ears open to what's happening around you: listen to different types of music, watch popular TV shows/movies, pay attention to the gossip news, etc.," he continued. "For those who are serious about getting better at trivia for competitive reasons - say, if you want to dominate a pub quiz, or audition for a TV game show - you should also be studying (or better yet, memorizing) lists of commonly referenced trivia topics: world capitals, award winners, chemical elements, etc."
#12
TIL Beethoven was challenged to a piano duel by pianist Daniel Steibelt, who tried to bend the rules by handing Beethoven a Cello and Piano piece instead of just a Piano piece. Unfazed, Beethoven turned the score upside down, played it, then improvised on the inversed themes for half an hour.
Jrog 7 months ago
Beethoven was kind of a troll back in his times. In the Eroica symphony, he added a horn part that starts unexpectedly, allegedly as a prank to a French horn player (but probably it was actually just one of his first experiments with dissonance). He wrote a musical ode to his friend and violin teacher Ignaz Schuppanzigh, named "In Praise of the Fat One"
detective miller's hat 7 months ago
Major troll. At one point his brother purchased some land and was so proud of himself that he had business cards made that said "[brother] Beethoven, Landowner." Ludwig thought it was so ridiculous that he had business cards made for himself that said "Ludwig Van Beethoven, Brain Owner."
Load More Replies... Beak Hookage 7 months ago
"Deafness doesn't stop a musician from hearing the music. It stops them from hearing the distractions." ~Terry Pratchett
Load More Replies... Mark Serbian, PK&RG,W 7 months ago
Rock Star -- with WAY more of a sense of humor than people think
cerinamroth 7 months ago
I frickin love Beethoven. Had a poster of him on my wall as a teenager, along with one of a flying squirrel.
Michael Largey 7 months ago (edited)
Mozart would have rotated the score 90 degrees and played that.
Blackmoon The Dragon 7 months ago (edited)
Beethoven was an icon. That is so frickin impressive, I'm guessing most people that we call "really good" musicians today can't do that. Edit: I mean, most people who are non-reading piano accompanists can do it I think, I'm mostly talking about singers/record musicians that aren't know for just their piano)
"Best way to learn, for real, is to play pub trivia!" Denny added. "You could memorize lists as well (e.g. presidents/VP/first ladies; world capitals; largest animals, Oscar winners, etc.), but it's great to play to put that knowledge to the test to cement it."
#13
TIL Jazz musician, Fats Waller, was kidnapped by 4 men and “given” to Al Capone as a birthday gift. He performed for 3 days and was found drunk with thousands of dollars in cash stuffed in his pockets.
Big Chungus 7 months ago
I had watched a video about this kidnapping, they didn't ask and instead kidnapped him so that if police questioned him, he wouldn't get in trouble for being with Al Capone. They blindfolded him as well when transporting him so he couldn't give police any information.
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Midoribird Aoi 7 months ago
It would have ruined his career, associating with Al Capone willingly by being hired. Kidnapping him saved his reputation.
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Midoribird Aoi 7 months ago
Well, I said it above, but Capone respected the guy enough to not ruin his reputation by *hiring* him. Jazz guy didn't go willingly, but he was very well compensated for being kidnapped by Capone, and they made sure he could not tell the police anything informative. Had he agreed to be hired by Capone, his career would have been permanently ruined. Jazz guy went through quite an ordeal, but he survived with lots of cash in his pockets and his career intact, because he didn't go willingly.
Load More Replies... Beak Hookage 7 months ago
I wonder if this is where the Simpsons got the idea for that episode where Mr Burns has Tom Jones kidnapped and forced to perform for Marge?
DC 7 months ago
Now, that's the sort of being abducted that I would love being done to me! Sadly, I don't play piano, they'd need to burglarize my guitar, too, so I can have it with me without knowing before. Or ... so ... any ... oh my, this is so weird, I can't even call it not-wrong. Or not-right.
GrowingThruConcrete 7 months ago
This sounds more like one of those whopper stories my uncle's tell about the time they "kidnapped" a different uncle before his wedding... Family legends
#14
TIL that when a celebratory dinner in honour of recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr. did not garner enough support in his native Atlanta, J. Paul Austin, CEO of Coca-Cola, threatened to pull his business out of the city - within two hours of this announcement tickets were sold out.
Multa Nocte 7 months ago
NPR - "Back in 1964, social conservatives in Atlanta refused to support an integrated dinner honoring Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr. But then Coca-Cola put its giant corporate foot down, and changed Atlanta's history. Shortly after King won the Nobel Prize, event invitations went out to Atlanta's elite. Almost no one responded. A worried Mayor Ivan Allen appealed to the former president of Coca-Cola. Although no longer in charge, Robert Woodruff was arguably the most powerful person in town. The New York Times published a front-page story about the tepid response King was getting in his own hometown, and Austin decided to flex Coca-Cola's muscle. The ultimatum worked. The event quickly sold out, says Mark Pendergrast, author of Of God, Country and Coca-Cola."
Pelle Lövet 7 months ago
Wow. So corporations can do real good if they choose to. Who would have known?
Julia Ford 7 months ago
Forcing people to not be racist by threatening with money is good? This is a messed up story.
Binny Tutera 7 months ago (edited)
Peter Bear, this is more about acknowledging MLK’s achievement and the positive light it gave Atlanta. History Bud!!! This was 1964 and it is not surprising the “elite” did not respond- segregation was still around in 1961! Only 3 years in, it was not accepted. Atlanta is Deep South and you better believe it was a big deal. It was deep seated and he lla ugly.
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Finally, David added that people love trivia for a variety of reasons. "It's rewarding, it's informative, and in a competitive setting it's a great opportunity to show off your smarts in a fun way," he told Bored Panda. "But what I, as a trivia professional, also see is that trivia is a fantastic way for people to bond. Even if you don't know folks you're playing trivia with, you most likely have some shared common knowledge you didn't even realize!"
#15
TIL peanut allergies plummet by 77% if they're added to babies' diets at 4-6 months of age
Jaya 7 months ago
Same for eggs. If you start adding a bit of peanut(butter)/egg to a baby's diet before they're 8 months old, the chance of developing peanut allergy or egg allergy goes down a lot. In the Netherlands they recommend starting at 4 months old, especially for babies with eczema or who have a higher risk of developing allergies.
Sue User 7 months ago
Maybe that is why i have no known allergies. The minute we hit 6 months , dad and mom were feeding us real food, not baby food.
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Karen Krause 7 months ago
I wonder if that's why I know so many people today with nut allergies? When I was raised, we were given given real food by adults at 4-6 mos. Things like peanut butter, and other soft foods.
DetriMentaL (It/That) 7 months ago
At the risk of being downvoted. Clinic cards and most baby sites do not recommend feeding your child anything but formula or br3ast milk until they are at least 6 months old. I can't tell whats factual or wives tales anymore
Mtn Lungta 7 months ago
Recommend peanut butter at least once a week for life . No sense taking any chances on this one.
Big Chungus 7 months ago
There is a product you can buy to slowly introduce allegerns to infants in a safe a slow manner. It's called ready set food and they have tons of different options.
Rachel Pelz 7 months ago
I'm not so sure about 77% as a general claim, but there certainly has been a gain in knowledge. However, there are cases where newborns show allergy-like reactions to breast-milk when the mother had eaten certain food, so I wonder if exposure would be a good idea in these cases.
Jerusalem Cat Syndrome 5 months ago
This is why so few Israelis have peanut allergies--they're fed the peanut-based snack called Bamba from really early on. It's increasingly recommended for US babies.
Ilan Elron 7 months ago
Bamba, Israel’s quintessential peanut-butter-flavored snack, is proven to reduce peanut allergies in children by 75 percent, according to a recent study in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine, bearing out what many Israelis already know.
Denny echoed a similar sentiment. "Pub Trivia can have a positive on mental health by boosting cognitive function, reducing stress, and encouraging social interaction."
So what are you waiting for, pandas? Sign up for that trivia night!
#16
TIL that Measles infection causes "immune amnesia" which causes your immune system to forget how to fight pathogens that you had previously obtained immunity to.
Jerome Lenovo 7 months ago
thanks to m0ron kennedy, its back. Is america great already ? https://www.dshs.texas.gov/news-alerts/measles-outbreak-2025
iseefractals 7 months ago
Kennedy is certainly a moron, but can't really blame this one on him. The anti-vaxxer nutters have been gaining ground for 30 years. And absolutely no one should ever, EVER forget....that OPRAH helped to reignite that mouth breathing idiocy.
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Aileen Grist 7 months ago
I got TB following measles and 67 years later my autoimmune system is still mucked up
lisa_l_ross58 7 months ago
Me too. That was before vaccine was available.
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#17
TIL that a boy was trapped in his own body for 12 years, fully conscious but unable to move or speak. Doctors thought he was in a vegetative state, but he later regained the ability to communicate and wrote a book about his experience.
iseefractals 7 months ago
Back in.....somewhere between 2000 and 2001 there was kind of "synthetic o****d" (being sold as H, ) that was causing the border area between the brain stem and spinal cord to become "inflamed" I don't remember if this was Oxy, or some fentanyl offshoot but people were being diagnosed as being in a persistent vegetative state....but over a period of weeks or months, the ones who didn't die outright or have their plug pulled, began to wake up. Locked in syndrome. A whole bunch of people i knew at that time were scared off of the powder....and switched to oxy.
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Seán Hannan 7 months ago (edited)
I read about this one before. What pushed him to make it known that he was conscious and not, as they thought, comatose was repeats of Barney the Dinosaur on the TV every day. He hated Barney so much he gained control of his eyes enough to communicate so he could tell them to turn it off!
Kirk Littlefield 7 months ago
A close friend of mine has a son in this state. After 8 years, he been able to start communicating by blinking and looking up and down with his eyes. Life expectancy is short but he's doing a little better at a time.
#18
TIL that James Dean was most likely bisexual and had relations with several men and women throughout his career. When questioned on his orientation, he said "No, I am not a homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back."
Krystle Deschene 7 months ago
Is it a little known fact, or is it "most likely"? Hard to believe anything on here anymore honestly. However side note, good for him, be who ever the heck you wanna be.
Peter Bear 7 months ago
The vast majority of people are bisexual to some degree or another. Sexuality is a scale, and like any scale, most people are going to end up somewhere in the middle rather than solidly at either extreme. Who we individually choose to sleep with is a different question entirely and has nothing to do with inherent sexuality.
Stephanie A Mutti 7 months ago
I am going to adopt that as my motto going forward. I'm not living with one hand tied behind my back.
Tropical Tarot 7 months ago
Elizabeth Taylor's commented in several of her books that James Dean has slept with men.
Cathy Carey 7 months ago
Any other women on her want to have x with a guy when you know "it" has been "there"?
#19
TIL: Most outlet stores don’t sell leftovers from regular stores—they sell cheaper, lower-quality versions made just for outlets. The “compare at” prices and big discounts? Often fake. You think you’re getting a deal, but it’s not the same product. (California Department of Justice)
Jrog 7 months ago
That is not true, at least outside of some very specific instance or store (in California?). Brand outlet stores typically sell products that are outside of their prime retail time (typically, one year after the initial release), or sell the regular lineup in a less refined store environment. Having less attendants, less expensive furniture, less refined environment, higher volumes means they can keep the prices lower. Also, many non-luxury brands outlets have a "second rate" selection where products with minor manufacturing defects (typically labeling or packaging) are sold for a discount
Julia H 7 months ago
Both can be true. I read an article about Nordstrom Rack stating the same as TIL.
Load More Replies... cogadh 7 months ago
It didn't used to be this way. Outlets were actual factory seconds and mistakes (pants with different length legs, shirts with stitching errors, etc), but they became so popular and made so much money, that a lot of clothing lines ended up making cheaper versions and opening their own branded outlet stores.
Bored Sailor 7 months ago
Not to sound like a BABA Caine but this is not completely true and may be different in different locations.
Francois 7 months ago
Yeah I noticed that, not just outlet shops but also often clothes that are on sale for example in Zara, were never in the regular clothes in the shop and definitively look on the cheaper side.
Inés Olabarria Smith 7 months ago
It started as a real outlet but it changed due to it’s succes. Then, they began to manufacture a cheaper line.
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liam newton-harding 7 months ago
The same with Black Friday “Sales”. The reason that giant TV is so cheap? It’s literally a cheaper model.
Dariusz M. D. 6 months ago
In Canada, there is a show called CBC Marketplace. All what they do is to expose scams perpetrated in the market place. One of the episodes was devoted to the very issue. They showed multiple examples of the same products being significantly lower quality when sold in outlet stores. Some clothing items bear special codes indicating that they are designed for outlets.
Hassel Davidhoff 7 months ago
I will never understand why people put so much energy and money into buying clothing.
Shark Lady 7 months ago
You can usually tell by looking at the range of sizes, when outlet villages first became a thing in the UK it was difficult to find the more common sizes 10-16 unless the clothes were seconds.
John Mosley 7 months ago
It's the stuff people wanted but couldn't normally afford.
Load More Replies... #20
TIL Good Will Hunting was only able to film on location at Harvard after alumnus John Lithgow intervened. Harvard had initially denied the movie access to film on its campus. However, Lithgow asked the movie's location manager what he wanted and then made a phone call which ultimately delivered it.
Karen Krause 7 months ago
Similar to most outdoor scenes in St. Elmo's Fire, most Georgetown University scenes were filmed in the nearby University of Maryland. Georgetown is in Washington, D.C., and it doesn't have a "campus" as many envision. It has many buildings in the city.
Load More Replies... Bremusa4u 7 months ago
Most likely, his Yoda voice 😉. Good Will Hunting on campus, you will allow filming.
Load More Replies... #21
TIL Warren Buffett's son Peter, at 19, received the only inheritance he'll ever be given for personal use: $90K worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock. It was understood that he should expect nothing more. It'd be worth $300m today, but he sold it back then to start his music career & doesn't regret it.
GirlFriday 7 months ago
I have read interviews given by Warren's grandchildren, and they said that they were told from a young age their inheritance was an education. Grandpa Warren would pay for each child to receive a college or trade school education of their choice, but afterwards they were expected to earn their own way through life.
April Pickett 7 months ago
I admire this approach to inheritance. You've got the education he gave you, you inherited his genes, and you will have to manage your life on your own.
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J. Maxx 7 months ago
It's true, HE leaves them nothing, just like Gloria Vanderbilt left Anderson nothing... because they are all supported by their families' trusts.
UpupaEpops 7 months ago
Usually in these families financial education and work ethic are topics that get introduced as early as humany possible. Even if they don't turn out to be the next major "IT person", even if they do tend to have have a bit of an attitude (ok.A LOT.) , you will often meet teenagers with more business acumen than the average adult. Not all of them "make it in life", but most of them will know how to make sound financial decisions and don't blow their wealth away on b******t. I think one of the biggest mistakes a parent can make is to not instill good financial habits in their children.
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DirtandZen 7 months ago
You have likely heard his music - he's a composer who does music for movies and TV.
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Michael P (Perthaussieguy) 7 months ago
I think he retired to Margaritaville
Load More Replies... #22
TIL that teen pregnancy rates in the US are less than a quarter what they were in the 90s!
P1 No-Name 7 months ago
There are definite positives to the information freely available on the Internet.
Nikole 7 months ago
Which won’t even cover the birth. It’s all so disgusting.
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Cydney Golden 7 months ago
Think of all the teens who'll get pregnant for that $5000 bonus! Are we winning yet?
#23
TIL that American military pilot call signs--nicknames the pilots go by--are often based on mistakes the pilot made, and get assigned early in their career.
Spencer Arnold 7 months ago
Imagine if the worst thing they did was use the wrong wine for a meal during a formal dinner? "Call Sign: Beaujolais".
Lost Panda 7 months ago (edited)
Had a commander with the call sign "Wet Wi.lly(really... a name...)" because on a training flight he had to ditch in a lake. Then another had "Ba..lls" because he and the wife said they were done after 2 kids and ended up with twins not long after saying it
Bored Sailor 7 months ago
One of my squadrons I watched as they were creating a call sign for a newly assigned pilot, list of names on the white board they voted and discussed on, so yeah it is assigned not chosen. It can also change, one had got which lasted, SOFT sounds weak but stands for Scratch One Flat Top. He dropped a practice bomb on the flight deck.
#24
TIL that in Japan, more diapers are now sold for elderly people than for babies, reflecting the country’s aging population and shifting demographics.
and_a_touch_of_the_’tism 7 months ago
They do have the highest life expectancy, I think it’s in the high 80s or low 90s
iseefractals 7 months ago
Nope, not anymore. They used to have the highest life expectancy, but it began to fall way back in 2005. Hong Kong is the current leader: Hong Kong combined LE 85.77women 88.39men 83.1 Japan is a close secondwith combined LE 85women 88.03 and men81.99. From what i recall, Okinawans skew the average up, but they aren't actually ethnically Japanese, they're Indigenous Ryūkyūans. Also given the unlikely number of people living past not only 100, but past 110 there's been some debate as to whether or not those numbers are accurate, and not just evidence of fraud.
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PeepPeep the duck 7 months ago
My weird issue with them now, is they need to make them so they look like you’re not wearing an adult nappy/diaper with adult clothes over the top - I work with old people atm and both men and women are self conscious about it.
SouthernGal 7 months ago
Japan has a seriously low birth rate. It is well below the level of replacement, causing a declining and aging population. The birth rate the lowest since they began taking statistics in 1899.
Rachel Pelz 7 months ago
Seems to me that the shelf space for incontinence pads/diapers is almost as much as the space for menstrual products these days.
Lowrider 56 7 months ago
Japan, China and even the US are not producing enough children to replace the people who have passed away.
#25
TIL Mississippi refused to air Sesame Street in 1970 due to its mixed-race cast.
Rachel Pelz 7 months ago
Frown upon here because Ernie and Bert supposedly portrait a gay couple. As a kid, I never questioned why friends would live together because WTF wouldn't they and their sexual orientation never mattered.
Kalikima 7 months ago (edited)
Yeah, I never saw "couple" it was just two friends living together. Then again, I was told my aunt just lived with her "best friend". Well, it's been 40 years and they're still living together, apparently they're even better friends than I thought. At least my son (8) knows both of his aunts (my sister and her gf) and understands they're a couple (as far as he understands couples, I didn't get into specifics). I never even met my aunts girlfriend.
Load More Replies... FreeTheUnicorn 7 months ago
And now the US has elected people who cut it's funding for the same reason.
Michael Largey 7 months ago (edited)
Here's a good description of Mississippi, Phil Ochs' Here's to the State of Mississippi https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KrrOY0vwuPE
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Grenelda Thurber 7 months ago
At the public high school I attended in Mississippi in the 1980's, there were separate proms for black kids and white kids. Our ten year reunion was segregated too.
Earonn - 7 months ago
All the horror, all the suffering caused by racism. And what for? We KNOW that people of all skin colours are equal in abilities and should be equal in rights. It was and is all for nothing, just a form of compensation for useless garbage people who want to look down on someone without having to put the effort in to elevate themselves (and even that is b******t).
Another Panda 7 months ago
Thankful for all those who pushed and fought for the right thing - Sesame Street, Mr Roger’s, and everyone else.
#26
TIL of triathlete Lesley Paterson, who dedicated her race winnings to maintaining the film rights to one of her favorite books. She almost lost them in 2015 until competing and winning with a broken shoulder. It took 16 years and $200k, but she eventually made All Quiet on the Western Front (2022).
Francesa Miller 7 months ago
I refused to read past chapter 1 in that book in high school and made a "D" in my English class instead. I didn't want those images in my head.
Jane Hower 7 months ago
Just read that it's not a good description at all of what the Western Front was like. I'll pass.
#27
TIL that when Victor Hugo died in 1885, some Parisian brothels reportedly closed for a day to mourn his passing.
Corvus 7 months ago
As some people say: "Live in such a way, that even the Devil would light you a candle when you die."
Michael Largey 7 months ago
He'll have a fire considerably bigger than a candle prepared for me when I go.
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Richard Iachetta 7 months ago
He was willing to pay for s*x; they were willing to perform sexual acts for money. I don't see any problem other than with repressed prudes
#28
TIL that popes cannot be organ donors because their body becomes property of the church upon their death. This rule invalidated Pope Benedict’s organ donor card, which he had held since the 1970s.
Dave Van Beurden 7 months ago
I bet patients were waiting in line to receive a 95 year old's organs...
MsPlants 7 months ago
wouldnt that make any piece of a pope a relic if later down the road a pope was canonized so then the person that got an organ transplant from that pope if still alive super holy? or maybe a relic themselves by transference? or do they have to wait till that person dies to get that body part (relic) back? or if the person has been dead and buried by this time they have to dig them up to retrieve the relic? see it gets complicated since any little part of a saints body is considered a relic and the church parts out Saints like an Autozone parts out cars.
DirtandZen 7 months ago
I feel like this is close to the actual reason - it would cause unscrupulous people to do bad things
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UpupaEpops 7 months ago
I think it's to prevent anyone from trying to cash in. I recently read that people started selling the hair of Carlo Acutis online, marketing it as a relic. Quite disgusting if you ask me, even if during the Middle Ages there was a whole industry built around selling (often fake) relics.
Sonia Ceacero 6 months ago
Does someone's body have a different owner from the person who lives in it? No, no no.
DC 7 months ago
... after all, I know that organ recipients are desperate to take whatever is available, but an almost 100 year old liver or lung will not perform too well anyway, regardless of healthy lifestyle. It's used up, or close to - not the worst loss. Still, donating organs is what dries the sump of organ traficking and all that follows, including abduction, murder and every crime you ever heard of - please, fill out the form and please, donate the parts of your machinery that still work - for somebody, it's years of life added, while for you, dead as you have to be to be a potential donor, it's just flesh to rot with you. Please donate all organs that are healthy enough!
#29
TIL in 2019 a man died less than 12 hours after eating a hot fishcake that burned his throat, causing it to swell so much that he choked to death. The doctor who performed the autopsy said the symptoms were normally seen in people involved in house fires, caused by smoke inhalation.
StPaul9 7 months ago
Possibly part of having an eating contest and not giving his throat to cool down perhaps
Bohemiangirl 7 months ago
He realized it was way too hot after taking a big bite, but decided to swallow it quickly instead of spitting it out.... at least that was what I read in a more detailed article.
Load More Replies... Virgil Blue 7 months ago
I'd advise caution with cheese souffles too. When the outside is ok to handle, the inside can still be about the temp of the surface of Mercury in full sunlight.
Virgil Blue 7 months ago
That poor woman, laughed at while it turned out she had horrible burns on her nethers because that coffee was kept insanely hot at MC D.
Load More Replies... joann fielding 7 months ago
Well, dang. When I eat something too hot, I tend to wheeze, then cough for hours. Uh oh.
#30
TIL the habit of sitting on the toilet too long, even if one isn't straining, significantly increases the risk of hemorrhoids
Nikole 7 months ago
Totally. And if I have to return shortly afterwards, I return.
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Bored Sailor 7 months ago
I must be hemorrhoid resistant by a lot, never had them and usually over stay my welcome.
Lowrider 56 7 months ago
I had to have a hemorrhoidectmy. The first poop I took after the operation felt like I was pooping a cinder block!
Forrest Grump 7 months ago
How significantly? Cite a source with statistics to back up your claim.
#31
TIL that in the 1790s, France had a network of signalling towers that could send messages by writing symbols using giant mechanical arms on towers. They could send complex messages across the entire country in ~1 hour. These were precursors to electric telegraphs.
Spidercat 7 months ago
In Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, the Clacks system is based on this very thing.
arthbach 7 months ago
Terry Pratchett was an encyclopedia. He had so much information stored in his noggin (head). There have been quite a number of times I have read one of his books and realised his crazy idea was based on a real-life event, or contraption, person, or time in history.
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Gustav Gallifrey 7 months ago
A similar system was in use in England around the same time, providing communications between the Admiralty in London, and the Royal Navy's major base in Portsmouth.
nm 7 months ago
Mycenae were informed for the fall of Troy via fire beacons, well before Agamemnon boarded his ship to return.
Load More Replies... #32
TIL Steven Spielberg told movie stars that if they wanted to work with him, a prerequisite was that they gambled along with him by not taking any salary upfront and instead only taking backend compensation. He said "...if my film makes no money I get no money. They should be prepared to do the same"
Harry Gondalf 7 months ago
Actually the actors don't work for free during production. Against union rules. They get paid scale. Segourney weaver got scale for Alien. she got $1M for Aliens.
General Anaesthesia 7 months ago
West Side Story, The Fabelmans, to name two. Source: https://screenrant.com/steven-spielberg-west-side-story-fabelmans-bfg-box-office-bombs/
Load More Replies... April Pickett 7 months ago
I don't think many actors would do that. They work on the film, give it their best, follow the process, and should receive their negotiated salary.
Peter Bear 7 months ago
Yeah, sorry, but that's just rude. If I do work, I expect to be paid for it. The laborer is worthy of his hire.
Melinda Flick 7 months ago
Which presumes they’re established enough to have a hefty bank account. Newbies couldn’t afford to do that.
Bohemiangirl 7 months ago
He doesn't seem to have any problem getting actors for his movies though
#33
TIL during a scene in The Shawshank Redemption in which a crow was to be fed a maggot, the American Humane Society objected against the idea of a live animal being k*lled for the scene meaning the team had to find and use a maggot that had died of natural causes.
Travelling Stranger 7 months ago
yeah, because in reality, crows only eat maggots that died of natural causes and trying to feed a live one to the crow in the movie would cause irreparable harm to the bird and would constitute animal cruelty towards the maggot.
Roxy222uk 7 months ago
First of all, they could have gone ahead and done what they wanted, but then they couldn't say no animals were harmed in the making of the film. The argument isn't that crows shouldn't be allowed to eat live maggots; it's that a live animal shouldn't be k.i.l.led in the name of entertainment.
Kate 7 months ago
They could have added 'the only animal harmed in this film was a maggot '. I don't know any reasonably intelligent person who would have an issue with that.
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Definitely a Human 7 months ago
Isn't a maggot being eaten by a crow a very natural process though?
#34
TIL that in 2011, the Mexican ambassador in London complained to the BBC and demanded an apology from "Top Gear" presenter Richard Hammond, after Hammond called the Mexicans 'lazy, feckless, flatulent and overweight' on the show
Chewie Baron 7 months ago
Even though they call him Captain Slow, James May has driven at a higher speed than the other two when he drove the Bugatti Veyron at the VW Nardo Test Track.
JK 7 months ago
Yeah, that's not the fastest any of them have driven. Hammond has driven the fastest, he did however crash, so May is the fastest "without crashing and nearly dying"
Load More Replies... Michelle C 7 months ago (edited)
An apology was absolutely warranted in that case. What a shame that Richard Hammond didn’t have the heart to do the right thing and get past his own bias against one or two people, but chose to generalize an a specific group of people unreasonably instead.
Definitely a Human 7 months ago
That's a joke about how difficult life is in Australia though. It's not at Australians expense. Completely different
Load More Replies... #35
TIL Matt Damon wrote the first draft of Good Will Hunting's first act as an assignment in a playwriting class during his fifth year at Harvard. The only scene that survived verbatim from that "40-some-odd-page document" was the scene where Damon's character & Robin Williams' character first meet.
Chewie Baron 7 months ago (edited)
Matt Damon and Ben Affleck just need to win Oscars for Acting and they’ll join a club that currently only Emma Thompson is a member of, people who’ve won Oscars for Acting and Writing.
𝖊𝖜𝖔𝛋 7 months ago
Except affleck didn’t write a single word of the film. Damon was very kind to his friend and gave him credit where it was not due. It’s a well known fact.
Load More Replies... #36
TIL During the filming of The Godfather, Marlon Brando refused to memorize his lines, and would read them off cards attached anywhere from trees in the background to fellow actors.
Chewie Baron 7 months ago
Joan Crawford had “idiot cards” too, but in her case she was absolutely plastered on her morning vodka and Pepsi.
Fiery Llama 7 months ago
I just read "Leave the Gun, Take the Cannoli" about the making of the movie, and this is not quite true. Brando was dyslexic- he did not prefer reading off cards at all. He (and other actors) often had to on the Godfather bc the script was being rewritten all the time.
Karen Bryan 7 months ago
Maybe by that point in his life and career he couldn't memorize anything anymore.
#37
TIL in 1978, Leo Ryan,member of the U.S. House of Representative traveled to Guyana to investigate claims that people were being held against their will by Jim Jones at the Peoples Temple Jonestown settlement. He was shot and k*lled there, as he and his party were attempting to leave.
General Anaesthesia 7 months ago
A weird way to isolate this from other happenings that same day. For those who aren't familiar with it, more than 900 others in the Jonestown cult "committed s*****e" (self-assassination, thank you BP) that same day. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jonestown
Maples Dad 7 months ago
That's not fair to say as children were FORCED to drink the mixture as did the elderly.
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Pferdchen 7 months ago
His assistant, Jackie Speier, survived being shot five times and is now a congresswoman from California.
SkyBlueandBlack 7 months ago
She left the House two years ago. She's on the County Board of Supervisors now.
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Brian Droste 7 months ago
And all of the people of the Peoples Temple Jonestown are given Kool Aid with cyanide in it and died. I remember that in incident. I was 17 and started getting interested in watching the news. It was a very tragic event at the time. Very few people came out of that alive if any.
Marie BellaDonna 7 months ago
That was my first thought too. But I guess the person who posted this is just young. Or maybe we're old, lol!
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#38
TIL one of the biggest drug busts in the world was in Sylmar, CA. 20 tons of c***ine, worth $6 billion and about 5% of the world’s annual production, was left unguarded and secured with a $6 padlock.
Bruce Mardle 7 months ago
A few decades ago, I read in my local newspaper that someone had been tried for possession of £10,000 of the same. His defence was that he'd found it on the beach. That was accepted. Months later it became public that a smuggler's boat had been apprehended not far from the beach. Presumably while the smuggler was chucking it overboard.
Richard Smith 7 months ago
I once dumped over *** pounds of ******** from my ******** equaling nearing $**** Censorship. All fun and games until it ******* ******** **.
#39
TIL that in 1878, US Supreme Court Justice Ward Hunt suffered a stroke which thereafter left him unable to either attend court sessions or to render opinions. Yet he refused to resign for another 4 years, his sole reason being to stay long enough to claim his pension.
Richard Iachetta 7 months ago
Nine senile OLD men making law on their belief the writers of the constitution were infallible so that Americans can own a*****t weapons that can k**l more people in an hour than a muzzle loading weapon (the only ones around when they were alive) could k**l in a week. As I said nine SENILE OLD people
x6rkq946s6 7 months ago
We need a certain majority of the current Supreme Court to have their own “accidents”, refuse to show up to work and resign in 4 years. Somehow they keep getting replaced by worse people.
Kate Johnson 6 months ago
And that's just bs: he knew he should have retired, but occupied an important post because he wanted more money. I totally understand how scary it is when you're that close to retirement age and no money coming in. (I doubt I'm the only one!) However, that was his job/career and it's an extraordinarily niche career due to what it demands from it's members, and he knew exactly how important that work was. They should have given him a pension, yes, and he should have vacated like an honorable person would have, opening up the seat to someone who *could* do the job. Blame on both sides, and neither made it right.
#40
TIL a woman secretly kept her lover hidden in her attic for over a decade; he emerged only to k*ll her husband
luci (he/fae) 7 months ago
the woman was walberga "dolly" oesterreich, her affair partner slash grooming victim was otto sanhuber, and her husband was fred william oesterreich. dolly met otto when he was 17 and she was 33, and the two began a "relationship". he lived in the attic for over 15 years, and he killed fred in 1922 (he didn't leave the attic until 1930) because fred and dolly were having a loud argument and he thought dolly was in danger. dolly had several other affairs both before and after the murder-including with her own lawyer.
#41
TIL Fidel Castro has long tried to breed a “super cow” that would give much more milk than ordinary cows. And one day the Cuban scientists succeeded. It was immediately dubbed a miracle of socialism, and after death, Ubre Blanca was even honored with a monument
Sam Trudeau 7 months ago
According to the bible, we will now get a "super cow" that is super skinny. (old testament)
#42
TIL height surgery is a thing— (mostly) men are enduring months of pain, bone-breaking procedures, and intense rehab just to get a few inches taller.
N G 7 months ago
this is worth it just to stop your other appendages from dragging on the floor
Lady Eowyn 7 months ago
I think it's sad that people are so fixated on height that they submit themselves to this. I"m 4'10", if you're wondering. Except for reaching things on high shelves, it's never been a problem.
Papa 7 months ago (edited)
I am always happy to reach things for people (I'm 6'0").
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Ron Man 7 months ago
This is one of the procedures Elon has denied having done to him, despite somehow going through a growth spurt in his 30s.
Littlemiss 7 months ago
Men and women do it. I saw a documentary where a little person did it to gain an extra few inches of height.
Andie Day 7 months ago
It would be understandable if you were below four foot or so. Everything's set for the 'average' and it can be really uncomfortable to be shorter, or taller, than your peers.
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T'Mar of Vulcan 7 months ago
Awesome to include a pic from "Gattaca", which everybody should see as it deal with relevant themes!
JB 7 months ago
I'm still convinced that movie is going to prove prescient.
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CrunChewy McSandybutt 7 months ago
This is more common in the Little People community. It's not just to gain height, but also to make their limbs more proportional.
Dee Rutherford 7 months ago
Many year ago, a girl in my class, who was afflicted with dwarfism, had this done to stop everyone from treating her like a child. It gained her four inches over time.
Richard Iachetta 7 months ago
Just more people who want to attract people based on their looks not the person they are. So sad
#43
TIL Frank Herbert’s Dune was rejected by twenty publishers, and was finally accepted by Chilton, which was primarily known for car repair manuals.
Jrog 7 months ago
Eh, not really. Dune had already been published as a serialised novel in Analog Magazine, to great success. But, publishing it as a book would have been commercially unfeasible for the sheer size of the novel, and it would have been way too expensive compared the $1.95-$2.95 target price for a book at the time ($20-30 today). Herbert proposed splitting it in two books (that later became three), but it was a novel concept that no affirmed editor felt comfortable with. It was not unheard of, but Tolkien did the same a decade earlier and he himself had a lot of troubles finding a publisher.
Jrog 7 months ago (edited)
It was published by Chilton only because the owner had already read all the opera on Analog Magazine, for which he was also an occasional author, and was a great fan of the serial. The novel was a collection of the two first serials, with two more books planned, but the price was still more than double the usual book price due to limitations from the publisher (small production run, high manufacturing cost, general inexperience on novel publication). The book was a financial disaster leading to the CEO of Chilton resigning. Only about 2000 first edition copies found their way to the market (plus 4500 of a revised, discounted edition): they are now worth their weight in gold and are among the most expensive books in science fiction. Dune found success only after the company sold the publication rights to ACE, that published a very accessible paperback edition and heavily promoted the book in counterculture circles.
Load More Replies... T'Mar of Vulcan 7 months ago
Didn't it start off as a series of short stories? The writing and tone in the sequels is markedly different, and I think that's why.
Jrog 7 months ago (edited)
[1] It was rejected for being "too conventional" and aimed at a target market that was not keen on reading. That are, speaking about the first book, *very* legitimate concerns. "HP & The Philosopher's Stone" at the time was already a mishmash of overused tropes from young adult literature (the school setting, the oppressive family, the incredibly bad baddie that no one believes in but is coming back, the sport challenge) and very basic D&D-game-night-level fantasy staples (spellcasting, the living chess game, the hostile tree, the possession, the magic street market). Its major shortcoming was what led to the success of the series: as a YA novel, it was on the "younger" side and lacking the more mature content that were commonplace in the genre by the late 1980s and early 1990s. This appealed to a public, teens in the 8-14 demographic, that had been effectively phased out by evolution and increase in maturity of the YA genre and were lacking recent, suitable replacements.
Load More Replies... #44
TIL in 2022, a dispute between Pantone and Adobe resulted in the removal of Pantone color coordinates from Photoshop and Adobe's other design software, causing colors in graphic artists' digital documents to be replaced with black unless artists paid Pantone a separate $15 monthly subscription fee.
NapQueen 7 months ago
I work with parasols and we can do pantone-matched canopies - that booklet you see in the picture? Hard to come across and feel like gold to us! Super useful!
Jrog 7 months ago
You can buy it from their website for about 300€... Any proper business working with colors and graphics should have one. The NCS one cost roughly 200€. The RAL ones are usually given free by paint suppliers.
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#45
TIL in 2014, the daughter of the chairman of Korean Air flew into a rage when she was served macadamia nuts in a packet instead of a plate while on a Korean Air flight. She forced the flight attendant who served her the nuts to apologise on his knees, ejected him from the flight, and demoted him.
Lost Panda 7 months ago
She ended up causing a whole mess of trouble for her entire family, and her father had to step down from the company.(If this is the same story I remember)
Existing 7 months ago
It was the daughter who forced to step down from her position. Dad told the press that he was upset he didn’t raise her better. The woman was 40 for goodness sake.
Load More Replies... Jrog 7 months ago
"When the incident became public, Cho and Korean Air were heavily criticized, and in the aftermath, Cho resigned from one of her several executive positions at Korean Air. She was subsequently found guilty in a South Korean court of obstructing aviation safety and given a twelve-month prison sentence, of which she served five months. The flight attendant and cabin crew chief had returned to their positions by April 2016." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_rage_incident
Charlie the Cat 7 months ago
Ejected him from the flight? Seems a bit extreme. Did they at least give him a parachute?
Multa Nocte 7 months ago
"Heather Cho, Korean Air vice president and daughter of Korean Air CEO Cho Yang-ho, dissatisfied with the way a flight attendant served nuts on the plane, ordered the aircraft to return to the gate before takeoff. All first class passengers, including Cho, were given nuts bagged in their original packaging—in keeping with the airline's procedures; however, Cho had expected them to be served on a plate in first class. She questioned the cabin crew chief about the standard procedure of serving the nuts. After a heated confrontation, Cho assaulted him and ordered him off the plane, requiring a return to the gate and delaying the flight about 20 minutes." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nut_rage_incident
Load More Replies... Pferdchen 7 months ago
For those like me who had no idea what "Chaebol people" are: "A chaebol is a large industrial South Korean conglomerate run and controlled by an individual or family. A chaebol often consists of multiple diversified affiliates, controlled by a person or group. Several dozen large South Korean family-controlled corporate groups fall under this definition. The term first appeared in English text in 1972. Chaebol have also played a significant role in South Korean politics."
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Jrog 7 months ago
She had the plane come back to the gate while taxiing, leading to a 20 minutes delay.
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#46
TIL that the belly button is an actual erogenous zone. For some people, it even has the potential to trigger a nerve that causes a tickling sensation in their genitals.
Bruce Mardle 7 months ago
I get that! A friend didn't believe me when I said it decades ago. (I don't find it erogenous, though.)
araT sdrawkcaB 7 months ago
So, the palm of my hand is directly correlated to that area, and shaking hands can be weird ah for me.
#47
TIL that the CIA created a gun that could shoot darts causing heart attacks. Upon penetration of the skin, the dart left just a tiny red dot. The poison worked rapidly and denatured quickly, leaving no trace. This weapon was revealed in a 1975 Congressional testimony.
Chewie Baron 7 months ago
That’s nothing, the KGB had an umbrella that could do the same thing!
Bob Brooce 7 months ago
They can also k**l people with a perfectly ordinary window.
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Anonymous Female 7 months ago
I mean, Richard Kuklinski did that...put some cyanide in a syringe, jabbed someone on a bar dancefloor. Guy was dead from a "heart attack" before he even made it out the door.
#48
TIL sloths only poo once a week and can lose up to a third of their body weight with one poo. They come down from trees and dig a hole to poo in, and no one is sure why they risk their lives to do this
Phantom Phoenix 7 months ago
This practice was universally adopted by the sloth community in 1856 following too many unfortunate incidents wherein the sloths occupying lower branches were shatupon from a greater height with extreme amounts of excrement and justifiably complained to the sloth senate
ynyrhydref56 7 months ago
If your p*o is up to one third of your weight, holding it would be hugely uncomfortable. I'd take my chances too.
#49
TIL that under the American Homestead Act of 1862, single women over 21 or any man over 21 could claim 160 acres of land by living on it for five years, building a home, making improvements, and paying a small fee. Married women were not allowed.
Ron Man 7 months ago
Married women weren't allowed because that would mean a married couple could claim 320 acres, when the purpose of this was for people to claim 160 acres for a homestead. Hence unmarried women could claim the 160 acres and homestead on their own, the same as a man could.
FreeTheUnicorn 7 months ago
But if you were native and lived there for generations, you had no right to thr land at all.
#50
TIL that in 2000, Robert Mugabe, then president of Zimbabwe, won the 1st prize jackpot in a national lottery organized by a government owned bank.
Corwin 02 7 months ago
Kinda like how Kim yong Un keeps scoring 18 holes in one when he plays golf
Jerome Lenovo 7 months ago
trump knows the technique, he used it with the dow jones (too lazy to make the research .... you know what i'm talking about)
#51
TIL Bruce Springsteen's famous song, 'Born in the U.S.A.', is actually a critique of the government's treatment of Vietnam War veterans
#52
TIL it was said that Frederick the Great had a physical disgust of women. He once shocked a dinner party with an offensive rant against "ghastly women you smelled ten miles around". When he saw his wife for the first time in six years, he only told her: "Madame has become more stout" and then left.
Jrog 7 months ago (edited)
He was likely gay and had a relationship with an officer, Von Katte, that was assigned as his tutor and guard. They decided to elope to Britain, but were betrayed by another officer who was supposed to aid them. Since Frederick was the heir to the throne, he could not be executed, but was instead forced to assist to Von Katte's beheading for High Treason. He was kept prisoner in one of his palaces for two years until he agreed to marry a Prussian Duchess, that he despised for his whole life and for whom he never felt any affection. Before his father's death, he spent years at one of his castles surrounded in promiscuity by artists and actors, writing plays and spending time with several proteges. He died heirless, and the throne passed to his brother's son.
Swoo 7 months ago
So he had many room mates... joke aside, I feel sorry for the sad and bitter life he was forced to live (and he enforced on others too)
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MrLiesegang 7 months ago
Politically speaking, yes. He made Prussia the fifth great power in Europe. On the other hand, privately, not so much. But as a gay man in the 18th century, in a strictly militarized state and as king with all eyes on him, I think he was very frustrated. And his father had his lover executed...
Load More Replies... #53
TIL that Los Angeles is actually an active oil pumping field that at its height provided 25% of all the oil in the world. It's still pumping today, they just hide the many derricks in boxes and pretend they aren't really there.
Nichole Harris 7 months ago
He'd be thrilled tho.... American oil on American soil baby! 💯
Load More Replies... #54
TIL prior to Pope Francis in 2013, the last pope to choose a unique name without a regnal number was Pope Lando, who was pope from September 913 to March 914.
#55
TIL about "salad stacking," a fad where Chinese Pizza Hut customers built towering salads to bypass the "one trip, one bowl" rule, even sharing tips to maximize height.
Multa Nocte 7 months ago
We did this in the US back in the day at well. Cucumbers were arranged at the sides to support additional salad. I don't remember the bowls as being exceptionally large, which is why it was done.
Uncle Panda 7 months ago
I do this at the Mongolian BBQ (but not unreasonably so). The cooks call it the scaffold approach.
#56
TIL Mike Myers, Eddie Murphy, and Cameron Diaz negotiated an upfront payment of $10 million each for voicing the sequel to Shrek (2001). This was an increase from the $350,000 each received for the first film. Also, the three actors were expected to each work between 15-18 hours in total on Shrek 2.
#57
TIL James Cameron has directed "the most expensive movie ever made" five separate times
Deta Rossiter 7 months ago
James Cameron has broken the World Record, held by himself each time, for "the most expensive movie ever made" 5 times. so far.
#58
TIL in 2012 a woman discovered that her ex-boyfriend from 12 years ago had been living in her attic for about two weeks. Her adult sons & nephew found him asleep in the back of the attic which caused him to flee. They also saw he had rigged the ceiling vents so he could watch her in her bedroom.
Gingersnap In Iowa 7 months ago
Didn't need to read this right before bed. While staring at my attic door.
Caryne Ag 7 months ago
I saw a show on TV once where a woman had discovered that the house's previous owner installed a camera in the ceiling fan above her bed. The guy eventually went to prison, but not before her family's reputation was shunned by the rest of the neighborhood, unfairly, of course…
#59
TIL: To become King Louis XV's official mistress, Madame du Barry had a fake birth certificate made to hide her humble origin as the illegitimate daughter of a seamstress. The birth certificate claimed her family were nobility and that she was 3 years younger than her actual age.
#60
TIL in 1975, McDonald's opened their first drive-thru to allow soldiers stationed at Fort Huachuca to order food. At the time, soldiers weren’t allowed to leave their vehicle while in uniform if they were off-post.
Kim Kermes 7 months ago
In utility uniform. Class A was ok, but only officers and senior sergeants wore them every day. My post commander tried it in the early 80s, I believe the business community explained how much business they'd lose. She wasn't interested in consideration for the welfare of the troops.
Bored Sailor 7 months ago
I could not wear a working Navy uniform off base until like into the 2000s
#61
TIL Alan Turing was known for being eccentric. Each June he would wear a gas mask while cycling to work to block pollen. While cycling, his bike chain often slipped, but instead of fixing it, he would count the pedal turns it took before each slip and stop just in time to adjust the chain by hand
Ace 7 months ago
Not quite. "What he found was that the mishap occurred for a unique configuration of wheel, chain and pedal. On looking at the machine more closely, he discovered that this problem only happened when a particular damaged link on the chain came into contact with a particular bent spoke. So he simply straightened the bent spoke. By golly, a bike mechanic or anyone with a reasonable amount of experience with a bicycle could devise an efficient solution in less than 10 minutes. It took him months. This lengthy approach to solving problems proves to us that he was a true mathematician and not a mechanic." https://cozybeehive.blogspot.com/2009/09/that-strange-bicyclist-alan-turing.html
#62
TIL about a "Condor" score in golf, which is -4, under par. condor would be a hole-in-one on a par-five, a two on a par-six, or a three on a par-seven. It has only been achieved 6 times in history.
Apatheist Account2 7 months ago
Normal golf courses never normally have more than par 5. There is apparently a 1097 yard par 7 in Korea.
kiteman 7 months ago
Yeah I haven’t heard of a par 6 or 7. Also unless a hole is horribly mislabeled, I’ve never played a par 5 that is humanely possible to reach on one shot, so 5 times seems bogus unless someone bounced it off trees and the cart path, etc. even then that doesn’t seem very plausible.
Jerome Lenovo 7 months ago
"" It has only been achieved 6 times in history. "" ---- 5 times by the great golfer called donald rump i guess ? xD
Papa 7 months ago
Some of us come to this site to get away from politics. Please give it a rest.
Load More Replies... #63
TIL in 2001 a 6-year-old boy died during an MRI exam when the machine's magnetic field jerked a metal oxygen tank across the room, fracturing his skull and injuring his brain. The child was under sedation at the time of the accident.
Kenny Kulbiski 7 months ago
Thanks! I'm scheduled for my first MRI and am already nervous about the claustrophobic part. Now I gotta worry about stray metal objects. I don't think they gave me enough xanex.
My O My 7 months ago
Tell them you are claustrophobic (maybe even call) to let them know as soon as possible. There are MRIs now that are open on the side for this reason. Maybe they can book your appointment into such an MRI
Load More Replies... #64
TIL that 80% of the rice consumed by the United States is produced domestically.
Corwin 02 7 months ago
Well since Trump f****d up the rest of the economy I assume they will be eating a lot of it shortly.
The Dave 7 months ago
Not everything in your life should be about hating Trump. There’s more to life than this, and you folks are making yourselves miserable.
Load More Replies... FreeTheUnicorn 7 months ago
But it's no longer inspected to ensure it meets health code, so I wouldn't trust it.
MotherofGuineaPigs 7 months ago
We are also the second largest producer of soybeans. Brazil is number one.
#65
TIL Timbaland let OneRepublic's Ryan Tedder keep 100% of the publishing for the remix of the song "Apologize". His manager told Tedder, "He’s not trying to take food off your table. He produced the remix. You wrote the song." Tedder said this decision changed his life by allowing him to buy a home.
#66
TIL Vince Gilligan described his pitch meeting with HBO for 'Breaking Bad' as the worst meeting he ever had. The exec he pitched to could not have been less interested, "Not even in my story, but about whether I actually lived or died." In the weeks after, HBO wouldn't even give him a courtesy 'no'.
#67
TIL after Drew Barrymore posed nude for Playboy in 1995, her godfather Steven Spielberg sent her a note saying "cover yourself up", along with copies of her pictures altered to make it appear she was fully clothed
Libstak 7 months ago (edited)
He is her Godfather so technically appointed as her spiritual protector though
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#68
TIL The Postman (1997) clocks in at 177 minutes, and despite two test screenings that ended in a negative reception, director Kevin Costner refused to trim down its runtime. He also funded most of The Postman's $80 million budget himself. Its box office receipts totaled around $20 million.
jasper 7 months ago
The book was very good. But I also liked the move. Love post-apocalyptic movies.
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#69
TIL in 2021, Lady Gaga's dogs were stolen in a violent robbery. Jennifer McBride got the dogs from the thieves and returned them, hoping for Gaga's $500,000 reward. A judge ruled she can't claim it, as handling stolen property is a crime. McBride's role in the crime barred her from profiting.
Papa 7 months ago
Perhaps I misunderstood. Considering Ms. McBride was one of the suspects in the dogs being stolen, which involved the dog walker being shot, you still think she should have received the reward?
Load More Replies... #70
TIL Reggie from Nintendo had to fight to get Wii Sports as a pack-in, free. And Miyamoto was not happy.
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Alan Lauria 7 months ago
Re #4...Paul Mccartney refused Al 'Live and Let Die' to make 'Chicken Pot Pie' because Paul is a vegetarian.
Nikole 7 months ago
Ha that’s awesome. And I’ve been told if you play “Maybe I’m Amazed” backwards, you’ll hear a recipe for a really ripping lentil soup!
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Rachel Pelz 7 months ago
A lot of US related celebrity related factsb imo. Have read better TIL lists on BP.
Alan Lauria 7 months ago
Re #4...Paul Mccartney refused Al 'Live and Let Die' to make 'Chicken Pot Pie' because Paul is a vegetarian.
Nikole 7 months ago
Ha that’s awesome. And I’ve been told if you play “Maybe I’m Amazed” backwards, you’ll hear a recipe for a really ripping lentil soup!
Load More Replies... Rachel Pelz 7 months ago
A lot of US related celebrity related factsb imo. Have read better TIL lists on BP.
You May Like 60 Interesting Facts That Are Better Than Watching The News If You’re Hungry For New Knowledge, These 50 Facts Might Satisfy Your Appetite “I Didn’t Know This And Now I Feel Stupid”: 48 Pieces Of Knowledge That Were Supposed To Be Common
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