Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 15:49

TIL Neptune is not blue in colour, instead it's pale greenish-blue, as is Uranus. The original photos of Neptune taken by Voyager 2 in 1980s had been enhanced to highlight it's atmospheric features. Over time the captions of this changes were left out and blue became the defining colour of Neptune. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 10:49

TIL that in Mike Tyson’s last professional boxing match to date, he faced the 6ft 6 Kevin McBride. Tyson would attempt to break McBride’s arm, before being shoved to the floor by McBride and then eventually quitting on his stool, just before the 7th round. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 05:49

TIL Hemingway was three months sober when he killed himself in 1961 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 03:49

TIL At its greatest extent, Nixon’s “Enemies List” of political opponents and critics reached 220 people and organizations. Several of the people listed expressed pride at being included after the list was revealed at the Watergate hearings in 1973. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 00:49

TIL that Vampires, in traditional folklore, suffered from arithmomania, a form of obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) that revolves around numbers and counting [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 22:49

TIL k-pop phenomenon only happened because Jurassic Park. In early 90s, Korean Government officials issued a report for the president stating the movie revenue was almost equivalent of exporting 1.5 Million Hyundai cars. As a response, the government invested a lot of money in cultural industry. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 21:49

TIL that the United States has 44 four-star generals right now whereas in WWII there were just seven. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 20:49

TIL that the Spice Girls co-wrote all their own songs. When they left their original management, they allegedly stole the masters of their recordings from the management office to make sure they retained creative control of their work. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 18:49

TIL it’s routine practice in the US and many other countries for turkeys to have their beaks trimmed without anesthesia, which can cause something similar to “phantom limb pain” that humans experience after amputations. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 18:49

TIL that Thalidomide, the drug responsible for thousands of birth defects across Europe in the 1950s/60s, was developed by a doctor who had previously worked for the Nazis, experimenting on concentration camp victims [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 16:50

TIL Batman’s fascination for and attraction to bats is due to a unique psychological response to fear and anxiety called a“counterphobic attitude” which involves a person actively seeking out the sources of the things that frighten them in the hope of overcoming their fears and becoming stronger. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 14:49

TIL that Obsidian receives no royalties from Fallout: New Vegas because they signed a contract with Bethesda stipulating that they would only do so if the game matched or exceeded an 85 rating on Metacritic. Fallout: New Vegas received an 84 rating. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 12:49

TIL the leader of the Crips, Stanley “Tookie” Williams wrote a children’s book in prison about anti gang violence. He was nominated for 4 Nobel Prizes for what he did to stop gang violence and was nominated for the Nobel prize For Literature once for this book. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 ноября 2024 12:49

TIL what we call a 9-to-5 workday, Chinese people have "996," which means they have to work from 9am to 9pm 6 days a week. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 ноября 2024 07:49

TIL that only the Gospel of Matthew claims Judas betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Luke and John suggest he was possessed by Satan, while Mark gives no motive. Mark is also the only book to claim he committed suicide, with Acts suggesting he felt no remorse and died accidentally. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 12:49

TIL the baku, a mythical Japanese creature that eats nightmares. In the Meiji period, children would say, "Baku-san, come eat my dream" three times to get rid of bad dreams. But if the baku remained hungry after eating, it might also devour their hopes and desires, leaving them with an empty life. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 09:49

TIL that scientists created a 60 year long experiment in Siberia, selectively breeding wild foxes who showed friendly traits. 40 generations later they were as friendly as dogs! [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 04:49

TIL of 'Joe Martin', a captive orangutan actor that starred in over 50 silent era films, and for years lived essentially as a free human, wearing clothes, having it's own keys to come and go, attending film premieres and trusted to work with many children. Eventually it attacked many people... [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

15 ноября 2024 01:49

TIL of the "Casu martzu" - a sardinian fermented sheep cheese that has live maggots in it. It's considered unsafe to eat if the maggots have died, and is served alongside strong red wine. The larvae in the cheese can launch themselves distances up to 15 centimetres when disturbed. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 23:49

TIL that in Romania in 1999, a man and a woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning while having sex in a car parked in a garage with the engine running and won the 1999 Darwin Award. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 21:49

TIL backyard ultra, a type of ultramarathon where competitors must run 6.706 km within one hour, repeatedly. The last runner to complete a lap is declared the winner and the only finisher, with all others receiving a "DNF". The longest distance record is 110 laps, covering 737 km over five day. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 21:49

TIL that KFC’s handwritten recipe is stored in a safe within a vault at KFC’s Louisville headquarters. To maintain confidentiality, KFC employs two separate suppliers: one blends part of the recipe, and the other completes it, ensuring no single entity has access to the entire formulation.  [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 19:50

TIL researchers caused the Sudden Infant Death Syndrome epidemic by telling parents to put babies to sleep on their stomach [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 18:49

TIL that the only time when more than half of the American public believed that the Apollo space program was worth the expense came at the time of the Apollo 11 lunar landing in 1969. Even then it only received 53% approval. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 17:49

TIL about the fast food chain "Rax Roast Beef" which at one time operated a peak of 504 locations in the US in the 1980's, but due to continuous changes in its business model and shifting focus away from its core clientele eventually declined to just 8 locations today. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 15:49

TIL: In India, the Gulabi Gang is a female vigilante group whose purpose is to protect women of all castes using violent and nonviolent means where the law doesn't. They wield sticks and gang up to beat abusive husbands with a "100%" success rate. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 13:49

TIL that the man holding the American flag standing behind George Washington in the painting "Washington Crossing the Delaware" is 18 year old future president James Monroe [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

14 ноября 2024 08:49

TIL that in Georgia HOV lanes can be used by pregnant people. Georgia DPS allows this because of a 2022 Georgia law that recognizes embryos and fetuses as person's with full rights. No documents are needed to prove pregnancy when using HOV lanes.
[Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 ноября 2024 11:49

TIL about Nobel Disease aka Nobelitis - Tendency for Some Nobel Winners to Embrace Fringe Beliefs Later in Life [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 ноября 2024 05:49

TIL the name "Chilean seabass" was invented by a fish wholesaler named Lee Lantz in 1977. He was looking for a name to make the Patagonian toothfish attractive to the American market. In 1994, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration accepted "Chilean seabass" as an "alternative market name" for it. [Source]