Today I Learned 🎓

20 ноября 2024 00:49

TIL that the founder of audio electronics manufacturer Bose donated most of his shares to his alma mater, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. MIT is now the company’s majority shareholder. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 21:49

TIL That Anne Spielberg, sister of Steven, co-wrote the movie Big. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 20:49

TIL in South Korea, only blind people can get a masseur's license. This law was established in 1912, to help visually impaired people earn a living. It was upheld by their Constitutional Court in 2008. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 19:49

TIL that Graphene is the thinnest two-dimensional material in existence and is 200 times stronger than steel. It is also the most conductive material on Earth, excelling in both electrical and thermal conductivity. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 18:49

TIL that in 2001, Warner Bros had to recall every single copy of a then-newly-released "The Powerpuff Girls" DVD because three of the DVD-ROM programs (including its installer) were accidentally infected with the "FunLove" computer virus, which would be spread to any PC that installed the software. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 15:49

TIL that the first ATM was developed and built by Luther George Simjian, and installed in 1939 in New York city by the City Bank of New York. Six months later, it was removed due to the lack of customer acceptance [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 14:50

TIL the tallest mountain in Spain is not located on the mainland but on Tenerife in the Canary Islands. Known as Pico de Teide, it is also the highest peak on any Atlantic Ocean island. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 11:49

TIL the University of Toledo has a (disarmed) rocket pointed at the 50 yard line of their rival, Bowling Green State University [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 08:49

TIL about the 1937 marriage of 22-year-old Charlie Johns and 9-year-old Eunice Winstead, causing national attention after an article was written in Life magazine. It led to the state of Tennessee introducing a new law setting the minimum marriage age as 14. Other US jurisdictions followed similarly. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 06:49

TIL A 71 year old man was acquitted of murder after claiming self-defense when another moviegoer threw popcorn at him [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 00:49

TIL the 1987 movie Million Dollar Mystery was promoted with a real contest in which $1 million were hidden in an undisclosed location that the winner would correctly identify. 14-year-old Alesia Lenae Jones won the contest. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 23:50

TIL In 1855, a Portuguese writer who didn't speak English wrote a book in English full of unintentional errors. The book ended up being famous, with a version prefaced by Mark Twain. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 19:49

TIL Hitler was almost killed by a malfunctioning V-1 bomb after it hit his headquarters where he was planning his defense against the Normandy landings. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 19:49

TIL Tommy Cooper was a Welsh magician/comedian whose shtick was "a clumsy magician messes up his tricks". He had a massive heart attack, collapsed and died on stage during a live broadcast, in front of 12 million viewers, with studio audience laughing at what they thought was just one of his acts. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 15:50

TIL a bear in a state park got into campers’ coolers and used claws & teeth to puncture beer cans; Fish & Wildlife Sgt. Bill Heinck said the bear tried a can of Busch, ignored the rest, then drank about 36 Rainier beers. They caught it a live trap baited with donuts, honey, open cans of Rainier. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 23:49

TIL Early in his career actor Zero Mostel was called to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) for suspected communist sympathies. During his testimony, Mostel refused to name names, made jokes, and challenged the committee's assertions. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 20:49

TIL during Obon, an annual family reunion holiday in Japan, the spirits of ancestors are believed to revisit household altars, and to help them come back home and return, a cucumber horse and an eggplant cow are crafted as vessels, respectively. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 19:49

Today I learned that companies like Starbucks and Verizon use US prison labor to increase profit margins. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 18:49

TIL about the Night of the Big Wind, a January 6th 1839 storm that was the most severe to hit Ireland in centuries. Over 20% of houses in Dublin were damaged or destroyed, and was so severe that people believed the world was ending [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 16:49

TIL while filming Metropolis (1927) they would often end up with more children in the evening than in the morning. Coming from the poorest areas of Berlin, the children would sneak onto set or climb over the fence to experience the warm rooms, games, toys, cocoa, cake, and regular meals [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 15:49

TIL that in the Tenerife air disaster, the deadliest accident in aviation history, none of the victims had tickets to Tenerife. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 13:49

TIL: That the Don McLean song "Vincent" was a particular favorite of the rapper and actor Tupac Shakur. The song was played to him at the University Medical Center of Southern Nevada, the hospital that he was admitted to just before he died of gunshot wounds from a drive-by shooting. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 10:49

TIL that Leonard Nimoy refused to participate in Star Trek: The Animated Series unless George Takei and Nichelle Nichols were included, emphasizing their roles as symbols of ethnic diversity in the 23rd century. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 06:49

TIL 24 year old George Jetson knocked up Jane when she was 16 or 17. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 ноября 2024 02:49

TIL Max Planck, the father of quantum theory, considered his quantum hypothesis just a mathematical trick to get the right answer rather than a sizable discovery until Einstein interpreted his hypothesis realistically and used it to explain physical phenomena. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 23:50

TIL the pilot episode of Star Trek Voyager was one of the most expensive television episodes ever produced, costing $23 million [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 21:50

TIL there were no casualties in the 2022 Cyprus earthquake besides 1,600 chickens that died in a stampede caused by their panic [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 19:49

TIL until the 1980’s, US television stations would sign off at the end of the broadcasting day, and before they cut to static for the rest of the night, they would often play short clips of American landmarks and US military imagery in a patriotic montage accompanied by the star spangled banner. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 17:49

TIL that during the 1908 London Olympics, the United Kingdom ordered every country to dip its flag in honor of King Edward VII. All except the United States did so, with the American flag bearer stating, "This flag dips to no earthly king." [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 ноября 2024 14:49

TIL during the filming of 2017’s Spider-Man: Homecoming, it became a secret running joke between Tom Holland and Michael Keaton that Keaton would often whisper in a deep voice“I’m Batman” in Tom’s ear on set during a few fight scenes. [Source]