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TIL The Swedish dressage team, which had originally won gold at the 1948 Olympics was disqualified because one of the teammates, Gehnäll Persson was a sergeant in the Swedish army. According to the regulations at the time, only officers and “gentlemen riders” were eligible to take part in the sport
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1948_Summer_Olympics_medal_table#Changes_in_medal_standings
https://redd.it/1e8nimp
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TIL of a Native American in the Amazon Rainforest who, as the last surviving member of his uncontacted tribe, lived in total and deliberate isolation for about 20 years. He left behind a deep hole of unknown purpose in each of his former homes, giving rise to his nickname: "Man of the Hole"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Man_of_the_Hole
https://redd.it/1e8s015
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TIL about Sarah Boone, a 19th century dressmaker who invented the modern day ironing board, which she particularly adapted for ironing ladies’ garments. In 1892, she became one of the first African American women to be awarded a patent.
https://www.biography.com/inventors/sarah-boone
https://redd.it/1e7w935
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TIL while sailing from Tahiti to San Diego, Tami Oldham Ashford & her fiancé's boat temporarily capsized when they got caught in a hurricane. Tami got knocked out & woke up 27 hours later with her fiancé missing. Over the next 41 days, she used a sextant & a watch to navigate 1.5K miles to Hawaii.
https://www.outsideonline.com/culture/books-media/tami-ashcraft-surviving-41-days-adrift-shailene-woodley/
https://redd.it/1e7mxp2
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TIL Sony sold its waterproof Walkmans in a bottle of water to prove it was really water proof!
https://www.engadget.com/2014/02/11/sony-walkman-water-bottle/
https://redd.it/1e8704g
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TIL, the Finnish air force academy still uses a swastika on its flag and insignia. Finnish use of the swastika was unrelated to their alliance with Nazi Germany, and predated Nazi adoption of the symbol. Finland stopped using the swastika in most other parts of the military for obvious reasons.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Air_Force_Academy_(Finland)
https://redd.it/1e82dw2
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TIL During World War II the Ontario government tried to rename the small town of Swastika (named in 1906) to Winston. The locals responded by taking down the Winston sign and placing a new Swastika sign which read “To hell with Hitler, we came up with our name first.”
https://www.macleans.ca/news/why-the-swastika-cant-be-rehabilitated/
https://redd.it/1e82sb9
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TIL of the "Order of the Occult hand," a secret society of journalists that slip the meaningless and telltale phrase "It was as if some occult hand had…" in print as an inside joke.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Order_of_the_Occult_Hand
https://redd.it/1e6zl2d
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TIL no one has ever been charged with the Tylenol murders which led to tamper-proof packaging
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chicago_Tylenol_murders
https://redd.it/1e73jcr
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TIL an adult male peasant in the UK in the 13th century (1,620 hours/year) worked less hours per year than both: an average worker in the US in 1850 (3,150-3,650 hours/year) and an average worker in the US in 1987 (1,949 hours/year).
https://groups.csail.mit.edu/mac/users/rauch/worktime/hours_workweek.html#hours:~:text=117%2D29%20(1961).-,Eight%20centuries%20of%20annual%20hours,-13th%20century%20%2D%20Adult
https://redd.it/1e7camy
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TIL - Disney once sued three day care centers in Florida for unauthorized use of their characters (5 foot high likenesses on murals on the buildings) who had to remove them. Universal in turn let the centers use Scooby Doo, Flintstones & other of their Hanna-Barbera characters.
https://www.snopes.com/fact-check/daycare-center-murals/
https://redd.it/1e74nab
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TIL: There are 53 "Thankful" villages in the UK where all their members of the armed forces survived WW1. There are 14 which are "Doubly Thankful" having also lost no-one in WW2.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thankful_Villages
https://redd.it/1e6g5av
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TIL that over half of the cities in Wyoming have a population of less than 500 people.
https://www.wyoming-demographics.com/cities_by_population
https://redd.it/1e6a74t
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TIL when a cat purrs, it can mean more than just contentment. Cats also purr when they are frightened, in pain, or even when they are expiring. It's considered a self-soothing, and self-healing mechanism, as their 25-150Hz frequency purr vibration can improve bone and soft tissue regeneration.
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20180724-the-complicated-truth-about-a-cats-purr
https://redd.it/1e6bcaq
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TIL about the “Behavioral Sink” - a term invented by John B. Calhoun to describe a collapse in behavior that can result from overpopulation
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Behavioral_sink
https://redd.it/1e6jev4
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TIL that an escaped slave of George Washington, Oney Judge lived her life as a fugitive in New Hampshire and provided historians the most detailed account of slavery at Mount Vernon
https://www.mountvernon.org/library/digitalhistory/digital-encyclopedia/article/ona-judge
https://redd.it/1e8qk24
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TIL about Nzou, an elephant that's been the matriarch of a buffalo herd for over 40 years. She has been challenged at least 14 times for the leadership of the herd.
https://conservationtravelafrica.org/blog/elephants/nzou-the-elephant-buffalo/
https://redd.it/1e8qxn2
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TIL that Abbott and Costello were among the highest-paid entertainers in the world during World War II. During a national tour in 1942, they sold $85 million in war bonds in 35 days. ($1.64 billion, adjusted for inflation)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lou_Costello?wprov=sfti1
https://redd.it/1e82538
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TIL of Slavic 'pseudo-deities': pagan Gods who were made up by medieval chroniclers and 19th century romantics who wanted to give the Slavs a mythology like that of Ancient Greece and Rome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Slavic_pseudo-deities
https://redd.it/1e81opb
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TIL Eva Peron (Evita), wife of Argentina's president Juan Peron, died of cervical cancer at the age of 33.He never told her that she had cancer and was dying. Ironically, his first wife also died of cervical cancer at 28 yrs old. Doctors felt that he passed the HPV virus on to his wives.
https://www.cellpath.com/latest-news/cervical-cancer-presidents-wife
https://redd.it/1e88323
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TIL: The National Park Service recommends wrapping the entire underside of your car in a tarp to protect against marmots in Sequioa National Park
https://www.nps.gov/seki/planyourvisit/marmots.htm
https://redd.it/1e83dvm
@r_til
TIL the original script for Predator (1987) involved one soldier fighting the Predator. This bothered Arnold Schwarzenegger, so the story was redone to include a team of commandos.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Predator_(film)
https://redd.it/1e70wb0
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TIL - Lemons aren't a naturally ocurring food. Studies have shown that the lemon is a cross between bitter orange (which itself is a hybrid of pomelos and mandarins) and citron.
https://www.thestar.com.my/news/true-or-not/2023/11/06/quickcheck-are-lemons-not-a-natural-fruit
https://redd.it/1e7e448
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TIL about Anton syndrome is a rare condition in which an individual becomes blind but is unaware of this fact. This is because the brain generates visual images that are perceived as real, leading the individual to believe that they can see.
http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anton_syndrome
https://redd.it/1e7cfe3
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TIL in 2011, John Riccitiello, who was the CEO of EA at the time and is now the CEO of Unity, proposed a model for online multiplayer shooters like Battlefield. In this model, players who ran out of ammo could make an instant real money payment for a quick reload.
https://stealthoptional.com/article/unitys-ceo-devs-pay-per-install-charge-fps-gamers-per-bullet
https://redd.it/1e7apg4
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TIL that until infant pain was formally recognized in 1987, it was widely assumed that infants didn't feel pain, leading to many undergoing major surgeries without anesthesia.
https://hms.harvard.edu/news/long-life-early-pain
https://redd.it/1e7ey9s
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TIL: Sakamoto Ryōma was an influential samurai who loved the American system and encouraged the Imperial Court to copy it. On the first assassination attempt, he fought off his assailants with a Smith and Wesson revolver. However, he was caught unprepared the second time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sakamoto_Ry%C5%8Dma
https://redd.it/1e6cut6
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TIL that Australia uses Polymer bank notes that are waterproof and notoriously hard to counterfeit due to its complex design.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polymer_banknote
https://redd.it/1e6df89
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TIL that 53.5% of the funding for Tor, comes from the U.S. government.
https://blog.torproject.org/transparency-openness-and-our-2021-and-2022-financials/
https://redd.it/1e6h0de
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TIL that there were only 4 times a US vice president assumed temporary presidential powers as acting president, and each time was due to the president having a colonoscopy.
https://simple.wikipedia.org/wiki/Acting_president_of_the_United_States?wprov=sfti1
https://redd.it/1e6mgyw
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