Today I Learned 🎓

08 Nov 2024 04:49

TIL that Jason Padgett, once a furniture salesman, became a mathematical savant after a brain injury in 2002. Following an assault, he began perceiving complex geometric patterns and fractals, a rare condition called acquired savant syndrome, which led him to create intricate math-based art. [Source]

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08 Nov 2024 02:49

TIL that Disney tried to change the film "Dead Poets Society" to be about dancing instead of poetry, and to rename it "Sultans of Swing". [Source]

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08 Nov 2024 00:49

TIL that between 1970 and 1997 so many post office workers snapped and killed their coworkers that a new slang term "going postal" became a new slang term for becoming exceptionally angry [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 22:49

TIL Gabe Newell, co-founder of Valve Corporation, has an armada of luxury yachts worth around $1 billion. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 20:49

TIL That in the 1980's, Saddam Hussein received a key to the city of Detroit [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 17:49

TIL George the Lobster is the oldest recorded lobster ever, estimated to be 140 years old (born ~1869) at the time of his capture in 2008 off the coast of Newfoundland. He was released back into the wild in 2009 and it is unknown if he remains alive today. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 Nov 2024 16:49

TIL that “bookworms” aren’t just a term for readers—bookworms are actual bugs that used to burrow into ancient books, damaging them by eating the binding glue and paper fibers. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 15:49

TIL in 1916, Woodrow Wilson ran for re-election on the slogan "He kept us out of war," promising to maintain neutrality during World War I. But shortly after his surprise win, he led the US into the war in 1917, sparking significant backlash and dramatically shifting the nation's foreign policy. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 12:49

TIL Katrina Leung was an FBI informant and double agent for US and China. Codenamed “Parlor Maid” she was recruited to spy on China but eventually passed sensitive intel to China. She had sexual relationships with two FBI agents, James Smith and William Cleveland Jr., both of whom were her handlers. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 07:49

TIL that before his involvment in the Nazi Party, Adolf Hitler was extremely lazy, never had a real job, dropped out of school and was very poor for many years. At one point he was sleeping on park benches and begging for money and later lived at a home for poor men for a few years. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 06:49

TIL in the 1876 US election, disputed votes nearly led to a second civil war. Democrat Samuel Tilden won the popular vote, but an Electoral Commission awarded the presidency to Rutherford B. Hayes. In exchange for a Hayes win, federal troops were withdrawn from the South, ending Reconstruction. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 04:49

TIL that In 1816, after the eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia, Earth experienced the “Year Without a Summer.” Global temperatures dropped, leading to food shortages, crop failures, and extreme weather events [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 03:49

TIL about the 1884 election. Grover Cleveland should have had an easy path to office, but then the scandal broke. He was accused of fathering a child out of wedlock and abandoning the mother. As a result, he won by a razor-thin margin of just 1,047 votes, or 0.09% of all votes cast in the state. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 01:49

[TIL] The concept of zero as a number was first developed in India, and its use spread to the Islamic world and then to Europe. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 00:49

TIL of Steal This Wiki, an updated version of Abbie Hoffman's "Steal This Book", a guide to fighting corporations and unjust governments [Source]

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08 Nov 2024 03:49

TIL Terminal lucidity is an unexpected, brief period of clarity or energy in individuals who have been very ill or in a state of decline. It’s a phenomenon that has been observed in people with various terminal conditions. [Source]

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08 Nov 2024 01:50

TIL that after Prince's death in 2016 without a will, his $156 million estate, including his music catalog, was divided equally between his half-siblings and the music publishing company Primary Wave. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 22:49

TIL Chiang Kai-shek's adopted son, Chiang Wei-kuo, was an officer candidate in the Wehrmacht from 1936 to 1939 and participated in the Anschluss before being recalled back to China. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 21:49

TIL according to tribal lore, the Choctaw tribe settled in the land of present-day Alabama after sailing across the Gulf of Mexico from the Yucatán peninsula. DNA evidence supports this origin story. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 Nov 2024 18:49

TIL that The Offspring used the same spoken word sample on their hit "Pretty Fly For A White Guy" (released in 1998) as Def Leppard's "Rock Of Ages" (released in 1983). The spoken word sample was just jibberish made up by Def Leppard's producer because he did not want to use the standard 1-2-3 count [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 17:49

TIL In 1930, despite a petition by 1,028 economists, president Hoover passed the Smoot–Hawley Tariff Act in an effort to alleviete the Great Depression. It prompted retaliatory tariffs by other countries. U.S. imports and exports fell by 67%, worsening the effects of the Great Depression
[Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 Nov 2024 15:49

TIL Chinese eunuchs, who had both the penis and testicles cut off with a knife at once to qualify as high-ranking civil servants. Eunuchs were considered 'pure', while those under ten were termed 'thoroughly pure'. This system lasted from 146 AD until 1924, and the last Imperial eunuch died in 1996. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 14:49

TIL that Gadgetbahn is a neologism that refers to a public transport concept that is touted as futuristic or innovative, but in practice is less feasible, reliable, and more expensive than traditional modes such as buses, trams and trains. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 09:49

TIL the voice actress for the character Eva in the 2004 video game 'Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater' was credited under the pseudonym Suzetta Miñet and it was only revealed yesterday, 2 decades after the game's release, that the VA was actually Jodi Benson, who voiced Ariel in The Little Mermaid [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 06:49

Today I learned that in Germany, escaping from prison isn't considered a crime. The law recognizes the human instinct to seek freedom, so successfully breaking out doesn’t result in extra punishment. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 05:49

TIL on hearing that the doctor asked for 10 men to hold him down so he can amputate his leg, Italian mercenary Giovanni Delle Bande Nere cheerfully declared "not even 20 could hold me" and grabbed a candle to see his leg better. After the operation, still gleeful, he declared "I am healed!" [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 03:49

TIL in Nevada, the ballot has included "None of These Candidates" since 1976, giving voters a unique way to protest their choices. It can’t win an election, but in 2014, it received more votes than a major-party candidate in a statewide race, allowing voters to express their dissatisfaction. [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 02:49

TIL Minnesota is the only state to have consecutively voted blue in every presidential election since 1976 (past 13 elections), and the only state to have never voted for Reagan [Source]

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07 Nov 2024 01:49

TIL that since before The Civil War no Democrat has been elected President to replace an outgoing Democrat President. [Source]

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06 Nov 2024 23:49

TIL about the 2009 satellite collision where two satellites crashed into each other. Three years later a piece of debris from that collision passed the ISS at a distance of 120 m (390 ft) and all crew members had to take refuge inside two docked spacecraft [Source]