Today I Learned 🎓

22 Nov 2024 00:49

TIL that in the short story "Button, Button" (press button, get $ and someone you don't know dies) the husband dies because the wife didn't "really" know him and the author hated the Twilight Zone ending where the button was given to a stranger after being pressed [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 22:49

TIL that Great Britain and Finland were the only European countries to participate in WW2 that weren't fully occupied [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 22:49

TIL over 30 years ago, Paul McCartney agreed to be in an episode of the Simpsons in part if the producers met his demand that Lisa Simpson becoming a vegetarian would be a permanent part of the series moving forward. They agreed and Lisa met Paul and Linda on Apu’s rooftop garden, in the shade. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 19:49

TIL that Orangutans are the largest tree-dwelling animal on the planet. They are astonishingly intelligent, with high IQ and problem solving, and have been named the world’s most intelligent animal in a study that places them even above chimpanzees and dolphins. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 19:49

TIL on November 29th 2001, Mike Myers received the final letter George Harrison ever sent anybody. Being a fan of satire, George hand wrote the letter expressing his admiration for Mike’s Austin Powers movies. Mike received it on the set of Austin Powers 3 on the day George died. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 17:49

TIL that water can boil and freeze at the same time under the right conditions, known as the triple point, where all three phases—solid, liquid, and gas—coexist in perfect equilibrium at 0.01°C and 611.657 pascals. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 12:49

TIL that the city of New Orleans - which is widely known for its culinary scene - has zero Michelin-starred restaurants. This is solely because Michelin currently limits its coverage in the U.S. to a few select regions: California, New York, Florida, Washington, D.C., and Illinois. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 10:49

TIL on average, women who are raised without a father experience puberty 3 months earlier. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 07:50

TIL: In 1518, the town of Strasbourg experienced a "dancing plague" where hundreds of people danced uncontrollably for days, and some even reportedly danced to death. Doctors at the time blamed "hot blood" and suggested more dancing as a cure. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 04:49

TIL Keanu Reeves only says 380 words in the entirety of John Wick: Chapter 4, which has a runtime of 169 minutes. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 03:49

TIL about Fregoli Delusion, which causes people to believe that different people they encounter are actually the same person in disguise. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 01:49

TIL the largest battle of the American Revolution was not fought in the American colonies or by American revolutionaries. It was the Great Siege of Gibraltar, in which Spain unsuccessfully tried to take advantage of the war overseas to reclaim Gibraltar from Britain. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 Nov 2024 23:49

TIL when Polish javelin star Maria Andrejczyk found out about an 8 month old that needed life saving surgery, she auctioned off her Olympic silver medal to help raise some of the needed funds. A Polish store chain won it and instead of collecting the medal, they promptly announced she could keep it. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 Nov 2024 20:50

TIL that a small percentage (1-2%) of honeybees in a given colony will specialize as undertakers; they function to prevent disease by removing corpses from the hive [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 Nov 2024 17:50

TIL that every dog testicle examined in a study contained microplastics. So did human testicles [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

22 Nov 2024 00:49

TIL that Chuck Jones, one of the original Looney Tunes directors, hated Space Jam. In particular he took issue with the premise that Bugs Bunny would ask others for help in fighting the Monstars and believed Bugs would have fought them himself. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 22:49

TIL the second Mongol Khan, Ögedei Khan, was well known for his alcoholism. When his brother, Chagatai, entrusted an official to watch his habit, he vowed to reduce the number of cups he drank a day, only then having cups twice the size created for his personal use. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 20:50

TIL that minors who get married in the U.S. can't file for divorce without parental consent [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 19:49

TIL spotted female hyenas have a pseudo-penis and lack an external vaginal opening [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 18:49

TIL that the ancient Greeks used butter as a medicine and thought only barbarians ate it. In the Middle Ages, it was sometimes used as lamp oil but was mainly eaten by peasants. It only became popular among the wealthy when the church allowed its consumption during Lent. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 14:50

TIL: After the 2017 movie "It" there was a spike in coulrophiliacs, or people who are attracted to clowns, mainly among women. Vice interviewed Sugar Weasel, a clown escort who say women were typically clients. Props are a major part of the scene. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 11:49

TIL: between 1997 and 2007, 31 young people have died from digging holes in sand at the beach, after the hole collapsed sand on to them, suffocating them to death.
[Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 08:49

TIL that the 4th Earl of Sandwich, for whom the sandwich was named, served as Britain’s First Lord of the Admiralty during the American Revolution. His poor leadership contributed to the American victory, and it was said that "Seldom has any man held so many offices and accomplished so little." [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 05:49

TIL that after losing his Presidential reelection bid, John Quincy Adams briefly considered retirement but went on to win 9 Congressional elections and successfully argued before the U.S. Supreme Court for the freedom of the Amistad slaves. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 04:49

TIL The only known naturally occuring nuclear fission reactor was discovered in Oklo, Gabon and is thought to have been active 1.7 billion years ago. This discovery in 1972 was made after chemists noticed a significant reduction in fissionable U-235 within the ore coming from the Gabonese mine. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 02:49

TIL Bob Moore, founder of Bob’s Red Mill, refused to sell to corporations, citing the Bible: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you." Instead, he gave his $100M company to his 700 employees via an Employee Stock Ownership Plan (ESOP). The company now sells in over 70 countries. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 Nov 2024 00:49

TIL that the dress Marilyn Monroe wore to celebrate JFK's birthday was irreparably damaged after Kim Kardashian wore it in 2022, even though Kardashian lost 16 pounds in 3 weeks to fit into it. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 Nov 2024 21:49

TIL about Patum Peperium, a Gentleman's Relish made and sold in Britain since 1828, which has a secret recipe, known to only one employee. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 Nov 2024 19:50

TIL while on safari, Hemingway survived 2 plane crashes one day apart. The 2nd caught fire & he had to smash open the door with his head, causing extensive burns & skeletal injuries. He was presumed dead until he walked out of the jungle "in high spirits", carrying bananas and a bottle of gin. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 Nov 2024 16:50

TIL that one of the most celebrated Bugs Bunny cartoons was thought up when the head of the cartoon studio randomly and inexplicably told the animators that they were not to make any cartoons about bullfighting [Source]