TIL in 2013 three Berkeley Law Students pled guilty to killing and beheading Turk the flamingo in Vegas [Source]

TIL that in 1961, 90% of doctors surveyed said they would not tell a cancer patient their diagnosis, but by 1977 that had reversed, with 97% saying they would. [Source]

TIL that an individual who shoots a bear in self-defense in Alaska outside hunting season must present the skull and the entire hide with claws to the state. Failure to do so is a criminal offense. [Source]

TIL that the quotes "No man is an island" and "For whom the bell tolls" are both taken from the same brief passage by poet John Donne. [Source]

TIL that in 1453, Henry VI fell into an 18-month long catatonic stupor. Likely triggered by the news of a military defeat, Henry was unable to speak or move, and even failed to respond respond to the birth of his son. His illness was likely inherited from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI. [Source]

TIL that singer Peter Yarrow (of the famous folk group Peter, Paul and Mary) served only three months in prison of a potential three year sentence after being convicted of molesting a 14-year-old girl. He was later granted a full pardon by Jimmy Carter in 1981. [Source]

TIL about Sarajevo Safari, where wealthy foreign men paid huge monetary fees to hunt civilians in the city with sniper rifles for entertainment purposes during the Bosnian war. [Source]

TIL that the United States Coast Guard has only one member, SM1 Douglas Munro, who has been awarded the Medal of Honor. SM1 Munro used his Higgins boat as a shield to protect Marines being evacuated during the Battle of Guadalcanal, dying in the process. [Source]

TIL Vicks VapoInhalers contained an optical isomer of Methamphetamine until 2016 [Source]

TIL that before 1993 women were rarely included in clinical medical trials in the US, and are still "substantially underrepresented in clinical trials for leading diseases." [Source]

TIL Mexico is officially called the United Mexican States. [Source]

TIL about Dixy Lee Ray, the first woman governor of Washington. A Democrat, she climbed Mt. Rainier at age 12, changed her name from "Marguerite" to reference Robert E. Lee, ran the Atomic Energy Commission under Nixon, never married, and ran off hippies with a whistle when she was a museum curator [Source]

TIL that over 4,000 Google employees signed a petition refusing to build AI for the US military, forcing Google to abandon a Pentagon contract. Palantir took it, won a $480 million Army contract, and is now deployed across five combatant commands and NATO. [Source]

TIL: Hundreds of Giant Sequoia saplings are being planted in Detroit, Michigan. [Source]

TIL Over 80% of the population of Hong Kong uses seawater for toilet flushing. [Source]

TIL One theory suggests that the famous prehistoric “Venus figurines” might actually be self-portraits made by women looking at their own bodies [Source]

TIL in episodic television, there are some episodes called "bottle episodes", which are produced cheaply and restricted in scope to use as few actors, effects and sets as possible. Notable shows that have these episodes are Star Trek: The Next Generation, Friends, Breaking Bad, Community, and so on. [Source]

TIL In 1979, the movie 'The China Syndrome' was released, a fictional story about a potential nuclear plant meltdown. The nuclear industry called it "sheer fiction and a character assassination of an entire industry". 12 days later, 3 Mile Island suffered a nuclear meltdown. [Source]

TIL in 1984 Lisa McVey was held captive & assaulted for 26 hours by a serial killer, however she convinced him to let her go by telling him (among other things) that she had sick dad only she could care for. Many key details she'd memorized while blindfolded helped lead to his capture & conviction. [Source]

TIL that a reliable way to determine longitude at sea was not discovered until the 1773 with John Harrison's H4 watch, which worked at sea thus allowing sailors to know the exact time and make proper calculations. Before that, ships mostly had to rely on latitude and guesswork [Source]

TIL Wrexham Lager was one of only two beers served on the Titanic, brewed in Wales but advertised as from 'Wrexham, England' to appeal to American passengers [Source]