Today I Learned ๐ŸŽ“
7.52K subscribers
1 photo
60.8K links
๐Ÿ’ก You learn something new every day; what did you learn today?
Download Telegram
TIL some moth species do not have mouths or digestive systems, instead they have a finite energy reserve from the food they ate before metamorphasis that lasts 5-10 days, just long enough to find a mate and reproduce. [Source]
TIL in 2008 a NY man discovered a 7-inch knife had been baked into the bread of his foot-long sandwich from Subway. He realized something was amiss after tasting the bizarre flavor of the melted knife handle infused into the bread. Although he sued Subway for $1 million, he walked away with $20,000. [Source]
TIL Agoraphobia is not the fear of the outdoors but rather the fear of a place or situation that would be difficult to escape from. It can range from traveling alone to an unfamiliar place but also crowded and enclosed spaces like the subway. [Source]
TIL there are over 33,000 Japanese companies with histories of 100 years or more. These long-standing firms are known as 'shinise'. They are governed by a management philosophy that prioritizes long-term continuity and generational succession over short-term profits. [Source]
TIL about the Gansu ultra marathon disaster where twenty-one professional runners died from hypothermia. [Source]
TIL of "Project 100,000." in 1966, Sec. Def. Robert McNamara lowered enlistment standards to accept people with an IQ of 80 (borderline intellectually disabled) to boost military ranks. Fictional characters Leonard Lawrence (Full Metal Jacket) and Forest Gump were based on these recruits [Source]
TIL an effective formula that predicts the probability of mortality due to burns. The Baux score includes body area affected + age of patient + 17. [Source]
TIL that Antarctica is technically the largest desert on Earth, receiving less annual precipitation than the Sahara Desert [Source]
TIL that humans don't age gradually according to a Stanford Medicine study, we age in two dramatic "bursts" around ages 44 and 60, where over 81% of our molecules and microbes suddenly shift in ways that affect heart health, immune function, metabolism, and even how we process alcohol and caffeine [Source]
TIL about perfidy, the deceptive tactic of feigning surrender or death with the intent to kill an enemy. It is prohibited by the Geneva Convention and considered a war crime. [Source]
TIL Tipper Gore launched Parents Music Resource Center, the music โ€˜censorshipโ€™ group responsible for the โ€˜Parental Advisory Explicit Contentโ€™ label in response to the Prince song Darling Nikki, which doesnโ€™t contain any swear words [Source]
TIL experiments by Benjamin Libet found that the brain begins preparing actions about 300 milliseconds before a person becomes consciously aware of deciding to act. [Source]
TIL of the telephone-pole beetle, which is the only living member of an otherwise extinct family. Normally they never mature to adulthood, as females are capable of asexual reproduction while in the larval form, which is part of why they have one of the most complex life cycles among all beetles. [Source]
TIL The Gospel of Wealth, an essay written by Andrew Carnegie, launched the modern philanthropic movement. He believed the best way of dealing with wealth inequality was for the rich to utilize their money in a thoughtful manner and not in a way that encourages "the slothful, drunken, & unworthy". [Source]
TIL the term "Millennials" was invented in 1991 by two historians writing a book about American generational cycles; over a decade before most Millennials had even finished high school. They predicted Millennials would become "the next Greatest Generation" [Source]
TIL that, after learning what museums do, a five-year-old girl named Bethan donated her favourite rock to her local museum. Rather than just throw it out, the museum put Bethan's rock on display, it went viral online and went on to become their most famous object. [Source]
TIL about the โ€œGTA Fluโ€. This phenomenon happens when a new, popular game is released and many people call in sick to play the new game [Source]