TIL of "Number 16," the oldest known spider. She was a wild trapdoor spider who lived in an Australian burrow. She was studied by researchers from 1973 until 2016, when her burrow was found damaged and empty, likely due to a parasitic wasp attack. She was 43 years old.
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Submitted December 21, 2020 at 07:25PM by HitlerNorthDakota
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KLsoal
https://ift.tt/2FonXtL
Submitted December 21, 2020 at 07:25PM by HitlerNorthDakota
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KLsoal
Wikipedia
Number 16 (spider)
Oldest recorded individual spider
TIL alchemists considered Mercury as a magical substance that a Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang took it as the elixir of immorality which resulted in him dying at the age of 49 and even he was buried in an underground mausoleum full of mercury thinking it's going to help him rule in the afterlife
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Submitted December 21, 2020 at 05:52PM by The_Questionist69
via reddit https://ift.tt/34x5PNF
https://ift.tt/2ztsV5L
Submitted December 21, 2020 at 05:52PM by The_Questionist69
via reddit https://ift.tt/34x5PNF
thestar.com
Mercury was considered a cure — until it killed you
The metal was thought to be a miracle balm, purging the body of bile. A new book, Quackery, chronicles this and other bizarre medical misfires.
TiL: There's a mutant who has been on the X-men for several years, but nobody at all ever remembered due to his power of immediately forgetting he existed once he leaves your point of view.
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Submitted December 21, 2020 at 08:30PM by Sonrelight
via reddit https://ift.tt/2Kp37Tq
https://ift.tt/3auPiNN
Submitted December 21, 2020 at 08:30PM by Sonrelight
via reddit https://ift.tt/2Kp37Tq
CBR
X-Men: ForgetMeNot, Marvel's Most Forgotten Mutant, Explained
ForgetMeNot is the one mutant that no one remembers, despite helping the X-Men and X-Force for years. Here is everything you need to know about him.
TIL: Cheese labeled “100 percent Parmesan” are often filled with cheese substitutes like wood pulp. And Castle Cheese produced Parmesan cheese containing no actual Parmesan for almost 30 years.
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Submitted December 21, 2020 at 10:21PM by diacewrb
via reddit https://ift.tt/3rl8rHW
https://ift.tt/3mGB7rk
Submitted December 21, 2020 at 10:21PM by diacewrb
via reddit https://ift.tt/3rl8rHW
Time
FDA Warns The Parmesan You Eat May Be Wood Pulp
The FDA is cracking down on companies that are lying about selling 100% Parmesan cheese
TIL about Saadat Shahr, a small rural community in Iran nicknamed ‘Astronomy Town’ because of the residents’ passion for stargazing. The town clubbed together to pay for an observatory and on special occasions all the lights are cut to improve the view of the night sky.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 01:10AM by judgeundependable
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KiqgHj
https://ift.tt/2CMyam4
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 01:10AM by judgeundependable
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KiqgHj
Aljazeera
Stars seize Iranian imagination
People in the southern Iranian town of Saadat Shahr make sure not to miss Friday prayers.
TIL the birth of JFK's sister Rosemary in 1918 was complicated by medical resources focused elsewhere during a pandemic. A nurse, trying to delay delivery for a doctor, held her mother's legs closed. When that failed, she reached into the birth canal and held Rosemary's head in place for two hours.
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Submitted December 21, 2020 at 09:17PM by WhileFalseRepeat
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KqvVuL
https://ift.tt/34wtUE0
Submitted December 21, 2020 at 09:17PM by WhileFalseRepeat
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KqvVuL
Marie Claire
The Secret Lobotomy of Rosemary Kennedy
JFK's younger sister was permanently disabled by a barbaric surgery in the 1940s. Now, her legacy is more important than ever.
TIL the chocolate candy "Smarties" in Europe/Canada is entirely different from the hard sugar candy "Smarties" in the USA
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 12:23AM by Lobster_porn
via reddit https://ift.tt/34AhA5U
https://ift.tt/3mJj0Bc
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 12:23AM by Lobster_porn
via reddit https://ift.tt/34AhA5U
Candyaddict
Candy Addict » U.S. Smarties different than UK/Canadian Smarties
Candy news, views, and reviews. All the candy that’s fit to eat, and some that isn’t. All candy, all the time. Addicted to candy.
TIL The Mayans had paper-based books (codices) that Spanish missionaries burned, causing "much affliction" among the surviving Maya. Only three codices survive today.
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Submitted December 21, 2020 at 11:50PM by wvdirtboy
via reddit https://ift.tt/3pdHjsB
https://ift.tt/2c0xrzy
Submitted December 21, 2020 at 11:50PM by wvdirtboy
via reddit https://ift.tt/3pdHjsB
Wikipedia
Maya codices
manuscript
TIL that during the U.S. Civil War, Andrew Carnegie was drafted for the Army; however, rather than serve, he paid another man $850 to report for duty in his place, a common practice at the time.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 12:56AM by DankieKang
via reddit https://ift.tt/3rgqbnX
https://ift.tt/2WB61Hc
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 12:56AM by DankieKang
via reddit https://ift.tt/3rgqbnX
HISTORY
Andrew Carnegie
Scottish-born Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was an American industrialist who amassed a fortune in the steel industry then became a major philanthropist.
TIL Gayla Peevey, the singer of "I want a hippopotamus for Christmas" was given an actual hippopotamus. The hippo "Matilda" lived for 47 year before dying of a heart attack while being transported to Disney World's Animal Kingdom in 1998.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 02:29AM by Hunlea
via reddit https://ift.tt/2WCMne0
https://ift.tt/1QqG0ms
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 02:29AM by Hunlea
via reddit https://ift.tt/2WCMne0
Wikipedia
Gayla Peevey
American singer
TIL in the sea between Australia and New Zealand, there's an island taller than it is wide. Ball's Pyramid only measures 300m across, yet peaks at 562m in elevation.
https://ift.tt/1Es73IJ
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 05:07AM by msnf
via reddit https://ift.tt/38nlf8k
https://ift.tt/1Es73IJ
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 05:07AM by msnf
via reddit https://ift.tt/38nlf8k
Wikipedia
Ball's Pyramid
an island and an erosional remnant of a shield volcano southeast of Lord Howe Island in the Pacific
TIL According to one story of his last words, Voltaire's response to a priest at his deathbed urging him to renounce Satan was "Now is not the time for making new enemies."
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 06:32AM by investorio
via reddit https://ift.tt/3mMn8AE
https://ift.tt/3h8mPPf
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 06:32AM by investorio
via reddit https://ift.tt/3mMn8AE
TIL Christopher Columbus hanged, burned, or cut the hands off of hundreds of thousands of Caribbean natives for their failure to bring him a bell full of gold on an island with little to no gold. Thousands committed suicide to avoid his punishments.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 07:05AM by heyimdong
via reddit https://ift.tt/2WDaWre
https://ift.tt/2LZ9VYo
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 07:05AM by heyimdong
via reddit https://ift.tt/2WDaWre
TIL Many Christmas traditions come from the Roman holiday Saturnalia.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 05:47AM by igloojoe
via reddit https://ift.tt/2LNCs2T
https://ift.tt/2ZpANH0
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 05:47AM by igloojoe
via reddit https://ift.tt/2LNCs2T
HISTORY
Saturnalia
Saturnalia, held in mid-December, is an ancient Roman pagan festival honoring the agricultural god Saturn. Saturnalia celebrations are the source of many of
TIL Joseph Stalin originally trained as a priest in an Orthodox Spiritual Seminary. He at first achieved high grades, but later lost interest, declaring himself an atheist. He was known to stalk out of prayers, refuse to doff his hat to monks, and was confined to a cell for his rebellious behaviour.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 03:56AM by who_died_of_ennui
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nM9oqU
https://ift.tt/3nHoPk3
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 03:56AM by who_died_of_ennui
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nM9oqU
Wikipedia
Joseph Stalin
Soviet politician, general secretary of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union and premier of the Soviet Union (1878-1953)
TIL that the Chimney Sweepers Act of 1788 was a British Act of Parliament passed to stop child labor, as boys as young as four were being used as chimney sweeps. The Act raised the minimum age to eight years old.
https://ift.tt/2WD3NXW
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 06:19AM by jcd1974
via reddit https://ift.tt/38jkNYo
https://ift.tt/2WD3NXW
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 06:19AM by jcd1974
via reddit https://ift.tt/38jkNYo
Wikipedia
Chimney Sweepers Act 1788
The Chimney Sweepers Act 1788 (28 Geo. 3 c. 48) was a British Act of Parliament passed to try to stop child labour. Many boys as young as four were being used as chimney sweeps.
TIL hat-makers in the 19th century regularly used mercury in the manufacturing of felt hats, which caused a high rate of poisoning and led to neurological damage like slurred speech, memory loss, and tremors. This was the inspiration for the Mad Hatter character in Alice in Wonderland.
https://ift.tt/37CVEcg
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 08:38AM by EverythingHasRabies
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KMNRja
https://ift.tt/37CVEcg
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 08:38AM by EverythingHasRabies
via reddit https://ift.tt/2KMNRja
Wikipedia
Hatter (Alice's Adventures in Wonderland)
fictional character from Alice in Wonderland and Through the Looking-Glass
TIL about Srinivasa Ramanujan's lost notebook, which was rediscovered by Mathematician George Andrews in 1976. It was a bunch of notes with over 600 formulae, which he had written before his death.The mock theta functions in the notebook have been useful for calculating the entropy of black holes.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 09:30AM by RealityCheck18
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ps6FDt
https://ift.tt/1TcMq7M
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 09:30AM by RealityCheck18
via reddit https://ift.tt/3ps6FDt
ThatsMaths
Ramanujan’s Lost Notebook
In the Irish Times column this week ( TM010 ), we tell how a collection of papers of Srinivasa Ramanujan turned up in the Wren Library in Cambridge and set the mathematical world ablaze.
TIL G.H Hardy came up with a scale of mathematical ability that went from 0 to 100. He put himself at 25. David Hilbert, the great German mathematician, was at 80. Ramanujan was 100. When he died in 1920 at the age of 32, he left behind three notebooks that still inspire mathematical work today
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 09:54AM by melonmusk42069
via reddit https://ift.tt/37DTwAQ
https://ift.tt/1nCga0E
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 09:54AM by melonmusk42069
via reddit https://ift.tt/37DTwAQ
Wikipedia
Srinivasa Ramanujan
Indian mathematician
TIL the statement "To learn who rules over you, simply find out who you are not allowed to criticize" is often falsely attributed to Voltaire. It actually originated from an essay by Kevin Alfred Storm in 1993.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 12:57PM by Historical_Book
via reddit https://ift.tt/38u1wUb
https://ift.tt/2Wz2Y2i
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 12:57PM by Historical_Book
via reddit https://ift.tt/38u1wUb
Wikipedia
Kevin Alfred Strom
American criminal
TIL On the set of Jumanji, Robin Williams protected his child actor costars from gruelling forced overtime.
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Submitted December 22, 2020 at 02:25PM by suck-me-beautiful
via reddit https://ift.tt/3hcuvji
https://ift.tt/3piEzdp
Submitted December 22, 2020 at 02:25PM by suck-me-beautiful
via reddit https://ift.tt/3hcuvji
ScreenRant
Robin Williams Protected Jumanji Child Stars From Overtime
Producers wanted to overwork the kids, but Williams refused.