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The 'Today I Learned' or TIL channel, forwards hot posts from /r/todayIlearned. This channel doesn't add advertisements to the source url.
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TIL a hurricane caused Tim Duncan to take up basketball. He grew up in the US Virgin Islands, and trained to be an Olympic swimmer like his big sister... until Hurricane Hugo destroyed the island's only Olympic pool. He was too afraid of sharks to swim in the ocean, so he tried basketball instead
https://ift.tt/3CbsA7R

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 05:11PM by howmuchbanana
via reddit https://ift.tt/3n8LGag
TIL the prosthetics in The Elephant Man (1980) were designed directly from body casts of Joseph Merrick (aka the Elephant Man) made in 1890 & preserved for 90 years in a hospital museum. The prosthetics were so acclaimed that audiences pressured The Oscars into creating the "Best Makeup" award
https://ift.tt/1KaDUUB

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 05:14PM by howmuchbanana
via reddit https://ift.tt/3kyPQql
TIL that the US exports more bull semen to Iran than any other country. In 2018 alone, the amount of semen exported from the US was more than the combined total of the next seven other countries exporting semen to Iran.
https://ift.tt/2YGmJtj

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 04:36PM by KimCureAll
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nhc9mh
TIL the worst human stampede in Britain was when 183 children were crushed to death in a stairway rushing to collect gifts from the entertainers after a variety show, in June 1883
https://ift.tt/30opgt1

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 03:28PM by rocklou
via reddit https://ift.tt/3wEXIva
TIL After his health started failing, Pope Innocent VIII was prescribed breastmilk. In his last few days, the 60 year old Pope couldn't eat anything but drink "a few drops of milk" from his personal wet nurse
https://ift.tt/3DdMgJn

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 03:38PM by Ainsley-Sorsby
via reddit https://ift.tt/3D9NiWM
TIL In 1997, a chimpanzee got caught having collected ammo for "premeditated" tourist-stoning in a Swedish zoo. He was castrated as result of that.
https://ift.tt/3olSoJj

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 08:26PM by 477463616382844
via reddit https://ift.tt/3CaBUbY
TIL a "Kangaroo Court" refers to the historical practice of traveling judges on the U.S. frontier who were paid on the basis of how many trials they conducted per day, hopping from place to place guided less by concern for justice and due process, than by the desire to wrap up as many trials per day
https://ift.tt/3ksYbM4

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 11:21PM by duevigilance
via reddit https://ift.tt/3cdtW7b
TIL that the state of Rhode Island in 2020 dropped the 'and Providence Plantations' in its name making it no longer the longest official state name
https://ift.tt/3kwr9uH

Submitted November 12, 2021 at 10:12PM by aightbet
via reddit https://ift.tt/3wDqwEo
TIL that Michigan ranks number one as the state with the highest percentage of water (41.5% of its total area). Sources of water are so abundant there that no one in the state is ever more than 6 miles from a body of water.
https://ift.tt/2oqTAQv

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 12:21AM by Paracortex
via reddit https://ift.tt/31WR886
TIL that The Griffith Observatory in Southern California puts out a "Sky Report" every month and highlights the stars that are visible, the phases of the moon, visible nebulae, and when you can watch meteor showers. Its so informative and cool and their YouTube videos only get like 500 views...
https://ift.tt/3ncaMVI

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 04:09AM by nnebilak
via reddit https://ift.tt/3FguRk1
TIL a man in conservative Lubbock County Texas was allowed to wear a colander on his head for his driver's license because he convinced a clerk to recognize his belief in Pastafarianism and it was his "religious freedom".
https://ift.tt/3C5TnSQ

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 04:20AM by Geaux
via reddit https://ift.tt/3caDbFr
TIL that the first airship to be lifted by helium used most of the helium available in the world at the time to fill its 59,000 cubic meter volume.
https://ift.tt/3F8Tmzu

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 03:39AM by 1000Huzzahs
via reddit https://ift.tt/3HfRTZX
TIL that in rural India, a mass hysteria has developed in which people believe getting bitten by a dog will cause you to give birth to puppies — which is fatal to men. “Victims” claim to be able to feel and hear the puppies crawling around inside their abdomen, and seek treatment from witch doctors.
https://ift.tt/3c7hGFl

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 04:13AM by meteorictus
via reddit https://ift.tt/3Hi9AYZ
TIL of a vaudeville group that tried to sue a pair of newspapers for libel, after the papers ran scathing reviews of their act in 1898. The judge ruled in favor of the newspaper after the group performed their act in court
https://ift.tt/3HhQUZc

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 06:05AM by szekeres81
via reddit https://ift.tt/3kyHdfk
TIL that in the 1800s, chemists working with willow bark extracts discovered that salicylic acid is responsible for the analgesic (pain-reducing) and antipryretic (fever-reducing) effects. In 1893, a German chemist converted salicylic acid to its less acidic ester, know as Asprin.
https://ift.tt/3c4joaG

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 06:29AM by studykvinprojects
via reddit https://ift.tt/3wG7dKH
TIL Oldest known customer complaint was written in 1750 BC. Customer complains that copper which he purchased from the merchant Ea-Nasir was of the incorrect grade.
https://ift.tt/3kxnvRe

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 07:02AM by nobody98723
via reddit https://ift.tt/3wJ3nAc
TIL that Hershey’s kisses got their name due to the smooching sound the machine made while extruding the chocolates into a conveyor belt
https://ift.tt/3HlerbK

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 07:46AM by SoullessMemenist
via reddit https://ift.tt/30jvqKq
TIL that author Lee Child was inspired to name his character Jack Reacher after a shopping trip. An old lady asked for his help in reaching for a can of pears; Child's wife, when seeing this, commented that if his writing career didn't work out, he could 'always get a job as a reacher'.
https://ift.tt/3F9BQv1

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 12:18PM by AbathaCrispy
via reddit https://ift.tt/3n7rfdL
TIL in 2018 a ground service agent with no prior piloting experience (beyond playing flight simulators) stole a commercial plane and successfully executed barrel rolls and other stunts for more than an hour while having an emotional breakdown. He then intentionally crashed on a sparsely populated i
https://ift.tt/3wFOTRG

Submitted November 13, 2021 at 02:07PM by devamon
via reddit https://ift.tt/3wFATrj