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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 The US Government passed the Stolen Valor Act in 2005. The Act made it illegal to wear or falsely claim to have received any military medal or decoration without authorization, including the Medal of Honor. However, the Act was later ruled unconstitutional by the Ninth Circuit Court.
https://ift.tt/30SmxrE

Submitted November 23, 2021 at 10:20PM by New_Particular7075
via reddit https://ift.tt/3DOMCGy
TIL, with the exception of one hill, it is illegal to sled in Syracuse, the snowiest city in the United States
https://ift.tt/3rjpMUr

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 12:27AM by Aloiciousss
via reddit https://ift.tt/3HMvXpC
TIL that leeches were used to predict storms. This tempest prognosticator device was made up of 12 glass bottles filled with water, each with a live leech inside. If the leeches climbed up the bottles out of the water, a bell would ring to signal that a storm was coming.
https://ift.tt/3l3W69I

Submitted November 23, 2021 at 10:14PM by holly948
via reddit https://ift.tt/30VAm8V
TIL that king George I once organized a concert on the river Thames. He hired G. F. Handel and the result was 'water music', a collection of 3 suites. It was played by 50 performers sailing from Whitehall to Chelsea on a barge. The king liked the composition so much that he asked for 3 encores.
https://ift.tt/3DLF5Zp

Submitted November 23, 2021 at 07:23PM by TheTriviaPage
via reddit https://ift.tt/3HJcd6t
TIL that during the 1908 Olympics, marathon runners, including the winners, drank champagne, brandy, or strychnine cocktails, in the belief that it would provide energy. In 1924, the Paris games provided wine at rehydration stations.
https://ift.tt/2yqoWes

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 01:44AM by afeeney
via reddit https://ift.tt/3DQlOWK
TIL because pendulum clocks are unreliable at sea, the first attempt at a marine chronometer was undertaken in 1673 utilizing a balance wheel and spring for regulation instead of a pendulum. This opened the way for the first modern pocket watches and wristwatches.
https://ift.tt/32uQGy8

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 04:26AM by hjb214
via reddit https://ift.tt/3r3q8y8
TIL that a Cantonese phrase used by parents upset by their kids is that "it'd be better to have given birth to barbecued pork instead of you". It comes from the use of meal tickets in 1950s China in which meat tickets were highly priced and barbecued pork was a luxury.
https://ift.tt/37cBtQc

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 04:19AM by dilettantedebrah
via reddit https://ift.tt/3xgnupZ
TIL That Woody Harrelson ate vegan cornmeal “Twinkies” for Zombieland because he follows a raw vegan diet.
https://ift.tt/32tzwRv

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 05:29AM by marmalt218
via reddit https://ift.tt/3kZ4Yxp
TIL the rounding part of a machinist’s hammer, opposite of the face, is called a “peen.” This type of hammer is used for surface hardening by impact or “peening.”
https://ift.tt/3DOIgzh

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 12:34AM by TheB1GWazowski
via reddit https://ift.tt/3nMdvp8
TIL American muffins are actually individual "quickbreads" or oil cakes (like zucchini bread), making them essentially cupcakes. English muffins are griddled flatbreads, which is why they are chemically and nutritionally more similar to pita or pizza than to American muffins.
https://ift.tt/3HOrd2P

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 06:51AM by lemontreelemur
via reddit https://ift.tt/3cKBsqs
TIL: NYC Sandhogs were curious about their pensions lady being able to afford private jet trips and expensive watches - turned out that she'd stole $42 million dollars from their pension fund!
https://ift.tt/2Zia4gu

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 11:13AM by deeply__offensive
via reddit https://ift.tt/3FIhhpQ
TIL Swaziland changed it's name to eSwatini in 2018 in part because the country's name was often confused with Switzerland
https://ift.tt/2K4tkBf

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 09:29AM by GBreezy
via reddit https://ift.tt/3oSAVbT
TIL the Ancient Silk Road city of Merv, Turkmenistan had once held the title of the world's largest city during the 12th-13th century with a population of more than 500,000 and in 1221 was horrifically decimated in its entirety by the Mongols in one of the worst genocides in human history
https://ift.tt/3CS1LFL

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 11:16AM by iamhipster
via reddit https://ift.tt/3CL8zVF
TIL Brian Jacques, author of the Redwall Series, was originally a milkman that volunteered to read to blind students along his route. Dissatisfied with the selection of children’s books available, he decided to write his own and became a best-selling author.
https://ift.tt/3DPSuzy

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 02:55PM by The_Ry_Ry
via reddit https://ift.tt/3HQ4Xp7
TIL Cleopatra was born in 30 BC which means she lived closer to the moon landing than to the completion of the Great Pyramids at Giza around 2560 BC.
https://ift.tt/2sDRgqZ

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 02:49PM by f_GOD
via reddit https://ift.tt/3cJP0CF
TIL that if we cloned a dinosaur and let him lose, he’d probably be too out of breath to chase us, due to differences in oxygen levels.
https://ift.tt/363DVcv

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 04:20PM by PolymerPussies
via reddit https://ift.tt/3p08clg
TIL that Saddam Hussein had a copy of the Quran allegedly written using his own blood. Most religious authorities considered this blasphemous as blood is considered haram in Islam, but it cannot be destroyed as damaging the Quran is also considered blasphemous
https://ift.tt/2Zpgcnm

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 04:19PM by Rob-With-One-B
via reddit https://ift.tt/3HNrX8r
TIL The voice cast of the villains in the 90's cartoon Captain Planet and the Planeteers included Martin Sheen, Meg Ryan, Jeff Goldblum, Ed Asner, Sting, Malcolm McDowell, Tim Curry, and John Rattzenberger with Whoopi Goldberg as the voice of Gaia the spirt of the planet.
https://ift.tt/1122dhW

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 06:28PM by AbOvoNova
via reddit https://ift.tt/3cLOuEc
TIL psilocybin, the psychoactive chemical in magic mushrooms (psilocybin mushrooms), is being researched as a potential treatment for anxiety and depression in people with cancer diagnoses, for alcohol use disorder, and for migraines and cluster headaches.
https://ift.tt/3nMrR8T

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 07:19PM by chemistrynerd1994
via reddit https://ift.tt/3FNtcCS
TIL that the pirate Blackbeard was killed by a navy lieutenant named Robert Maynard and his crew. They took on Blackbeard despite having no cannons and misled the pirates into engaging in hand to hand combat. Maynard wasn't promoted for his deeds and didn't even receive his prize money for 4 years.
https://ift.tt/3oZkMkY

Submitted November 24, 2021 at 07:16PM by TheTriviaPage
via reddit https://ift.tt/2ZjyZQO