Today I Learned (TIL)

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/AneeshInItself on 2025-02-24 01:46:17.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/FullOGreenPeaness on 2025-02-24 01:00:35.

Original Title: TIL that voodoo dolls have never been prominent in the voodoo religion; this is an invention of early/mid 20th century American media. The Louisiana Voodoo High Priest has condemned the representation.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/allesandro_es on 2025-02-24 00:48:43.

Original Title: TIL that the Dune di Piscinas in Sardinia are Europe’s largest sandy desert, formed by Sahara sand traveling about 180+ miles across the Mediterranean, then pushed nearly 1-2 miles inland by the Mistral wind, creating the “little Italian Sahara.”

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Flares117 on 2025-02-23 22:35:21.

Original Title: TIL: There is an actual non joke study which studies the influence of CUMS in male rats. CUMS stood for Chronic Unpredictable Mild Stress. The CUMS rats were deprived of water, food, and had their cage tilted with white noise and 2 stranger rats with them to study how it effects their libido.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/CatPooedInMyShoe on 2025-02-23 22:30:50.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/EssexGuyUpNorth on 2025-02-23 22:19:45.

Original Title: TIL in 1948 a state of emergency was declared in the British colony of Malaya (now Malaysia) as Malayan rebels were attacking rubber plantations and mines. The insurgency was described as an 'emergency' because insurers would not have compensated plantation owners if it had been labelled a 'war'.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TriviaDuchess on 2025-02-23 22:18:44.

Original Title: TIL that Grover Cleveland, while unmarried, fathered a child out of wedlock with a woman named Maria Halpin. He initially denied paternity but later admitted to financial support. His opponents even used the chant: “Ma, ma, where’s my pa? Gone to the White House, ha ha ha!”

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Capital_Tailor_7348 on 2025-02-23 21:39:50.

Original Title: TIL about Marion Crawford, Queen Elizabeth governess. After she wrote a book about the private lives of the royal family they completely shunned her. No member of the royal family spoke to her again and they did not even acknowledge her death.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-02-23 21:35:31.

Original Title: TIL in 1986 two-and-a-half-year-old Michelle Funk drowned in an icy stream in Utah. She was submerged for more than an hour and clinically dead. But the cold water chilled her down to 66°F which was enough to stave off brain damage. And after waking up, she reportedly "went on with her life."

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Unti3dPhotography on 2025-02-23 21:33:51.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Die_Nameless_Bitch on 2025-02-23 20:44:39.

Original Title: TIL Gavrilo Princip, the student who assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand, believed he wasn't responsible for World War I, stating that the war would have occurred regardless of the assassination and he "cannot feel himself responsible for the catastrophe."

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/enjoiturbulence on 2025-02-23 20:40:54.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Olshansk on 2025-02-23 20:29:16.

Original Title: TIL about the Tunguska Event: In 1908, an 180 foot wide asteroid exploded while entering the Earth's atmosphere in Russia's East Siberian Taiga. It presumably exploded 4 miles above the surface, killing 3 people, and felled 80M trees over an area of 830 sq miles.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/n_mcrae_1982 on 2025-02-23 20:02:20.

Original Title: TIL Lee Harvey Oswald's Russian-born widow still lives in the US (she's been a naturalized citizen since 1989). She has 3 kids (2 daughters with Oswald, 1 son with 2nd husband) and still advocates the theory that Oswald was innocent.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/DrivetoElysium on 2025-02-23 18:44:48.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/BezugssystemCH1903 on 2025-02-23 17:24:40.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-02-23 16:56:35.

Original Title: TIL as Spielberg was filming Jurassic Park's climatic scene as originally scripted (with the velociraptors defeated by Dr. Alan Grant & John Hammond), he had the last-minute idea to bring back the T-Rex for the climax. As an "off-the-cuff thing", the physical effects had to be setup in about 24 hrs.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Obversa on 2025-02-23 15:40:44.

Original Title: TIL that prehistoric humans in the Indo-Burma region engaged in turtle and tortoise farming, and are thought to have spread the elongated tortoise beyond its natural range due to using the species as a food source.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/pigeon-in-greggs on 2025-02-23 15:00:26.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/First_Level_Ranger on 2025-02-23 14:56:33.

Original Title: TIL that Guglielmo Marconi, inventor and wireless radio pioneer, was a longtime member of Italy's fascist party, and, as president of the Royal Academy of Italy, did not allow any Jewish students to be admitted during his entire tenure.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/FullOGreenPeaness on 2025-02-23 14:32:52.

Original Title: TIL that Henry Knox, namesake of Fort Knox where much of the US’ gold reserves are stored, ran a number of failed business ventures and accumulated large amounts of debt. When he died after swallowing a chicken bone, he left an estate that was bankrupt.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Super_Comfortable_17 on 2025-02-23 13:31:49.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/BiggieTwiggy1two3 on 2025-02-23 13:30:03.

Original Title: TIL when a pope dies, the cardinal camerlengo confirms the death by gently tapping the pope's head thrice with a silver hammer, calling his birth name each time. He then retrieves the Ring of the Fisherman and cuts it in two. The pope's seals are defaced, and his personal apartment is sealed.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/opalandolive on 2025-02-23 13:26:23.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-02-23 13:06:21.

Original Title: TIL the oldest known tablet inscribed with the Ten Commandments sold for $5.04 million. The roughly 1,500-year-old stone was discovered in 1913, but went on to be used as paving outside someone's house for three decades until a scholar bought it in 1943 and recognized its historic importance.