Today I Learned (TIL)

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TIL Spengler (1880-1936) predicted that about the year 2000, Western civilization would enter the period of pre‑death emergency which would lead to 200 years of Caesarism (extra-constitutional omn... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/GoodMornEveGoodNight on 2025-02-15 21:16:02.

Original Title: TIL Spengler (1880-1936) predicted that about the year 2000, Western civilization would enter the period of pre‑death emergency which would lead to 200 years of Caesarism (extra-constitutional omnipotence of the executive branch of government) before Western civilization's final collapse.

802

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TIL that NASA is working on a unique time zone for the Moon, called "Coordinated Lunar Time", because time moves slightly faster on the Moon than on Earth. (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Opening-Aide-8838 on 2025-02-15 21:00:24.

803

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TIL Sequoyah, an illiterate warrior of the Cherokee Nation, observed the "talking leaves" (writing) of the white man in 1813. He thought it was military advantage and created a syllabary for Chero... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/NateNate60 on 2025-02-15 20:48:45.

Original Title: TIL Sequoyah, an illiterate warrior of the Cherokee Nation, observed the "talking leaves" (writing) of the white man in 1813. He thought it was military advantage and created a syllabary for Cherokee from scratch in 1821. It caught on quickly and Cherokee literacy surpassed 90% just 9 years later.

804

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TIL of Robert Grosseteste, a 13th century English bishop who correctly proved that rainbows are formed from refracted light. He then (very roughly) theorized an idea similar to the Big Bang theory... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/LotusCobra on 2025-02-15 20:19:52.

Original Title: TIL of Robert Grosseteste, a 13th century English bishop who correctly proved that rainbows are formed from refracted light. He then (very roughly) theorized an idea similar to the Big Bang theory. His sainthood was denied due to rumors that his ghost murdered the pope.

805

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TIL in 2013 the UK government officially detained a portrait of renaissance singer Barbara Salutati. It was sold to a private buyer abroad but the government intervened to block it from leaving th... (www.gov.uk)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Ainsley-Sorsby on 2025-02-15 18:40:58.

Original Title: TIL in 2013 the UK government officially detained a portrait of renaissance singer Barbara Salutati. It was sold to a private buyer abroad but the government intervened to block it from leaving the country, citing cultural significance, on account of Barbara being Machiavelli's mistress

806

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TIL Frederick Douglas did not know his actual birthday, so he chose Feb 14, because his mother referred to him as her little Valentine. (www.sttammanylibrary.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/CobblestonesSkylines on 2025-02-15 17:37:34.

807

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TIL that Claude La Colombi, the priest who helped spread the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion, was awaiting return to France from England when he was implicated in the false Popish plot and was even... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Sanguinusshiboleth on 2025-02-15 16:12:21.

Original Title: TIL that Claude La Colombi, the priest who helped spread the Sacred Heart of Jesus devotion, was awaiting return to France from England when he was implicated in the false Popish plot and was eventually punished with exile to France.

808

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TIL about Tongyangxi a Chinese practice in which a family would agree to adopt and raise a girl and in exchange she would agree to marry one of there sons when they reach marriage age. (wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Capital_Tailor_7348 on 2025-02-15 15:32:29.

809

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TIL Thomas Jefferson wrote his own epitaph listing three accomplishments. Being 3rd President wasn't one of them. (www.monticello.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/JamesepicYT on 2025-02-15 13:43:19.

810

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TIL of Bracken Cave near San Antonio, Texas. The world's biggest bat cave, it hosts about 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats from March to October, the largest concentration of mammals anywhere o... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/unclear_warfare on 2025-02-15 13:17:24.

Original Title: TIL of Bracken Cave near San Antonio, Texas. The world's biggest bat cave, it hosts about 20 million Mexican free-tailed bats from March to October, the largest concentration of mammals anywhere on earth

811

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TIL the “like a good neighbor, State Farm is there” jingle was written by Barry Manilow (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/bnrshrnkr on 2025-02-15 13:01:17.

812

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TIL of the General Strike of 1842 when English workers went on strike, demanding their government act in their interest. (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Fer-Butterscotch on 2025-02-15 12:30:38.

813

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TIl that in 2021 two rival taxi operators were involved in a dispute over lucrative taxi routes in Cape Town South Africa. It escalated into a full blown armed conflict that killed 83 people (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/nickburrows8398 on 2025-02-15 11:48:52.

814

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TIL about Kalachi, Kazakhstan, a village plagued by a mysterious 'sleeping sickness' that caused residents to fall asleep for days at a time. Scientists eventually linked it to carbon monoxide poi... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SkyofGeography on 2025-02-15 10:27:11.

Original Title: TIL about Kalachi, Kazakhstan, a village plagued by a mysterious 'sleeping sickness' that caused residents to fall asleep for days at a time. Scientists eventually linked it to carbon monoxide poisoning from a nearby abandoned uranium mine.

815

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TIL A phenomenon called "change blindness": An experiment found that nearly half of people failed to notice when the person they were talking to was replaced with someone else after a brief visual... (www.apa.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Technical-Jupiter-52 on 2025-02-15 10:18:21.

Original Title: TIL A phenomenon called "change blindness": An experiment found that nearly half of people failed to notice when the person they were talking to was replaced with someone else after a brief visual distraction.

816

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TIL the 1st amendment was originally proposed as the ‘Congressional Apportionment Amendment’, initially requiring 1 representative per 30,000 constituents up to a maximum of 50,000. (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/MothersMiIk on 2025-02-15 08:09:23.

817

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TIL that a Persian King named Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ordered two servants to be executed for being too loud. But since it was a holy day, he delayed the execution by a day and made the servants ... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ThomasNiuNiu on 2025-02-15 06:40:35.

Original Title: TIL that a Persian King named Agha Mohammad Khan Qajar ordered two servants to be executed for being too loud. But since it was a holy day, he delayed the execution by a day and made the servants return to their duties. The servants murdered the king in his sleep that night.

818

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TIL that a Florida man once threw a live alligator through a drive-thru window as a prank 😩 (www.foxnews.com)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/honeybiscuit12 on 2025-02-15 05:55:45.

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TIL The creator of Magic: The Gathering, Richard Garfield, is the great-great grandson of American president James Garfield (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ineptorganicmatter on 2025-02-15 05:29:15.

820

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TIL Thomas Jefferson once spent $1400 (in today's dollars) just to ship a stuffed moose to France to prove that America had large animals (press.uchicago.edu)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/JamesepicYT on 2025-02-15 04:57:26.

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TIL In the mid-1950s Francis LeRoy Henning of Erial, New Jersey minted what is now known as the “Henning” Nickel. He made counterfeit nickels dated 1939, 1944, 1946, 1947 and 1953. (www.error-ref.com)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/DisastrousWeather956 on 2025-02-15 03:52:01.

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TIL Gerry Rafferty (Stealers Wheels) and Billy Connolly (famous British Comedian) had a band called The Humblebums (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/cannachris on 2025-02-14 18:18:18.

823

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TIL that it is possible to measure heart rate using a weighing scale, by picking up the force of blood moving around the body. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/roboputin on 2025-02-14 17:30:10.

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TIL 3M (the manufacturing company) attempted to expand its revenue line in the 1960s through by designing and releasing board games. (thebiggamehunter.com)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Olshansk on 2025-02-14 17:28:23.

825

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TIL that Michael Gambon was such a private person that when asked by a reporter about his wife he replied "What wife?" He later had an affair with a woman 25 years his junior and had 2 kids with h... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 3 months ago by bOt@zerobytes.monster to c/todayilearned@zerobytes.monster

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The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/astarisaslave on 2025-02-14 15:01:53.

Original Title: TIL that Michael Gambon was such a private person that when asked by a reporter about his wife he replied "What wife?" He later had an affair with a woman 25 years his junior and had 2 kids with her, but bequeathed nearly his whole fortune to his legal wife while his girlfriend got nothing.