Today I Learned (TIL)

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/1000LiveEels on 2025-03-09 21:01:54.

Original Title: TIL a sculpture made for Queen Elizabeth II's 1977 silver jubilee was originally a rejected transparent acrylic monolith prop for the movie "2001: a Space Odyssey." Artist Arthur Fleischmann repurposed it by carving a crown and rays of light onto one side.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/BeanBag2004 on 2025-03-09 20:17:03.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/my_sus_account1 on 2025-03-09 19:51:52.

Original Title: TIL legendary multi-sport athlete Jim Thorpe not only professionally played baseball, football, basketball, and gold medaled in the decathlon and Pentathlon, but also won the 1912 intercollegiate ball room dancing championship

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/UgliestDisability on 2025-03-09 19:28:23.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Dismal_Angle_1735 on 2025-03-09 19:27:30.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/sally_says on 2025-03-09 18:40:45.

Original Title: TIL songwriter Jim Steinman won a court case preventing Meat Loaf from covering one of his songs after the singer claimed it was promised to him and was "furious" when it became a hit for Celine Dion. Meat Loaf would later say the power ballad "was about me and Jim Steinman"

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Correct_Doctor_1502 on 2025-03-09 18:32:12.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ShehrozeAkbar on 2025-03-09 18:26:03.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/thedubiousstylus on 2025-03-09 17:59:24.

Original Title: Today I learned of the voiceless labial–velar implosive, the rarest sound to appear in any language. The sound, described as pronouncing a k and p at the same time while sucking in air instead of pushing it out, is found only in the Central dialect of the Igbo language.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ICanStopTheRain on 2025-03-09 17:00:20.

Original Title: TIL that lead(II) acetate has a sweet taste, and was historically used as an artificial sweetener. The Romans would boil unfiltered grape juice in lead pots to make a syrup used to sweeten wine and fruit. Like many other lead compounds, it is neurotoxic.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/cwajgapls on 2025-03-09 16:24:15.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/DaSmileKat on 2025-03-09 16:22:47.

Original Title: TIL the mathematician, astronomer and astrologer Valentin Naboth deduced he was about to enter a period of danger. To hide, he stockpiled food and drink, closed his blinds, and locked his doors and windows. Some robbers came, thought the house was empty, broke in, saw Naboth there, and killed him.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TirelessGuardian on 2025-03-09 16:15:35.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/CupidStunt13 on 2025-03-09 15:28:30.

Original Title: TIL of Matthew Beard (Stymie Beard from the Little Rascals aka Our Gang) had 13 brothers and sisters. Because his paycheck helped the family to survive, his parents allowed him to rename one of his younger brothers. His parents subsequently allowed him to name his other siblings as they were born

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/QueenoftheMorons on 2025-03-09 13:06:47.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/meltingpotato on 2025-03-09 12:19:09.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/jacknunn on 2025-03-09 12:03:10.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/germanbini on 2025-03-09 11:45:14.

Original Title: TIL the First Battery-Powered Electric Motor was Invented in 1834 By Thomas and Emily Davenport. In 1837, they Patented a Machine to Run a Printing Press. In 1840, "The Electro-Magnetic and Mechanics Intelligencer,' the First Magazine ever Printed using Electricity.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SuperMcG on 2025-03-09 05:58:33.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/thbrdmn on 2025-03-09 01:07:11.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/I_was_hacked_again on 2025-03-09 12:37:57.

Original Title: TIL about Ōkunoshima, Japan's Rabbit Island. Once a secret WWII chemical weapons site, it's now famous for its friendly, free-roaming bunnies. Despite its dark history, the island attracts visitors who enjoy interacting with the rabbits. The Ōkunoshima Poison Gas Museum is a somber reminder

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Impassador on 2025-03-09 09:27:37.

Original Title: TIL that in 1971, three off-duty teenage British soldiers were lured from a Belfast pub and executed by the IRA. The outrage led to protests, a political crisis, and the UK raising the army deployment age to 18.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/No-Community- on 2025-03-09 09:22:53.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/theID10T on 2025-03-09 06:53:25.

Original Title: TIL that the USS Monitor and the CSS Virginia (rebuilt using the engines and lower hull of the USS Merrimack) fought to a draw in the Battle of Hampton Roads in 1862, the first battle between two ironclad warships during the American Civil War.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Low-Way557 on 2025-03-09 05:20:51.

Original Title: TIL the U.S. Army’s 27th Infantry Division fought off the largest banzai attack in World War II. Over 4,000 Japanese soldiers were killed and the fighting was so fierce that a U.S. Army dentist was awarded the Medal of Honor.