Today I Learned (TIL)

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Hike_it_Out52 on 2024-12-22 00:34:31.

Original Title: TIL about Robert Carter III who in 1791 through 1803 set about freeing all 400-500 of his slaves. He then hired them back as workers and then educated them. His family, neighbors and government did everything to stop him including trying to tar and feather him and drove him from his home.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ralphbernardo on 2024-12-21 22:28:32.

Original Title: TIL that elephants exhibit remarkable altruism. In India, an elephant refused a trainer's instruction to lower a log into a hole when it noticed a sleeping dog inside. Elephants have been observed helping injured elephants, rescuing other animals, and even assisting humans in distress.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/OhMFGoose on 2024-12-21 22:19:38.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/malamindulo on 2024-12-21 21:28:33.

Original Title: TIL about "Grandpa Indian" (Vovô Índio), a Brazilian character created in the 1930s with the intention of providing a "patriotic" alternative to Santa Claus in Christmastide imagery. Promoted by the far-right Integralist movement, the attempt was widely mocked, and few trace of the character remain.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/UndyingCorn on 2024-12-21 18:12:02.

Original Title: TIL Francis Ford, the brother of movie director John Ford, was notable for appearing as Abraham Lincoln nine times in film over just four years from 1912 to 1915. Six of those appearances were in 1913 alone.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Jacknerik on 2024-12-21 18:04:19.

Original Title: TIL that in 1982, an artist and her assistants grew, cared for, and harvested an entire wheatfield in the middle of New York City on top of the landfill created by the construction of The World Trade Center, a piece of land worth 4.5 billion dollars at the time.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/WouldbeWanderer on 2024-12-21 18:03:33.

Original Title: TIL in 1977, musician Jimmy Buffett was driving to Key West on the Seven Mile Bridge when the bridge got stuck in the open position causing a 3-hour delay to fix it. To kill time, he wrote the song "Margaritaville" while sitting on the hood of his car.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Frequent-Outcome8492 on 2024-12-21 17:49:39.

Original Title: TIL Football (soccer) team manager Mikel Arteta hired professional pickpockets to steal phones and wallets from his players to teach them the importance of being ready, alert, and prepared at all times.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Ill_Definition8074 on 2024-12-21 17:20:42.

Original Title: TIL about Jacques Hébert's public execution by guillotine in the French Revolution. To amuse the crowd, the executioners rigged the blade to stop inches from Hébert's neck. They did this three times before finally executing him.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/gluuey on 2024-12-21 17:19:49.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/JJKingwolf on 2024-12-21 16:44:16.

Original Title: TIL That the "Nobu" restaurant chain was founded by actor Robert DeNiro, who spent five years trying to convince world famous chef Nobu Matsuhisa that they should open a restaurant together before Nobu finally agreed.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-12-21 13:50:16.

Original Title: TIL the brown bear has been recorded to consume the greatest variety of foods of any bear. This is illustrated in the US, as meat made up 51% of the average diet for Yellowstone grizzlies, while it only made up 11% of the diet for grizzlies from Glacier National Park a few hundred miles to the north

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Peterjns22 on 2024-12-21 13:20:34.

Original Title: TIL about the Hindsight bias: also known as the knew-it-all-along phenomenon or creeping determinism, is the common tendency for people to perceive past events as having been more predictable than they were.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Cold_Yoghurt5986 on 2024-12-21 12:58:42.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/appalachian_hatachi on 2024-12-21 11:22:54.

Original Title: TIL: That due to press interest in getting photos of the Teletubbies actors in costume without their Teletubby heads on; measures were taken to secure their privacy, including blindfolding visitors coming to the set and creating a tent for the actors to change in secret.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Sanguinusshiboleth on 2024-12-21 09:21:41.

Original Title: TIL I learned of Saint Hunger, a 9th bishop of Utrecht who got the job because the leading candidate, a man named Craft, didn't want the job because he was so rich and feared that would attract vikings to raid the city.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/onehitonebase on 2024-12-21 10:57:18.

Original Title: TIL that Gavrilo Princip was 27 days shy of the 20-year age limit stated in the Austro-Hungarian laws for capital punishment. He was sentenced to 20 year in jail. He died later 4 months before the conclusion of WWI.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/javsand120s on 2024-12-21 09:09:56.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Algernon_Asimov on 2024-12-21 08:33:04.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/1000LiveEels on 2024-12-21 07:39:18.

Original Title: TIL during World War II, Allied prisoners of war in Colditz Castle built a full-size glider plane in the attic. The plan was to cut a hole in the roof from the attic and then fly the plane to safety. It never flew, but it was completed shortly before the POWs were liberated.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/BadenBaden1981 on 2024-12-21 07:38:22.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/altrightobserver on 2024-12-21 06:03:57.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/altrightobserver on 2024-12-21 05:48:24.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/OperationSuch5054 on 2024-12-20 13:26:17.

Original Title: TIL In 1967, a rocket from an F-4 Phantom was accidentally fired on the deck of the USS Forrestal due to a power surge. The rocket struck the fuel tank of an A-4 Skyhawk, causing a fire which then detonated the aircraft bombs. 21 aircraft were lost, 40 damaged and 167 sailors killed.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SimRP on 2024-12-21 04:05:35.