Today I Learned (TIL)

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TMWNN on 2025-02-21 13:15:51.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Adorable-Badger-2525 on 2025-02-21 13:03:54.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TMWNN on 2025-02-21 12:31:40.

Original Title: TIL that 50% of Subway, the sandwich company, is owned by a charity. Cofounder Peter Buck donated his $5 billion share of the company before he died. The Buck Foundation contributes to many causes, including the Internet Archive and land conservation.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TMWNN on 2025-02-21 12:56:48.

Original Title: TIL that sheriffs in Louisiana also collect taxes, among other duties besides law enforcement. They are so powerful that when dropping out of the gubernatorial race in 1995, sheriff Harry Lee said "Why would I want to be governor when I can be king?"

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/tenaciousdeev on 2025-02-21 12:28:31.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Giff95 on 2025-02-21 11:53:54.

Original Title: TIL Hans Zimmer had trouble timing the score for Jack Sparrow and Will Turner's fight in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl," until an assistant making coffee asked to be given a shot, and that's how Ramin Djawadi ("Game of Thrones," "Iron Man," "Pacific Rim") got his career.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Shawnj2 on 2025-02-21 06:10:26.

Original Title: TIL progress on an extension to the Metrolink Antelope Valley line to Palmdale and Lancaster in LA was expedited by approximately 10 years by an earthquake. Portions of freeways serving those cities collapsed leading to an emergency extension to the line and temporary platforms being built.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/CobblestonesSkylines on 2025-02-21 04:07:07.

Original Title: TIL "Ain't I a woman?" was never said by Sojourner Truth in her 1851 speech. Frances Dana Gage published an altered version of Truth's speech in 1863, which was often used in suffrage and abolitionist movements.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/stargazer304 on 2025-02-20 23:54:16.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ThickBoxx on 2025-02-21 04:47:53.

Original Title: TIL the last Blockbuster in Bend, OR is still open, makes 80% of it’s income from merchandise, and has to buy its movies from Walmart and Target because DVD vendors have minimum orders far too large for their store.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/FullOGreenPeaness on 2025-02-21 02:30:19.

Original Title: TIL that the band Black Sabbath started out as the Polka Tulk Blues Band, and featured a saxophonist and slide guitarist. Polka Tulk broke up and reformed as a four-man band called Earth in order to quietly get rid of the two extra musicians.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Infamous-Echo-3949 on 2025-02-20 21:31:03.

Original Title: TIL the French colonization of Texas started in 1685 when Robert Cavelier de La Salle intended to found the colony at the mouth of the Mississippi River, but errant maps and navigational errors caused his ships to anchor instead 640 km to the west, off Texas's coast. The colony struggled greatly.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ProofSubstantial460 on 2025-02-21 04:38:41.

Original Title: TIL that "Clever Hans," a horse in the early 1900s, seemed to do math but was actually responding to unconscious cues from his owner, leading to a breakthrough in psychology called the "Clever Hans Effect.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Infamous-Echo-3949 on 2025-02-21 04:33:17.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/duga404 on 2025-02-21 04:02:14.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/meme_stealing_bandit on 2025-02-21 03:38:05.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SleeptGuava on 2025-02-21 02:32:05.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SleeptGuava on 2025-02-21 02:20:15.

Original Title: TIL all of Australia's 200 million wild rabbits are descended from a group of 13 European rabbits released in 1859 by Thomas Austin, a British settler released for him to hunt on his farm, by 1920 they peaked at 10 billion before a mass scale poisoning to prevent causing more environmental damage.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TriviaDuchess on 2025-02-20 23:31:45.

Original Title: TIL In 1805 British Naval Officer Robert Pigot captured a French pirate vessel and sailed it up the St. Mary’s River between Georgia and Spanish Florida. He engaged Spanish pirates, recovered two British ships and took the Spanish vessel, all while U.S. spectators watched from the riverbank.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/PuckSenior on 2025-02-20 23:04:45.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/sharksdrinklager on 2025-02-20 22:21:19.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Ainsley-Sorsby on 2025-02-20 20:41:35.

Original Title: TIL Henry, a Cardinal and Grand Inquisitor of the Catholic Church unexpectedly inherited the throne of Portugal when he was 65 years old. He petitioned the Pope to release him from his vows so he can marry and produce an heir, but his request was refused

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/AmiroZ on 2025-02-20 20:34:05.

Original Title: TIL Bert Janssen from the Netherlands is the longest-living heart transplant recipient in the world since 1984. The operation was done by Egyptian-born transplant pioneer Magdi Yacoub, who was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1992 for his services to medicine.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/DisastrousWeather956 on 2025-02-20 20:24:05.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Its_Happning_Again on 2025-02-20 20:07:55.

Original Title: TIL Catholic priest and suspected serial killer, Hans Schmidt, was executed via electric chair at Sing Sing Prison on Feb 18 1916. He was found guilty for killing his pregnant mistress, drinking her blood, and dismembering her. Also, ran a counterfeiting ring with his lover NYC dentist, Ernest Muret