Today I Learned (TIL)

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Physenginpreneuric on 2025-02-15 02:10:56.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TriviaDuchess on 2025-02-15 02:03:54.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ooMEAToo on 2025-02-15 01:53:36.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/GetYerHandOffMyPen15 on 2025-02-15 01:46:07.

Original Title: TIL that there is little evidence that antioxidants in the diet prevent disease. Some antioxidant supplements actually increased lung cancer rates in smokers, while others increased rates of heart failure and stroke.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/rocklou on 2025-02-15 00:53:16.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ralphbernardo on 2025-02-14 22:36:50.

Original Title: TIL about the "cocktail party effect"—our brain's ability to focus on one conversation in a noisy room. This ability lets us tune into specific voices while filtering out background chatter, and even pick up important words like our name even when we are not paying attention.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/thisCantBeBad on 2025-02-14 22:28:17.

Original Title: TIL that a BBC report found that 80% of personal loans taken out by UAE men were used for wedding expenses; as a result, many Emirati men opted to marry "less demanding" foreign women. In response, the government created a fund giving grooms money if the bride was Emirati.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/NapalmBurns on 2025-02-14 19:56:03.

Original Title: TIL about skunk cabbage - a Canadian plant that is capable of creating temperatures tens of degrees above ambient in order to melt its way through frozen ground! Thanks to this truly Canadian feature, skunk cabbage blooms while there is still snow and ice on the ground.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SteO153 on 2025-02-14 18:48:07.

Original Title: TIL about Famadihana, a funerary tradition of Madagascar. People bring forth the bodies of their ancestors from the family crypts, rewrap them in fresh cloth, and rewrite their names so they will always be remembered. The practice is thought to be connected to pneumonic plague transmission

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/pm_me_BMW_M3_GTR_pls on 2025-02-14 18:47:35.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Songrot on 2025-02-14 17:42:34.

Original Title: TIL in 1530, the chinese Ming Dynasty invented bronze-iron composite cannons. The Dutch claimed "it’s scarcely possible to find their equal outside of Ming Empire". After manchu Qing dynasty's conquest they deprioritised Gunsmithing and had to use 100-300 years old cannons against British Empire.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Flares117 on 2025-02-14 17:39:38.

Original Title: TIL: The Hittite plague was one of the diseases that helped caused a Bronze Age collapse alongside smallpox and lasted 2 decades. It is considered the first recorded form of biological warfare as Hittites brought infected rams to enemies. It was also named, "The Hand of Nergle" in ancient tablets.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Money-Ad7257 on 2025-02-14 17:33:17.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/AdmiralAkbar1 on 2025-02-14 15:04:28.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2025-02-14 14:07:08.

Original Title: TIL that in Japan, women give chocolates on Valentine’s Day, but men must return the favor on White Day (March 14th)-often with gifts 3× the value. There’s “obligation chocolate” for coworkers and “true love chocolate” for crushes. Some women even keep receipts to track repayment.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2025-02-14 13:59:48.

Original Title: TIL that in the early 2000s, Heinz released EZ Squirt colored ketchup, starting with green in 2000, followed by purple, blue, and mystery colors like pink, orange, and teal. Despite their novelty, they were discontinued by 2006.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/UndyingCorn on 2025-02-14 12:42:25.

Original Title: TIL At the 1932 DNC: after Roosevelt's favorite song "Anchors Aweigh" had been repeatedly played, someone reportedly shouted: "For God's sake, have them play something else", which caused the band to play “Happy Days are Here Again”. This cemented the song as an unofficial Democratic theme song.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ModenaR on 2025-02-14 09:57:04.

Original Title: TIL that 2 men tried to sue Universal Studios for $5m over false advertisement, after they paid $3.99 each to watch the film "Yesterday", only to discover that Ana De Armas, who appeared in the trailer, wasn't in the film

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Comfortable_Lynx8295 on 2025-02-14 07:20:12.

Original Title: TIL that the Finnish children’s book Hippu (1967) became so popular in Japan that its author, Oili Tanninen, wrote four sequels—exclusively in Japanese—for publisher Kodansha. Strangely, these books were never translated into Finnish until 2021.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Smooth_Record_42 on 2025-02-14 07:12:21.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/BrianOBlivion1 on 2025-02-14 04:45:35.

Original Title: TIL Jenny Craig, the businesswoman and co-founder of the self-titled weight loss company, donated $5 million to the National WWII Museum in New Orleans, and the museum used the donation to create the Jenny Craig Institute for the Study of War and Democracy

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/smrad8 on 2025-02-14 04:17:50.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/BDWG4EVA on 2025-02-14 03:04:13.

Original Title: TIL the character "Mr. Hankey" from South Park was based on how Trey Parker's father toilet-trained him as a child. Trey said he refused to flush the toilet, so his father told him if he did not flush down his stool, which he called "Mr. Hankey," it would come to life and kill him

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/cl0cked on 2025-02-13 22:37:42.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/OneTimeISawABird on 2025-02-13 20:38:37.