Today I Learned (TIL)

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Ill_Definition8074 on 2024-12-02 23:53:14.

Original Title: TIL about Nguni Stick Fighting, a South African martial art. Fighters, armed with two long sticks, spar until blood is drawn or the referee intervenes. It's popular at weddings where it’s seen as a way for the newlyweds’ families to get to know each other. Nelson Mandela practiced it as a child.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/SuperSpecialAwesome- on 2024-12-02 23:13:10.

Original Title: TIL about elliptical constructions—linguistic shortcuts where parts of a sentence are omitted without losing meaning. For example, "Best part?" instead of "What's the best part?" or "You ready?" instead of "Are you ready?" These concise phrases enhance clarity and efficiency.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2024-12-02 23:04:50.

Original Title: TIL Hulu removed a Golden Girls episode in 2020 after a scene where Blanche and Rose, wearing mud masks, joke, “We’re not black,” during a plot about Dorothy’s son marrying a Black woman. Though not blackface, the scene was misinterpreted. The episode was restored in 2023 after a review of context.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/haddock420 on 2024-12-02 22:33:21.

Original Title: TIL Erykah Badu's mother, the person the song Ms Jackson by Outkast was written about, reportedly loved the song, "Baby, she bought herself a 'Ms. Jackson' license plate. She had the mug, she had the ink pen, she had the headband, everything."

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/PM_ME_UR_REDPANDAS on 2024-12-02 22:21:40.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/DuskyTrack on 2024-12-02 20:44:16.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Flares117 on 2024-12-02 20:38:13.

Original Title: TIL: Tyromancy is divination or fortune telling using cheese, which was used from 200 AD to the Middle Ages. It is achieved by observing a cheese's smell, patterns, texture, shape, and holes. A heart shape means love, for example. The "best" type of cheese to use was blue cheese.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Wyrdeone on 2024-12-02 20:37:19.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Rattiom32 on 2024-12-02 19:21:03.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Aboveground_Plush on 2024-12-02 19:08:20.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/JackABoioi on 2024-12-02 17:22:36.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/spacemanp1 on 2024-12-02 17:19:55.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/aardw0lf11 on 2024-12-02 15:59:39.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/aft595 on 2024-12-02 15:59:37.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Ainsley-Sorsby on 2024-12-02 15:32:44.

Original Title: TIL Alexander the Great had a Hindu Guru who accompanied his army on their return to Persia. After he died via self immolation the army held a drinking contest in his honor, resulting in 42 people dying from alcohol poisoning, including the winner, who drank 13 litres of unmixed wine

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/Hassaan18 on 2024-12-02 14:30:51.

Original Title: TIL that in 2020, Pakistan International Airlines was banned from flying in Europe and the United States after an investigation found that at least a fourth of all pilots' licences issued in Pakistan were not genuine

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/-TehTJ- on 2024-12-02 13:47:48.

Original Title: TIL Sweden has the largest Mandaean population in the world. Mandaeans are the last major Gnostic faith; so given Sweden’s high Mandaean population and low general population, Sweden is the most Gnostic country on Earth.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/gullydon on 2024-12-02 13:43:50.

Original Title: TIL a 2011 study, published in The Journal of Sex Research, found that two out of five single women and one out of five single men in "friends with benefits" relationships hoped that their relationship would eventually turn into a full-fledged romance.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/arjun_raf on 2024-12-02 13:29:45.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/TMWNN on 2024-12-02 12:17:17.

Original Title: TIL that penis enlargement methods go back thousands of years. Ancient Greeks and Indians wrote about various dubious methods. The Topinamá tribe in Brazil in the 1500s let poisonous snakes bite their penises. Penis pumps are not a modern invention, either.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/UndyingCorn on 2024-12-02 11:42:15.

Original Title: TIL Victor Hayes role in establishing and chairing the IEEE 802.11 Standards Working Group for Wireless Local Area Networks from its inception in 1990 to 2000 has led to him being nicknamed as the "Father of Wi-Fi".

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/77_mec on 2024-12-02 08:53:17.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/alottanamesweretaken on 2024-12-02 12:05:20.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/ColeBelthazorTurner on 2024-12-02 09:53:45.

The original post: /r/todayilearned by /u/nehala on 2024-12-02 05:38:06.

Original Title: TIL in 1987 the MV Doña Paz, a Filipino passenger ferry carrying 4000 people (triple its maximum capacity), collided with an oil tanker while the crew was mostly drinking/ partying/ watching TV. The oil from the tanker set the ferry and the surrounding seawater on fire. Only 24 survived.