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TIL that the talipot palm produces the world's largest flower cluster (inflorescence) containing one to several million flowers. It grows up to 25m tall, takes 30 to 80 years to reach maturity to flower and then dies immediately afterwards, having drained all its nutrients in the process.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by embouteillagez t3_11zpn9i on March 23, 2023 at 4:32 PM in todayilearned

11 comments

195

TIL in the tiny African kingdom of Lesotho, a local style of accordion folk music known as Famo has sprung a fierce bloody gang war which has contributed to its high homicide rate. Little-known to the outside world, scores of musicians and hundreds of DJs, fans, family members etc. have been slain.

bbc.com

Submitted by delano1998 t3_123xxjg on March 27, 2023 at 7:41 PM in todayilearned

82 comments

846

TIL the musician and songwriter D'Angelo not only recorded a song, "Unshaken", for Red Dead Redemption 2, he also served as a playtester during the videogame's development due to his love of the series

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by grizzburger t3_123edqw on March 27, 2023 at 6:58 AM in todayilearned

95 comments

3,113

TIL about Coarsegold, California which holds an annual Tarantula Festival to coincide with Tarantula mating season. The festival includes tarantula racing, a competition for the hairiest legs of both men and women, and a pumpkin dessert contest.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by flopsychops t3_11qwo5l on March 14, 2023 at 4:35 AM in todayilearned

8 comments

183

TIL Until 1921 the Colorado River did not flow through the State of Colorado. It took an act of Congress to “move” the river into the state by renaming the Grand River and adding it to the Colorado River.

summitdaily.com

Submitted by triviafrenzy t3_11ifaru on March 4, 2023 at 10:27 PM in todayilearned

15 comments

321

TIL that there are official guidelines for muslims to perform their rituals from space since 2007, when the first malaysian astronaut join the space station.

nbcnews.com

Submitted by TonahVilla t3_123dp4u on March 27, 2023 at 6:22 AM in todayilearned

187 comments

1,444

TIL: The outflow from Amazon River could fill 83 Olympic sized swimming pools per second.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by the_ballmer_peak t3_125o3ov on March 29, 2023 at 1:27 PM in todayilearned

53 comments

718

TIL in 1990 a printer for the U.S. Naval Academy put the word “navel” on the graduates’ diplomas.

latimes.com

Submitted by Fleegle1834 t3_126mssx on March 30, 2023 at 1:22 PM in todayilearned

9 comments

202

TIL of a man in Iraq who hired an online agent to buy a lotto ticket for him in Oregon, and won 6.4 million.

nbcnews.com

Submitted by lazarus870 t3_11i867v on March 4, 2023 at 5:51 PM in todayilearned

60 comments

1,669

TIL in the 1920s, Coco Chanel accidentally got a tan, and helped inspire the trend of sunbathing. Soon "sunlight therapy" was prescribed for almost every ailment from fatigue to tuberculosis. Before this, tanned skin was associated with the lower classes who work outside, and fair skin was revered.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by Pfeffer_Prinz t3_126sj3j on March 30, 2023 at 4:48 PM in todayilearned

159 comments

1,283

TIL China and India have been the population centers of the world for at least 6,000 years

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by aaleom t3_11ydet3 on March 22, 2023 at 9:32 AM in todayilearned

48 comments

258

TIL Crush Syndrome happens when the human body experiences severe skeletal muscle trauma under constant pressure for a long time resulting in shock and kidney failure; an example is a human trapped under a building in an earthquake.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by ChiggaOG t3_11v468k on March 18, 2023 at 11:18 PM in todayilearned

56 comments

633

TIL of the Central Pangean Mountains - at its greatest elevation was comparable to the Himalayas. It's remnants include the Appalachians mountains in North America, Atlas range in Africa and the Caledonites in Europe.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by wrxie t3_11zp1i2 on March 23, 2023 at 4:11 PM in todayilearned

14 comments

127

TIL that in 1950, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, synthesized a highly radioactive element by bombarding curium-242 with alpha particles. They named this new element "Californium" and its discovery was initially kept classified due to its potential military uses.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by theID10T t3_11u107i on March 17, 2023 at 7:24 PM in todayilearned

8 comments

144

TIL African wild dogs use sneezes to cast their vote on whether they are ready to begin a hunt. Researchers noted a minimum number of sneezes required to rally the group, with sneezes from dominant individuals worth more than other dogs.

npr.org

Submitted by FillsYourNiche t3_122plne on March 26, 2023 at 3:21 PM in todayilearned

12 comments

197

TIL, the placenta that forms with a fetus isn't created by the mother. It grows from the fertilized egg and some fetuses actually develop outside the uterus attached to the intestines in the body cavity.

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

Submitted by darw1nf1sh t3_121hu71 on March 25, 2023 at 10:32 AM in todayilearned

207 comments

1,886

TIL there's a field of thousands of prehistoric stone jars in Laos

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by 500owls t3_125emsn on March 29, 2023 at 5:52 AM in todayilearned

17 comments

190

TIL about Companion Planting, which helps gardens grow by planting strategically based on root compatibility and soil optimization

gardeningsoul.com

Submitted by diatriose t3_127kfvs on March 31, 2023 at 12:48 PM in todayilearned

11 comments

224

TIL Helen Keller is credited with having introduced the Akita, a Japanese dog breed, to the United States

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by berkosaurus t3_11pza51 on March 13, 2023 at 3:50 AM in todayilearned

45 comments

446

TIL Arabic numbers have only existed in their present form since about the 10th century. Only a few texts using Arabic numerals appeared outside of Italy until the late 15th century. It wasn't until the mid-16th century that Arabic numbers were in common use in most of Europe

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by joecooool418 t3_127oe4d on March 31, 2023 at 3:07 PM in todayilearned

9 comments

116

TIL a US congressman once wielded an 18-inch club made from a walrus penis bone in a congressional hearing.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by gregmck t3_121ra90 on March 25, 2023 at 4:37 PM in todayilearned

14 comments

TIL that children born earlier in the academic year have a higher chance of participating in upper echelons of sports or academia. This is known as the Relative Age Effect.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by ThatFaultyGamer t3_1257xtq on March 29, 2023 at 12:40 AM in todayilearned

24 comments

TIL that there is an art installation in Burlington, Vermont that is called the world's tallest filing cabinet. It's name is "File Under So. Co., Waiting for". It was built in 2002 in response to years of delays building the Interstate 189 bypass into downtown Burlington

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by IAmDavidGurney t3_1263152 on March 29, 2023 at 10:34 PM in todayilearned

37 comments

975

TIL that, during the Cold War, every infantry and armor battalion in the U.S Army had one officer trained to deploy the Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), commonly known as the backpack nuke

armytimes.com

Submitted by nomad_556 t3_126twii on March 30, 2023 at 5:39 PM in todayilearned

25 comments

TIL that the Fuggerei in Augsburg, Germany is the oldest public housing complex in the world, being founded all the way back to the 1510s.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by TheMisterClo t3_11hct2l on March 3, 2023 at 7:46 PM in todayilearned

8 comments

159