Recent comments in /f/todayilearned
tristanjones t1_j6oaafu wrote
Reply to comment by RetroMetroShow in TIL Tom Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos baseball team while still in high school, but instead chose to play football in college. This technically makes him the last player drafted by the Expos still playing professional sports. by _Abe_Froman_SKOC
assessing optimal ball psi
EddieRando21 t1_j6oa6kh wrote
Reply to comment by RetroMetroShow in TIL Tom Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos baseball team while still in high school, but instead chose to play football in college. This technically makes him the last player drafted by the Expos still playing professional sports. by _Abe_Froman_SKOC
There's always room for improvement. If he can train with the GOAT why not take the opportunity?
Greene_Mr t1_j6o9wv2 wrote
Reply to comment by natty-broski in TIL That the character who first said the phrase "fortune favours the bold" - Turnus, in the Aeneid, spends the rest of the story suffering military defeats before he's killed and heads to the underworld, miserable, at the end of the last book. by Equal_Caregiver_4909
Or how "Some are born great, some achieve greatness, and some have greatness thrust upon 'em" is written as part of a prank letter for a character everyone loathes.
rapiertwit t1_j6o9qf5 wrote
Reply to TIL Maria Sabina was an indigenous medicine woman who introduced the western world to psilocybin. Her community's rituals were appropriated for power and fame, and she died in poverty. by kerblooee
Then she cursed the foreign interlopers for exploiting her sacred rituals, and that's how we got jam band music.
mandu_xiii t1_j6o9h36 wrote
Reply to TIL about cargo cults, where indigenous people of small tropical islands would perform elaborate rituals to mimic air traffic control and marching patterns after witnessing airplanes drop supplies on airforce bases during world war II. by sciencedit
Here 8n North America, we call this Christmas.
We set up a tree and hope that a magical old man brings us stuff.
SirRedRising t1_j6o8qz6 wrote
Reply to comment by filutch in TIL that India had to ban charas (cannabis concentrate) due to pressure from the US. by UltimateGamingTechie
And much like Vietnam, or Iraq, or Afghanistan, the United States government largely refuses to admit defeat and some pockets will try to keep it going indefinitely (most likely because they personally stand to profit from the continuation of whichever "war" we happen to be talking about)
rapiertwit t1_j6o8nqc wrote
Reply to comment by drewismynamea in TIL Maria Sabina was an indigenous medicine woman who introduced the western world to psilocybin. Her community's rituals were appropriated for power and fame, and she died in poverty. by kerblooee
Yeah you don't hallucinate turning into a bear off just a flagon of mead.
turkey_sandwiches t1_j6o8ipa wrote
Reply to TIL your computer keyboard is 20,589 times dirtier than a toilet seat. The average office keyboard has 3,543,000 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per square inch while your average toilet seat only has 172 CFU per square inch by SappyGilmore
Sure, but which bacteria is also important.
thedastardlyone t1_j6o88qp wrote
Reply to TIL tomb raiding is a big problem in China that looters sometimes find historically significant sites first. For instance the tomb of the famed 3 Kingdoms-era general, Cao Cao, was discovered in 2008 after police inspected the stolen goods of a bunch of robbers, who then led them to an unknown tomb. by Khysamgathys
define "problem"? Like we only want Pooh bear getting that sweet sweet money?
PARANOIAH t1_j6o7uun wrote
Reply to comment by QuantumDesco in TIL tomb raiding is a big problem in China that looters sometimes find historically significant sites first. For instance the tomb of the famed 3 Kingdoms-era general, Cao Cao, was discovered in 2008 after police inspected the stolen goods of a bunch of robbers, who then led them to an unknown tomb. by Khysamgathys
TL's Note: Chinese way of saying "speak of the devil and he shall appear".
nerdybird OP t1_j6o7uub wrote
Reply to comment by YungGunConundrum in TIL A school superindent in Texas resigned after accusations of a history of bullying and plagerism with a golden parachute of over $1 million. by nerdybird
It came out due to parents trying to address the bullying problem in the school district.
drygnfyre t1_j6o7tgh wrote
Reply to comment by filutch in TIL Jackie Robinson served in the first black tank unit to see action in WW2, but missed deployment due to his court-martial for refusing to move to the back of a bus. by R4G
Jessie Owens famously noted that after his Olympic success in 1936, he was greeted by Hitler, but not by FDR or anyone else from America.
drygnfyre t1_j6o7p7p wrote
Reply to comment by Bart-MS in TIL Jackie Robinson served in the first black tank unit to see action in WW2, but missed deployment due to his court-martial for refusing to move to the back of a bus. by R4G
It was the same logic used in Vietnam. "Old enough to kill, not old enough to drink or vote." (The voting age was later lowered to 18 some time after).
Infinite_Mango4 t1_j6o7349 wrote
Reply to TIL When a cow has opposite sex twins, the female twin is usually born intersex and infertile. This happens because the twins blood supplies are linked, which exposes the female to male sex hormones. by awawe
That's crazy I was just reading Brave New World 5 mins ago
Landlubber77 t1_j6o6qeh wrote
Reply to TIL Maria Sabina was an indigenous medicine woman who introduced the western world to psilocybin. Her community's rituals were appropriated for power and fame, and she died in poverty. by kerblooee
> The Mazatec sacred mushroom veladas have survived into the 21st century and are now accepted by the Catholic Church there.
"Body of Christ?"
"Yes father."
"Blood of Christ?"
"Yes father."
"Radical psychedelic mushrooms?"
"You fucking know it, son."
vampirevlord t1_j6o6nm0 wrote
Reply to comment by Darth_Brooks_II in TIL about the Kyujo Incident that occurred on Aug 14, 1945 where several Japanese officers occupied the Japanese Imperial Palace in an attempted coup of the Emperor to prevent him from surrendering to the Allies. They murdered several people and when their plot failed, they committed suicide. by ClownfishSoup
Lol, probably commit sepukku when they find out Japan is known for hentai and tentacle porn.
crojohnson t1_j6o6bss wrote
Reply to TIL That the character who first said the phrase "fortune favours the bold" - Turnus, in the Aeneid, spends the rest of the story suffering military defeats before he's killed and heads to the underworld, miserable, at the end of the last book. by Equal_Caregiver_4909
Bad luck is still luck.
Warrangota t1_j6o68p4 wrote
Reply to comment by local_drunk in TIL redwood trees -- growing to heights of 350 feet or more (over 100 meters) -- have roots that go only about ten feet into the ground. by OccludedFug
A very good question, /u/local_drunk
Starkrall t1_j6o6137 wrote
Reply to comment by hobbitdude13 in TIL your computer keyboard is 20,589 times dirtier than a toilet seat. The average office keyboard has 3,543,000 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per square inch while your average toilet seat only has 172 CFU per square inch by SappyGilmore
I saw a gamertag the other night that puts all cursed phrases to shame: DaughterMilker
AltonIllinois t1_j6o5vj6 wrote
Reply to TIL your computer keyboard is 20,589 times dirtier than a toilet seat. The average office keyboard has 3,543,000 colony-forming units (CFU) of bacteria per square inch while your average toilet seat only has 172 CFU per square inch by SappyGilmore
"How likely is either one to get you sick" is the only metric that counts.
drewismynamea t1_j6o4oav wrote
Reply to comment by MusicianIcy8975 in TIL Maria Sabina was an indigenous medicine woman who introduced the western world to psilocybin. Her community's rituals were appropriated for power and fame, and she died in poverty. by kerblooee
I know my viking ancestors did.
dressageishard t1_j6o4ib1 wrote
Reply to TIL that between 1895 and 1908 the population of the Belgian Congo declined by between 2 and 13 million due to colonial brutality and diseases caused by colonialism. by hetkleinezusje
The real sad part here is we don't know what we've lost. All of these innocent people could have made major contributions to the world. Who knows what poetry and literature was lost from these horrific deaths? Perhaps even the cure for major diseases was destroyed. We will never know. 😭😭😭😭
RogerKnights t1_j6o4bug wrote
Reply to TIL in 1940s and 50s America coin-op machines called the “Voice-O-Graph” were commonly available to instantly record a single vinyl record from an attached microphone for a few quarters by MustacheEmperor
I’m puzzled by the statements that the record was aluminum and used 78 rpm. I have a 16 2/3 rpm plastic record of me at age five in 1948 at the Empire State building. I last played it maybe 35 years ago and I don’t know where it is now. Was there another company making these? IIRC my mom may have said it cost $1.
YungGunConundrum t1_j6o3lgf wrote
Reply to TIL A school superindent in Texas resigned after accusations of a history of bullying and plagerism with a golden parachute of over $1 million. by nerdybird
That's a long grudge
He should have apologized like Billy Madison did to Danny McGrath
EddieRando21 t1_j6oalc7 wrote
Reply to comment by arlondiluthel in TIL Tom Brady was drafted by the Montreal Expos baseball team while still in high school, but instead chose to play football in college. This technically makes him the last player drafted by the Expos still playing professional sports. by _Abe_Froman_SKOC
That may be more due to Jimmy Gs abilities as a QB than what he actually was able to absorb from Brady.