Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

Ground2ChairMissile t1_j6p2ajg wrote

Reply to comment by Madfromreefer in TIL Most archaeologists now agree the Orion Correlation Theory — the idea that the pyramids specifically aligned with the three stars of Orion's Belt some 10,000 years ago — is a fringe idea. by clayt6

Because the layout of the three main pyramids kinda sorta looks like Orion's Belt from the air.

Except it's flipped. Hence the (wrong) idea that it looked really different thousands of years ago.

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A_brown_dog t1_j6p1y07 wrote

Reply to comment by DMRexy in 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

That's the point, they literally saw gifts coming from heaven and some people riding chariots of fire flying through the skies, that religion is the only real one so far

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Lorpedodontist t1_j6p17jp wrote

Reply to comment by echidna_admirer in 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

This is important to understand.

The Belgians basically levied a tax on the population to produce rubber, and to enforce it, they hired African slavers, who after the slave trade ended, continued using brutal practices to extract as much wealth for themselves as they could.

The problem was really just how cruel people could be to other people. I don't think the Europeans actually understood just how bad things had gotten. They just cared that the rubber kept coming to fuel rapid industrialization in Europe.

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Middcore t1_j6p080i wrote

Reply to comment by Fetlocks_Glistening in TIL that the third best selling album of all time, ahead of Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon, is the soundtrack for 1992 film The Bodyguard by Linguini_gang

"Modern civilization" meaning... 1992, when The Bodyguard came out? 1973, when DSotM came out?

Why does it matter that one extremely successful pop album sold a little more than another? It's not like Pink Floyd toiled in obscurity. What's wrong with Whitney Houston? She was an incredibly gifted singer.

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