Recent comments in /f/todayilearned

BobbyP27 t1_jdbzv2q wrote

Reply to comment by GrandmaPoses in TIL that the phrase “time immemorial” (as used in English common law) refers to any time prior to July 6, 1189 by b0b10b1aws1awb10g

The date was chosen to prevent precisely this situation. Prior to 1276, the law was whatever the king said it was at any moment. The idea of the introduction of the "common law" was to provide a proper legal system with courts and the like. They wanted people to be able to use the new courts to deal with relatively recent disputes, but not ancient ones. They therefore chose the date, the beginning of the reign of Richard I, as the cutoff date (which was 87 years prior). Anything that happened in that time period could be brought before the courts, including "yesterday", but anything older was in "time immemorial", so could not.

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BobbyP27 t1_jdbzfwq wrote

Reply to TIL that the phrase “time immemorial” (as used in English common law) refers to any time prior to July 6, 1189 by b0b10b1aws1awb10g

It's effectively a form of what we might now regard as a statute of limitations. With the Norman Conquest in 1066, there was a huge upheaval, and obviously lots of formerly important people lost land, rights and property. During the initial period after the conquest, the law was basically a combination of the King's word and what you could get away with. Later, when concepts like property law and courts independent of the King's whim at the time became a thing, they didn't want to have to deal with all these ancient grievances, so set a date, the start of the reign of Richard I, and deemed anything that happened before that to be "time immemorial" and therefore not subject to the legal system. If you can prove you owned something or had a legal right on that date, anything that happened before would not count. The date was set something like 80 years prior, so things in the relatively recent past would still be included, but things like "your great grandfather stole this field from my great grandfather" would not.

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Skunkdunker t1_jdbwyja wrote

Reply to comment by therealmattsteimel in TIL That E-cigarettes were first invented in the 1960s, but were never sold in order to protect the traditional cigarette market by TooOfEverything

I mean everything you said is true, but also, pretty much the only reason you can buy either of these now is because a company became successful enough to be a 'mega company.' I agree with your criticism of a bloated capitalism stifling innovation, but it doesn't help to include every large company with no differentiation when it is possible for them to cultivate and drive innovation.

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LisaCaserta t1_jdbrpv4 wrote

Reply to comment by VengefulMight in TIL that Al Pacino boycotted the 45th academy awards in 1973, because despite having more screen time than Marlon Brando, he was nominated for best supporting actor and not best actor. by VengefulMight

Very sad you make fun of a established award winning actor Godfather won 9 Oscars once u get best picture everyone gets the Oscar you the only difference is the cast members has to buy them last time I checked they went for 4k..you kids have no idea how hard it is to work on any film.

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draw2discard2 t1_jdbotzj wrote

Reply to TIL The Dick Van Dyke Show was originally written entirely by Carl Reiner, about stories from Reiner's life, and starred Carl Reiner. The pilot was unsuccessful so it was reworked with Dick Van Dyke playing Robert Petrie. by jamescookenotthatone

interesting to watch these shows for changes in social attitudes. Like, everyone knows that Rob and Laura slept in separate beds, but how many people realize that "oops!" he accidentally married her, semi-illegally, when she was 17?

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RockItGuyDC t1_jdbi9ha wrote

Reply to TIL of the Pig War, a border dispute between the US and the UK, around Vancouver Island (present-day Canada) and Washington State. The only casualty was a pig, owned by an Irish farmer, which was shot by an American farmer for eating his potatoes. Both countries deployed military troops. by drak0bsidian

This is crazy. I just learned about this over the weekend when I visited San Juan Island for the first time and visited English Camp National Monument. Wierd coinkydink.

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