/f/todayilearned
TIL: James Blunt gave Weird Al Yankovic permission to parody his single "You're Beautiful." But after Yankovic recorded "You're Pitiful," Blunt's record label refused to let it be commercially released. Yankovic didn't include it on his album. Instead, he released it as a free digital download.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by theotherbogart t3_1206gai
TIL: A sex toy maker agreed to pay customers up to C$10,000 each for selling a “smart vibrator,” which tracked owners’ use without their knowledge. Two hackers had demonstrated the company was collecting information about users, including device temperature and vibration intensity.
theguardian.comSubmitted by theotherbogart t3_121oi52
TIL the earliest known account of Christianity from a non-Christian source is a letter (112 AD) of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan, asking for advice on dealing with a new and 'extravagant superstition' that had spread to several cities in Northern Turkey.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by SvanteArrheniusAMA t3_121w189
Submitted by 4m2r0s t3_122bb55
Submitted by martinbishop t3_122ugbe
Submitted by ComfortableTrash5372 t3_126qpoz
TIL a Berlin-based artist tricked Google Maps into thinking that a completely empty street was bursting with traffic by filling a wagon with 99 smartphones, opening Maps navigation on all of them, and then slowly pulling the wagon along Berlin streets.
interestingengineering.comSubmitted by The_Ry_Ry t3_xuh1bc
TIL that it is unknown why the Nobel Peace Prize is awarded in Norway despite the other Nobel Prizes being awarded in Sweden. Alfred Nobel, who the awards were established in memory of, said that it should be that way in his will and gave no explanation as to why
nobelprize.orgSubmitted by RizhiM t3_xupq29
TIL in the early 90s LL Cool J shared with his grandma that he couldn't survive as a rapper now that gangsta rap was popular. His grandma responded, "Oh baby, just knock them out!" which inspired him to write 'Mama Said Knock You Out' a grammy award winning certified platnum single.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by shaka_sulu t3_xygtrq
TIL the British had a secret WW2 plan called Operation Tracer to leave behind an observation post if the Germans captured Gibraltar. Six men were to be sealed inside a hidden chamber to observer the harbor and Strait of Gibraltar. They would have had 7 years of supplies and bicycle-powered radios.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Bandit_the_Kitty t3_y25jre