/f/todayilearned
TIL that “Firehawks” a collection of three Australian bird species, are the only animals besides humans known to use fire to hunt. They will pick up burning sticks from fires and carry them in their beaks and talons before dropping it in unburnt vegetation setting the ground ablaze driving prey out.
wildlife.orgSubmitted by TodAllen-99 t3_122kgtb
TIL that American Cheese was originally cheddar cheese, known as American or Yankee Cheddar and was being exported back to England by 1790. After James L. Kraft patented a method for manufacturing processed cheese in 1916, the term "American Cheese" was used to refer to Kraft's processed version.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jdward01 t3_123q1sa
TIL of Columbia, the personification of the United States for over 200 years, and was even the alternate name for the United States. She is the reason for the District of Columbia, British Columbia, etc. She was replaced by Lady Liberty, and was gradually forgotten after WWI.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by SamtheCossack t3_1242le0
TIL Benzodiazepines were originally marketed in the 1960s for the relief of anxiety, stress and insomnia and became very popular with women of the time. The gendered cultural meanings of Valium, a well-known benzodiazepine, was cemented in the 1966 Rolling Stones’ song “Mother’s Little Helper”.
ncbi.nlm.nih.govSubmitted by foodude84 t3_1251i4w
TIL Elvis Presley craved the Fool's Gold Loaf, which consists of a hollowed-out loaf of French bread filled with one 1-lb. jar each of creamy peanut and grape jelly and a pound of fried bacon. It packs ~8,000 calories. He and friends once flew from Memphis to Denver to eat 30 of them.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by grandmamimma t3_128068w
TIL about the lia radiological accident, where three Georgians discovered two abandoned radioactive sources in the forest around which "there was no snow for about a 1 m (3.3 ft) radius, and the ground was steaming", they then decided to use them as heat sources for the night. One died.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by madplayshd t3_xwrcwo
TIL that when he was an 18-year-old high school senior LeBron James was offered $10 million by Reebok on the spot, under the condition that he would not speak with Nike or Adidas. He turned down the offer and later signed a $90 million deal with Nike.
cnbc.comSubmitted by Lagavulin16_neat t3_y0ut7q
TIL since its premiere in 1987 the show Unsolved Mysteries has helped locate half of the wanted fugitives it has featured, reunited over 100 lost loves and freed 7 prisoners who were wrongfully convicted. An additional 260+ cases involving murder, missing persons and fraud have also been solved.
unsolved.comSubmitted by GoodSamaritan_ t3_y9uosm
TIL that the geologist Michel Siffre spent 2 months underground without time cues to study how his body clock adapted, repeated the experiment for even longer on himself and more subjects, and discovered that their bodies tended to switch to a 48-hour clock. In one case, one even slept 34 hours.
cabinetmagazine.orgSubmitted by ShabtaiBenOron t3_yayvpq