/f/todayilearned
Submitted by ethereal3xp t3_10sk85f
Submitted by Desolecontra t3_117wc6p
TIL exactly what it means to be “Hanged, drawn and quartered”: “…fastened to a hurdle, or wooden panel, and drawn by horse to the place of execution, where he was then hanged (almost to the point of death), emasculated, disembowelled, beheaded, and quartered (chopped into four pieces).”
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by CatsKittensCatsBunny t3_11eldh9
Submitted by Gullible_Skeptic t3_11dq6bh
TIL as an alternative to Brigham Young’s wagon train trip to Salt Lake, Sam Brannan chartered a ship Brooklyn to take 238 passengers from New York, around the Cape Horn to Hawaii and then what is now San Francisco. Brannon then walked overland through Utah and met Young in what is now Wyoming.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by triviafrenzy t3_1163z9q
TIL that the labels on Angostura bitters bottles are intentionally annoying. The original brothers entered a competition and due to a miscommunication, wound up with wrong size labels. A friendly judge suggested the brothers make that label their signature. The advice stuck.
esquire.comSubmitted by dmanlian t3_11dgwjo
TIL that despite having brains the size of poppy seeds, bees are able to recognize and remember human faces. In a study, researchers paired images of human faces with sugar-laced water, and bees were able to recognize and remember the faces even when the reward was no longer present.
ideas.ted.comSubmitted by MaleficentTop6074 t3_11bsrxd
Today I learned Tabula rasa (blank slate) is the theory that individuals are born without built-in mental content and therefore all knowledge comes from experience or perception, which is in direct contrast to Innatism which is the idea that the mind is born with ideas, knowledge, and beliefs.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by St3v3nMS3 t3_110vmxc
TIL that the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night" was the opening line to an actual novel published in 1830, but runs on for another 51 words: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which..."
mprnews.orgSubmitted by dylancatlow t3_1130u8q
TIL that Air Tahiti Nui Flight 64 holds the record as the world's longest domestic flight. The flight was between Papeete in French Polynesia and Paris (15,715 km/9,765 mi) taking 16h20. The current longest domestic flight is AF647 between Saint-Denis, Réunion and Paris (9,349 km/5,809 mi/11h40)
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by SteO153 t3_11akxj1
TIL Tolkien assisted on the Oxford Dictionary's first edition, focused on 'W' words waggle to warlock. He "learned more in those two years than in any other"; and certain etymologies continued to puzzle him for years, with many pages of notes written later on 'walrus' for a lecture at Leeds
public.oed.comSubmitted by PianoCharged t3_11c604h