/f/todayilearned
Submitted by Malixshak t3_11e07os
TIL Shogun Tokugawa Ieyasu, who started the persecution of Catholics, died in 1616 and for many centuries it was believed to be from over-eating tempura, a dish invented by Catholics during Lent while they were visiting Japan in 1543, which was the same year the Shogun had been born. (Maybe Cancer)
ucatholic.comSubmitted by FizzlePopBerryTwist t3_119s09j
TIL The most abundant wild bird on planet earth is the Red-billed Quelea. The birds fly in flocks of 2 million or more and in such tightly synchronized masses they can be mistaken at a distance for clouds of smoke. Single colonies can cover hundreds of acres, totaling tens of millions of birds.
audubon.orgSubmitted by Bluest_waters t3_11ec669
TIL: Since 1199, two counties in England will annually hold a competition event called "Atherstone Ball Game", in which participants from each towns fighting over a giant football for 2hrs. The only two rules are 1. It has to be held at the certain street and 2. No killing.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by poclee t3_118qzan
TIL that in 1846 Christian Friedrich Schönbein discovered a formula for nitrocellulose when working in his kitchen. He spilled nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the kitchen table, wiped it up with a cotton apron, then hung it on the stove door to dry. As soon as it was dry, the apron ignited.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Do_Not_Go_In_There t3_11ax8y6
TIL American ballet dancer Tanaquil Le Clercq contracted polio at age 27 in 1956 and was confined to a wheelchair. Le Clercq began studying with George Balanchine at age 12 and married him at age 23. When she was 15, Balanchine choreographed a dance for a polio benefit which presaged her illness.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by WonderWmn212 t3_11du0bn
TIL about Janet Parker, the last person to die of smallpox in 1978. She worked above one of the last labs in its last months of permission to study the virus. The day Janet's viral strain was confirmed, Henry Bedson, the doctor in charge of the lab, took his own life.
whyy.orgSubmitted by w0mpum t3_11aw8gz
TIL the deacon Saint Lawrence was roasted alive on a giant grill during the persecution of Valerian. The poet Prudentius tells that he joked with his tormentors, "Turn me over—I'm done on this side". He is now the patron saint of cooks, chefs, and comedians.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by ALasagnaForOne t3_11dqv3q
TIL that +/- 42k years ago, the “Adam’s Event”, a reversal of Earth’s magnetic poles, may have led to the extinction of mega fauna, Neanderthals, and forced humans into caves as the earth experienced intense periods of cosmic radiation, solar winds, electrical storms, and drastic climate change.
geographyrealm.comSubmitted by GonzoVeritas t3_11ejqd4
Submitted by Malixshak t3_11e4f6q