/f/todayilearned
TIL in 2018 a Namibian musician set up a permanent solar-powered sound installation at an undisclosed location in the Namib Desert in Africa with six speakers attached to an MP3 player that play's Toto's classic tune 'Africa' on a continuous loop.
smoothradio.comSubmitted by big_macaroons t3_yih28w
TIL about Charles Howard, 20th Earl of Suffolk. He was responsible for rescuing a team of French nuclear scientists and the entire world stockpile of heavy water from France during WW2. He also served as part of an unexploded bomb detachment, successfully tackling 34 unexploded bombs
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by SteO153 t3_yfyf21
TIL about Ragamuffin Day, a celebration in the New York metro area in the late-1800s and early-1900s in which children wore costumes and went door-to-door asking for candy or money on Thanksgiving. It fell out of favor as trick-or-treating on Halloween gained acceptance in the 1940s and '50s.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by PikesPique t3_y1e2ft
TIL the band Yo La Tengo once reenacted the entire "The Chinese Restaurant" episode of "Seinfeld" live. This was part of their 2011 tour where the first half of every show was decided by a wheel of fortune spun by an audience member. Link includes a video of this moment.
vulture.comSubmitted by Bubbly-Incident t3_y0sptr
TIL of the Schön scandal, concerning physicist Jan Hendrik Schön, who rose to prominence after a series of breakthroughs with semiconductors that made him in contention for the Nobel prize. It was later discovered that all his research was completely fraudulent.
theguardian.comSubmitted by AmiroZ t3_y9vmck
TIL that a prison riot in 1985 on Spike Island near Cork, Ireland, ended after a mother of a prisoner heard what was happening, came to the island,& roared at her son through a megaphone after he had been on a roof for hours; it took only a few minutes of shouting & the remaining prisoners came down
irishexaminer.comSubmitted by newshoeshudis t3_yaz46h
Submitted by synonyco t3_yg5vqq