/f/todayilearned
TIL Pope John Paul II forgave his attempted assassin Mehmet Ali Ağca who shot him four times in 1981. At the Pope's request, the Italian President pardoned Ağca of the crime and he was deported back to Turkey. Ağca requested to meet Pope Francis in 2014 but Francis chose to decline.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by ChronosBlitz t3_xv983s
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 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 upon ascending to the throne, Mehmed III, the 13th sultan of the Ottoman empire, ordered that all of his nineteen brothers be executed. Fratricidal successions were not unprecedented, as sultans would often have dozens of children with their concubines.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jcd1974 t3_xtzxl8
TIL Some flying insects have biologic versions of gyroscopes. The haltere is a small bell like structure that vibrates and can account for changes in rotation using the Coriolis effect, so the insect knows its position and can make corrections.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_xtqkb9
Submitted by trinerr t3_yf3z0b
TIL artist Salvador Dali illustrated a 1969 edition of Alice in Wonderland, with only 2,700 copies printed. It included twelve illustrations and a front-cover etching signed by Dali himself. Signatures of Dali can be spotted throughout, such as the melting clock found at the Mad Tea Party.
mymodernmet.comSubmitted by PianoCharged t3_y5rxxu
TIL Michael DeBakey, developed over many years the technique of replacing the damaged aorta with a tube made of polyethylene terephthalate. He himself suffered aortic dissection at the age of 97 and survived for two years thanks to the technique he developed himself.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by Bobba_fat t3_ycjsn2
TIL about the female Pharaoh Hatshepsut. The daughter of Thutmose I and his first wife, she married her half-brother, Thutmose II, and was his first wife. When Thutmose II died, she became regent for the baby Thutmose III, her husband's heir by another wife. She ruled 22 years until her death.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by marmorset t3_y8xoxa
TIL dunce caps were originally a sign of high intelligence and wisdom. Philosopher and theologian John Duns Scotus was a proponent of pointy hats as a way to funnel knowledge to the mind and his followers, called Dunsmen, wore them. By the 1500s the Dunsmen fell out of favor as “behind the times”.
atlasobscura.comSubmitted by Aequitas05 t3_yhe7qd