Today I Learned (TIL)

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TIL that Ford Motors released Edsel in the late 1950s. The model was marketed as futuristic and even its release date was dubbed “E Day”. Edsel catastrophically failed, cost Ford over $2.5 billion... (wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/horsepoop1123 on 2024-04-10 08:06:13.

Original Title: TIL that Ford Motors released Edsel in the late 1950s. The model was marketed as futuristic and even its release date was dubbed “E Day”. Edsel catastrophically failed, cost Ford over $2.5 billion in 2023 dollars, and quietly shut down 3 years after its release.

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TIL on 2nd July 1602 in Edinburgh Alexander Rowan ("ane cruel man") was hanged for “setting ane woman’s bare arse on ane girdill quhen it wes red hot” (oldweirdscotland.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Alarmed-Syllabub8054 on 2024-04-09 23:26:50.

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TIL Karpov vs. Kasparov, World Chess Championship 1984 match lasted for five months & five days. FIDE President Florencio Campomanes unilaterally terminated the match, citing the players' heal... (www.chess.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/rustyyryan on 2024-04-10 05:33:47.

Original Title: TIL Karpov vs. Kasparov, World Chess Championship 1984 match lasted for five months & five days. FIDE President Florencio Campomanes unilaterally terminated the match, citing the players' health despite both players wanting to continue. Karpov is said to have lost 10 kg over the course of the match.

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TIL that Project Stargate was a CIA plan to use psychic powers for spying (www.cnet.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/PDXAirman on 2024-04-10 03:07:17.

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TIL a 45-year-old Brazilian man died after a cow fell through his roof onto him (www.hindustantimes.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/KalloFox34 on 2024-04-10 00:04:59.

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TIL that Wilhem Keital, chief of the German high command during WW2, was an uncle of Katherine Oppenheimer. This would make him the uncle in law of Robert Oppenheimer. (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Theofficialpark on 2024-04-10 01:19:36.

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TIL that Jennifer Aniston turned down the offer of being a cast member on Saturday Night Live (ew.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Hot_Ginger_Doll on 2024-04-10 01:39:33.

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TIL the arabic word for Hell, "Jahannam", is directly derived from Gehenna, a valley in Jerusalem. (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/TajineEnjoyer on 2024-04-10 00:35:10.

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TIL South Korea trained a secret military unit, unit 684, to assassinate North Korea's leader. Civilians were recruited to an island where the harsh training they endured killed 7 members. Despera... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/RollingNightSky on 2024-04-10 00:50:09.

Original Title: TIL South Korea trained a secret military unit, unit 684, to assassinate North Korea's leader. Civilians were recruited to an island where the harsh training they endured killed 7 members. Desperate to escape, the unit revolted in 1971, killing 18 guards to escape to mainland South Korea.

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TIL the Monty hall problem, where it is better for the contestant to switch from their initial choice to another, caused such a controversy that 10,000 people, including 1,000 PhDs wrote in, most ... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/mankls3 on 2024-04-09 23:47:43.

Original Title: TIL the Monty hall problem, where it is better for the contestant to switch from their initial choice to another, caused such a controversy that 10,000 people, including 1,000 PhDs wrote in, most of them calling the theory wrong.

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TIL that in 1976, US Coast Guard divers suffered second-degree burns after handling sediment samples from a bayou in Louisiana's "Cancer Alley" (www.latimes.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/coreyonfire on 2024-04-09 23:29:27.

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TIL fine particles of dust can explode and rapidly combust, even innocuous objects like flour or corn starch, due to the very large surface area of dust relative to its mass. One incident at a "co... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/zahrul3 on 2024-04-09 23:08:35.

Original Title: TIL fine particles of dust can explode and rapidly combust, even innocuous objects like flour or corn starch, due to the very large surface area of dust relative to its mass. One incident at a "color party" throwing colored corn starch resulted in 15 dead and 498 suffering from burns.

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TIL in a last ditch effort for the Confederacy at the end of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis secretly sent his chief diplomat to England and France, saying the Confederacy would abolish slavery in ... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/janmayeno on 2024-04-09 22:50:54.

Original Title: TIL in a last ditch effort for the Confederacy at the end of the Civil War, Jefferson Davis secretly sent his chief diplomat to England and France, saying the Confederacy would abolish slavery in order to achieve international recognition

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TIL One of the biggest bottlenecks in road work is soil compaction. Soil can’t effectively be compacted more than around a foot (30 cm) at a time. Any road work that affects the soil foundation ca... (practical.engineering)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/UndyingCorn on 2024-04-09 21:36:20.

Original Title: TIL One of the biggest bottlenecks in road work is soil compaction. Soil can’t effectively be compacted more than around a foot (30 cm) at a time. Any road work that affects the soil foundation can take months because of this.

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TIL about Emperor Norton I, the only Emperor of the United States of America. He was a San Francisco citizen who declared himself Emperor in 1859, and everyone just went along with it. He was belo... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Strong_Site_348 on 2024-04-09 20:56:22.

Original Title: TIL about Emperor Norton I, the only Emperor of the United States of America. He was a San Francisco citizen who declared himself Emperor in 1859, and everyone just went along with it. He was beloved by the people of the city and over 10,000 of them attended his funeral.

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TIL bobcats can breed with lynxes to produce blynxes (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ga3far on 2024-04-09 20:11:33.

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TIL why insects circle lights at night: They evolved to become masters of flight by relying on the brightest thing they see — the sky — to know which way is up and keep their back toward it. At ni... (theconversation.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/fiureddit on 2024-04-09 16:20:06.

Original Title: TIL why insects circle lights at night: They evolved to become masters of flight by relying on the brightest thing they see — the sky — to know which way is up and keep their back toward it. At night, they confuse artificial light for the sky, ending up trapped in a cycle trying to stay orientated.

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TIL Isaac Newton was also a member of the Parliament of England for Cambridge University in 1689 and 1701, but according to some accounts, his only comments were to complain about a cold draught i... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/gullydon on 2024-04-09 19:09:26.

Original Title: TIL Isaac Newton was also a member of the Parliament of England for Cambridge University in 1689 and 1701, but according to some accounts, his only comments were to complain about a cold draught in the chamber and request that the window be closed

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TIL the founding drummer for The Offspring was on trial for medical malpractice when he saved the life of a potential juror who went into cardiac arrest during the jury selection. Afterwards, the ... (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tenaciousdeev on 2024-04-09 19:43:47.

Original Title: TIL the founding drummer for The Offspring was on trial for medical malpractice when he saved the life of a potential juror who went into cardiac arrest during the jury selection. Afterwards, the judge ruled a mistrial to avoid biases from any of the potential jurors who saw him save a life.

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TIL the Allais Effect refers to the allegedly unexpected behavior of pendulums which is observed to occur only during a solar eclipse (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/bnrshrnkr on 2024-04-09 19:14:00.

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TIL that in 2018, a family walking along the beach in Australia discovered the oldest message in a bottle, which had been thrown into the sea back in 1886. (www.bbc.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/FrederickCrawfordN on 2024-04-09 18:58:57.

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TIL that "Ghost Marriage" is a Chinese tradition involving the marriage ceremony of one or both deceased individuals. (www.bbc.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/EugeneMilnerzogg on 2024-04-09 17:18:06.

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TIL there's a digital format called DAISY designed for audio reading and navigation of books, and it requires a decryption key from the Library of Congress (openlibrary.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/barris59 on 2024-04-09 14:45:31.

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TIL that Warren Buffett's (6th richest person in the world) son thought that his dad's job was checking security alarm systems; as a kid, had no idea what his dad did for a living and no clue that... (freakonomics.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/NoDontClickOnThat on 2024-04-09 17:30:18.

Original Title: TIL that Warren Buffett's (6th richest person in the world) son thought that his dad's job was checking security alarm systems; as a kid, had no idea what his dad did for a living and no clue that his dad was really, really rich

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TIL the first eclipse to be known in advance of its occurrence happened in 585 BC and was accurately predicted by Thales of Miletus. The methods he used for his prediction remain unknown. (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/bnrshrnkr on 2024-04-09 17:09:03.