TIL that the BBC had no archival policy until 1978, and many of its old broadcasts were only aired live. A number of BBC broadcasts are lost, including a show featuring a then-unknown Bob Dylan; 97... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL the design of the guillotine was intended to make capital punishment more reliable and less painful in accordance with new Enlightenment ideas of human rights. (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL the co-founder of Encyclopædia Britannica was a 4'6" tall Scot with crooked legs and an enormous nose that he would sometimes augment with a papier-mache version. He deliberately rode the talle... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL that the words "lesbian" and "sapphic" both come from this legendary woman named Sappho who lived on the island of Lesbos (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL of Dead Internet Theory that asserts the Internet now consists almost entirely of bot activity and automatically generated content (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL that because of the amount of time it saves, the washing machine has been called "the greatest invention of the industrial revolution.” Others have considered it a key driver of women’s liberat... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL that, unless it contains alcohol, kosher food is generally halal. However, halal food is not generally kosher; halal allows shellfish, camels, rabbits, and the mixing of meat and dairy, all of ... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL that Japanese Sumo wrestlers life expectancy is between 60-65 years old or about 20 years less than the typical Japanese male. (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL that approximately 70% of the world’s vegetarians live in India. (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL That Canada had its own version of Jim Crow laws that required many black children to attend segregated schools, separated blood transfusions by race, and allowed private business owners to ref... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL how trash is disposed of in modern large submarines. Trash is deposited into a Trash Disposal Unit (TDU) which collects and compacts it into a galvanized steel can. A ball valve is opened allow... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL of Kevin Budden, who caught a deadly taipan by hand and hitchhiked to town still holding the snake. He lost his grip and was bitten, but bagged the snake and made the driver promise to get it t... (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL about Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,' an album so exclusive, only one copy was ever produced. (en.wikipedia.org)
There are no circulating copies of the album online and it cannot be commercially exploited until 2103, but it can be played at listening parties....