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 there wasn't a year 0 (www.timeanddate.com)
Year AD 1 directly followed year 1 BC, without the year count ever reaching zero.
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 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 that approximately 70% of the world’s vegetarians live in India. (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL a full-grown person can eat 70 to 80 hot dogs in a 10-minute space before their body starts to shut down (www.popsci.com)
Hot dogs are dangerously good. Beyond high fat and sodium content and the choking hazard, there’s a limit to how many your body can digest.
TIL bee suits are customarily white because by wearing white, a beekeeper can approach and open the hive without the bees becoming defensive and attacking as bees dislike dark coloured animals. (www.manukavet.com)
Have you ever wondered why beekeepers wear white? Is it to see when a bee lands on them, to stay cool when its hot or is it a fashion trend that has stuck?The answer is simple and evolutionary. In ord
TIL: The Greek intellectual Hypatia was accused of witchcraft in March 415 CE where a mob seized her from her carriage, dragged her into a church, carved out her eyes and her living flesh with oyst... (lithub.com)
In the early fifth century, a time when the increasingly powerful Catholic Church clashed with the remainders of the pagan world, Hypatia of Alexandria was a renowned pagan mathematician, scientist…
TIL that in the 1980s, Tom Fogerty, rhythm guitarist for Creedence Clearwater Revival, underwent back surgery, and was given a blood transfusion that was not screened for HIV causing him to become ... (www.grunge.com)
It was reported that Fogerty’s tuberculosis was a complication from the AIDS virus, which he acquired from a tainted blood transfusion during back surgery.
TIL of Matilda Gage, the Women's suffragist who defied the US government. She is relatively unknown compared to other revolutionaries because she was too progressive for her time. (www.bbc.com)
TIL that when Robert de Niro was in the process of receiving Italian citizenship, he faced opposition from the Italian American group Sons of Italy, who claimed that De Niro had damaged the public ... (www.theguardian.com)
An influential Italian-American organisation has appealed to Silvio Berlusconi, asking the prime minister to cancel Italy’s plan to award De Niro honorary citizenship.
TIL the UK’s oldest joke is a crude riddle that features in the Exeter Codex and dates back to the 10th Century AD - What hangs at a man’s thigh and wants to poke the hole that it’s often poked bef... (www.wlv.ac.uk)
University of Wolverhampton is a large UK university based in the West Midlands, offering undergraduate degrees and postgraduate courses across 4 faculties.
TIL the real reason Steve left Blues' Clues was because he was suffering from depression (variety.com)
After years of death rumors and depression, original ‘Blue’s Clues’ host Steve Burns is opening up about his return to the franchise.
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 married people who undergo gastric bypass surgery and lose significant weight are twice as likely to get divorced. (www.upmc.com)
A new Pitt study shows that adults who get weight-loss surgery are more than twice as likely to get married or divorced in the next five years
TIL A disgruntled Chinese man, who was recently single, organized for every odd numbered seat to be bought for the premiere screening of a romance movie on Valentine's Day, forcing couples to sit o... (www.today.com)
Chinese couples looking for a relaxed Valentine’s Day evening at the movies will find their hopes thwarted at one cinema in Shanghai. A group of dateless singles pre-bought every odd-numbered seat for v-day premiere screenings of “Beijing Love Story” at a movie theater in the city’s popular Xintiandi shopping complex,...
TIL that a TV show called “This Is Your Life” invited Kiyoshi Tanimoto, a Japanese minister and atomic bomb survivor from Hiroshima. The show also featured a surprise guest, Robert Lewis, copilot o... (electricliterature.com)
by Mike Meginnis A 1950s television show did the unthinkable: surprise a victim of the Hiroshima bombing by introducing him to one of the bombers on live TV. Running from 1952 to 1961, This is Your Life was an emotionally intense experiment in early reality TV. Subjects were lured to the studio under false pretenses, then host...
TIL that a day on earth used to be just 19 hours long (www.popularmechanics.com)
I wish a day had more 24 hours
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 most Americans belived Indians ate live snakes and monkey brains after watching Indiana Jones and The Temple of Doom (www.mashed.com)
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 Sam Kinison and Roseanne Barr were the inspiration for two leading roles on TV's "Married...With Children" and both turned it down (www.vulture.com)
While Married with Children hasn’t aged as well as some of the sitcoms that were its contemporaries, the show’s influence is vast. Married with Children changed the way American families were portrayed in TV sitcoms, taking a drastic departure […]
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 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 in Japan raw eggs are generally safe to eat. This is because the country has developed a "super egg machine" that checks the inside of the eggs for salmonella using spectroscopic analysis. It a... (www.mashed.com)
While most eggs are considered unsafe to eat when raw, there's a scientifically interesting reason eggs are generally safe to eat raw in Japan.
