TIL that in the 1860s one meaning of "Trump" was "A good fellow; an excellent person". (archive.org)
Maybe the “great” America that Donald wants to take us back to is the 1860s?
TIL: The ancient Greek philosopher Plato has a IMDB page and is credited as a writer (and actor for some reason) (www.imdb.com)
TIL about the social history of Jell-O Salad (www.seriouseats.com)
TIL Ecuador has constitutional protections for the rights of nature, and those protections are actively determining environmental legal cases. (amp.theguardian.com)
A landmark case was won in 2021 ruling against the rights of a mining company to mine los cedros’ cloud forest, a high altitude rainforest, because it would harm the biodiversity of the area....
TIL abou the Amalgam Comics, a joint publication by DC & Marvel featuring characters that were a mix of those from both universes (en.wikipedia.org)
About the comics: antifandom.com/marvel/wiki/Amalgam_Comics...
TIL North Koreans cannot go to Japan (en.wikipedia.org)
The ancient Romans made many attempts to fix the calendar year before landing on 12 months and leap years (www.bbc.com)
I edited the title because my grammar is terrible
TIL about the concept of Weaponized Incompetence, which probably explains every issue you ever faced in a bureaucracy (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL Chess Boxing is a real thing (en.m.wikipedia.org)
Why you almost never see a clock at the mall (thehustle.co)
TIL Spurious Correlations now uses AI to generate explanations, papers, and images for the best correlations (www.tylervigen.com)
The heightened state of unease over the possibility of a 'Con Air' sequel resulted in an influx of security personnel. It just goes to show, when it comes to Nic Cage, the need for increased security is always 'Raising Arizona.'
TIL A Car Sponsored by Durex Condoms Kept F1 off British TV for much of 1976 (www.bbc.com)
It was arguably the most famous season in Formula 1 history, featuring thrilling racing, off-track controversies and the near-death of the sport’s most famous driver, Niki Lauda, as he battled James Hunt for the world championship....
TIL The term "joystick" does not originate from video games, and was first coined in 1909 (en.m.wikipedia.org)
The origin of the term is contested, but may be derived from “George Stick”, named for a possible inventor....
TIL May Day, not on the same day as US Labor Day, started "in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago (1886)." (www.britannica.com)
In 1889 an international federation of socialist groups and trade unions designated May 1 as a day in support of workers, in commemoration of the Haymarket Riot in Chicago (1886). Five years later, U.S. Pres. Grover Cleveland, uneasy with the socialist origins of Workers’ Day, signed legislation to make Labor Day—already...
TIL personal credit scores only started in 1989 (en.m.wikipedia.org)
I always assumed credit scores were an integral and historic part of the American financial system....
TIL 2010 Vancouver luge gold medallist Felix Loch had his medal melted into two discs and gave one to the parents of a deceased competitor who died in a practice run on the day of the opening ceremony (www.si.com)
TIL that the white stuff that sometimes appears on chocolate is called "chocolate bloom". (en.wikipedia.org)
TIL that platypuses glow under a UV light (www.nationalgeographic.co.uk)
Just when I think they cant be any more absurd, the little fuckers surprise me again. Here’s some more interesting facts about the platypus:...
TIL that a billionaire bought Lonely Planet and put an inexperienced 24 year old wedding photographer in charge (www.nbcnews.com)
Colorado city of Loveland is hub of postal activity each Valentine’s Day (www.theguardian.com)
TIL about the gameboy accessory that gasses kids to sleep for surgery (www.destructoid.com)
A new piece of medical equipment is being tested right now called the Pedisedate. Basically, it is a headset that is placed on a child before they are admitted to surgery. The device connects to a Game Boy or portable CD player (yup, not a Nintendo DS or iPod — apparently the Pedisedate also transports you to 1996) and a...
TIL: There is a sculpture with four cryptic passages in it that stands outside the CIA's George Bush Center for Intelligence in Virginia (en.wikipedia.org)
3 out of the 4 passages have solutions to date.
TIL Germany sometimes used VW Beetles as police cars (www.caranddriver.com)
TIL almost all vanilla plants are pollinated by hand. (en.wikipedia.org)
I was reading about Edmond Albius, the former slave who learned how to pollinate the vanilla plant (at age 12!), which is why we have commercial vanilla today....
TIL In the 1920s Russian scientist Ilya Ivanov tried to create a human-chimpanzee hybrid. Both attempts at inseminating chimpanzees with human sperm and women with ape sperm failed. (en.m.wikipedia.org)
