/f/todayilearned

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TIL about Deaf lifeguard Leroy Colombo, who overcame childhood paralysis through swimming and saved a record-breaking 900+ lives during his career. His swimming talent and use of sight rather than sound to identify drowning swimmers allowed him to save people other lifeguards would have missed.

americacomesalive.com

Submitted by lemontreelemur t3_yvg986 on November 14, 2022 at 11:29 PM

121 comments

5,561

TIL: Weezer's first gig was opening for Keanu Reeves' band Dogstar

faroutmagazine.co.uk

Submitted by quegrawks t3_zy8f3i on December 29, 2022 at 3:44 PM

123 comments

5,351

TIL A newborn baby is 75% water at birth. A slightly higher water content than bananas, but slightly less than potatoes.

npr.org

Submitted by Imbiberr t3_127k1nu on March 31, 2023 at 12:34 PM

156 comments

5,338

TIL that Fahrenheit 451, a book about a distopian future where books are banned and burned, was banned and burned by the apartheid regime in South Africa with other tens of thousands.

theconversation.com

Submitted by open_closet t3_yf5bt0 on October 27, 2022 at 10:22 PM

141 comments

5,328

TIL in response to infamously high suicide rates at Mapo Bridge in Seoul, South Korea, the bridge was adorned with suicide prevention messages and uplifting photos. These measures weren't enacted by the government, however, instead the entire project was financed by Samsung's life insurance division

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by evilclownattack t3_yysu8j on November 18, 2022 at 7:48 PM

174 comments

5,310

TIL: That in 2019, some criminals were caught and 36 BTC was confiscated. The authorities valued the worth at €127,000 at the time and was sold 2 years later for €1.5 million. The criminals were returned €1.3 million due to the fact that the amount was expressed in Swedish Krona, not BTC

euronews.com

Submitted by Wendals87 t3_ypkcsg on November 8, 2022 at 12:13 PM

152 comments

5,231

TIL that Walt Disney World began as "The Florida Project". Dummy corporations were used, by Walt Disney Productions, to buy up 27,000 acres of land to avoid bursts of land speculation in the Orlando area. Early rumors assumed possible development by NASA, Ford, the Rockefellers, and Howard Hughes.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by jdward01 t3_126m75p on March 30, 2023 at 12:58 PM

147 comments

5,107

TIL The inventor of the television was a 15 year old farm boy who got the idea for scanning an image in rows from the back and forth motion of plowing a field.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by chapstickninja t3_z8tirl on November 30, 2022 at 2:55 PM

90 comments

5,026

TIL that many pro archers use surprise release mechanisms to prevent themselves from anticipating and reacting to the impending impact.

themeateater.com

Submitted by broogernavn t3_z5zy0e on November 27, 2022 at 12:22 PM

200 comments

4,866

TIL Betty White was nominated in the 1st Emmy category for female performers in 1950, 1 of the first women to have full creative control of her own TV show, while she was still living at home with her parents, the1st woman to host her own talk show and 1st woman to win an Emmy for game show hosting

biography.com

Submitted by 54_actual t3_zwxyru on December 28, 2022 at 2:37 AM

59 comments

4,830

TIL that the phrase "It was a dark and stormy night" was the opening line to an actual novel published in 1830, but runs on for another 51 words: "It was a dark and stormy night; the rain fell in torrents — except at occasional intervals, when it was checked by a violent gust of wind which..."

mprnews.org

Submitted by dylancatlow t3_1130u8q on February 15, 2023 at 3:39 PM

196 comments

4,702

TIL that Titanic crewman Herbert Pitman made an attempt to row his lifeboat over to rescue people in the water, but was overruled by the other occupants of the boat, who were worried about people swarming them and duly complied. Pitman said that this haunted him throughout his life.

wikipedia.org

Submitted by ChadExtra t3_10iuu73 on January 22, 2023 at 9:30 PM

186 comments

4,627

TIL Creedence Clearwater Revival was only active for four years (1968-1972), with seven studio albums. They still hold the record for most singles (nine) to reach the Top 10 on Billboard's Hot 100 without ever scoring a #1.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by Torley_ t3_10aqatk on January 13, 2023 at 9:28 AM

174 comments

4,493

TIL that ligers (the offspring of a male lion and female tiger) are the largest big cat because, unlike lionesses, female tigers do not possess growth-limiting genes to counter the growth-maximising genes of male lions.

britannica.com

Submitted by argh-ok t3_11829gm on February 21, 2023 at 12:26 PM

108 comments

4,456

TIL cholera was reintroduced to Haiti after a century by UN peacekeepers responding to the 2010 earthquake. The resulting outbreak was the worst on record, killing 10,000 and infecting 820,000.

reuters.com

Submitted by theworkinglad t3_10n3h9a on January 28, 2023 at 2:18 AM

157 comments

4,452

TIL that the Slurpee was invented by accident when a Dairy Queen owner would provide frozen soda, from a cooler, to customers when his soda fountain would break down. The owner, Omar Knedlik, improvised the Icee machine out of car parts, which was eventually licensed by 7-11, to become the Slurpee.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by jdward01 t3_11dfaiu on February 27, 2023 at 4:00 PM

87 comments

4,449

TIL to finish writing The Hunchback of Notre Dame within an impossible deadline of 6 months, Victor Hugo locked his clothes away, making him unable to go outside and procrastinate which forced him to do anything but finish writing his book.

theweek.com

Submitted by Old_Sport7920 t3_118ohfw on February 22, 2023 at 4:09 AM

154 comments

4,419

TIL that in 2005 burglars stole $71.6 million from a bank in Fortaleza, Brazil by setting up a fake landscaping company near the bank and digging a 256ft tunnel beneath two city blocks to the bank over 3 months. Neighbors noticed vanloads of soil removed daily but assumed it was business-related.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by Lagavulin16_neat t3_ya4qel on October 21, 2022 at 9:05 PM

115 comments

4,351

TIL the first confirmed victim of Takata airbags was 18y/o Parham. As she drove around a car park, she lightly bumped another vehicle making the airbag inflate, sending metal pieces at such tremendous force that one hit the teen’s neck slicing open her carotid artery. She bled to death in her seat

news.com.au

Submitted by ahm713 t3_y35ori on October 13, 2022 at 6:14 PM

152 comments

4,344

TIL The Rocky Horror Picture Show is still in limited release after 47 years making it the longest-running theatrical release in film history

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by shakeyjake t3_1196b7z on February 22, 2023 at 5:55 PM

178 comments

4,280

TIL Sigmund Freud made the decision to flee Austria after his daughter Anna was interrogated by the Gestapo for nearly 12 hours. He was able to buy safe passage out of Austria just in time with 31,000 Reich marks in 1938

theglobetrottingteacher.com

Submitted by Ok_Copy5217 t3_zvhcs1 on December 26, 2022 at 6:57 AM

156 comments

4,273

TIL Jimmy Carter signed the Alaska National Interest Lands Conservation Act, the single largest expansion of protected lands in history which more than doubled the size of the National Parks System

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by Guardax t3_122r9cd on March 26, 2023 at 4:17 PM

63 comments

4,210

TIL In Approximately 241,000 years, Nanga Parbat #9 tallest mountain in the world located in Pakistan will overtake Everest and will become the tallest mountain in the world.

bbc.com

Submitted by AdClemson t3_11dh6vo on February 27, 2023 at 5:18 PM

200 comments

4,183

TIL that when Unsolved Mysteries aired a segment on missing child Nyleen Marshall, they were contacted by a man who thought he might have gone to school with Nyleen. This turned out not to be Nyleen, but a different missing child, Monica Bonilla, who had been abducted by her noncustodial parent.

en.wikipedia.org

Submitted by TychaBrahe t3_zm43y5 on December 14, 2022 at 10:22 PM

46 comments

4,129

TIL that cats are more vocal with humans than with other cats.

rover.com

Submitted by Everyusernametaken1 t3_10i6zu7 on January 22, 2023 at 1:04 AM

130 comments

3,843