TIL that the Cincinnati OH Public Library system is the second largest in the nation, by both collections and circulation, only behind the New York Public Library
en.wikipedia.orgu/MediumStrange — 3 days ago
r/todayilearned
TIL Board games can reduce your risk of dementia. Monopoly, Scrabble, Risk – take your pick. Board games can keep your brain healthy as you age, protecting your brain from cognitive decline and reducing your risk of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia
sciencefocus.comu/Batmaster1337 — 4 days ago
TIL one of the Oxford English Dictionary’s most prolific contributors cut off his own penis
theguardian.comu/ACol — 4 days ago
TIL the record for most words learned by a bird is held by not an African Grey or a Cockatoo, but a Parakeet named Puck who had a confirmed vocabulary of 1728 words
guinnessworldrecords.comu/Energylegs23 — 3 days ago
TIL that British stole tea from China through Robert Fortune who shaved his head, wore local Chinese clothing (including a pigtail), and posed as a wealthy official from a distant province to hide his accent. And stole 20,000 seeds to break China’s monopoly on tea by growing it in then British India
smithsonianmag.comu/Downtown_Ebb9600 — 5 days ago
TIL in 1740 the Dutch massacred over 10,000 Chinese people in colonial Indonesia after workers rebelled against government repression and economic exploitation. Just ~600-3,000 Chinese survived.
en.wikipedia.orgu/FreeAbortionfromDad — 4 days ago
TIL Kang Youwei and the Chinese Guangxu Emperor were inspired by how the Meiji reforms had transformed Japan so quickly into a modern power and they tried to replicate it before being crushed by Emperess Cixi and other Manchu conservatives
peopleshistoryofideas.comu/ubcstaffer123 — 5 days ago
TIL the longest conveyor belt in the world is in Morocco, 61mi/98km long, from the Western Sahara desert to a port on the Atlantic coast.
science.nasa.govu/dimsumwitmychum — 7 days ago
TIL the first Starship Troopers adaptation was a 1988 anime OVA
en.wikipedia.orgu/Chillonymous — 6 days ago
TIL Vincent van Gogh declared his love and proposed marriage to his cousin Cornelia "Kee" Vos-Stricker, to which she replied "No, nay, never." Months later, Gogh traveled to Amsterdam to meet her, but she refused seeing him. Her parents described his persistence as "disgusting".
en.wikipedia.orgu/Speed_Spin — 10 days ago
TIL that Henry D. Cogswell built free drinking fountains in major U.S. cities because he believed that people would drink less if they had access to free drinking water. They proved unpopular, and one in San Francisco was torn down by an angry anti-temperance mob.
en.wikipedia.orgu/slackmaster — 9 days ago
TIL when Spitfire and Hurricane engines kept cutting out in dives during WW2, the fix was a simple washer in the fuel line designed by Beatrice Shilling, an engineer who also raced motorbikes at Brooklands at over 100mph. It became known as "Miss Shilling's orifice".
en.wikipedia.orgu/eleanorharland — 10 days ago
TIL Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008) holds the world record for the longest cutscene in any video game, with a single continuous cutscene of 71 minutes and a total of over 8 hours of cutscenes
guinnessworldrecords.comu/Guitar-String — 10 days ago
TIL Jim Carrey has had a chipped tooth since he was a kid. For his role in "Dumb and Dumber" the dental bonding was just removed. Ed Helms never developed one of his front teeth. For his role in "The Hangover", he just had his dental implant removed.
yorkshiredentalsuite.co.uku/Double-decker_trams — 9 days ago
TIL The Celtic custom of "handfasting" allowed couples to enter into a trial marriage lasting one year and a day. If the relationship didn't work out, the couple could separate without any further attachment. Successful couples would marry.
en.wikipedia.orgu/TangerineDream92064 — 10 days ago
TIL Napoleon III escaped from a fortress where he was serving a life sentence by disguising himself as a laborer and walking through the main gates carrying a large plank over his shoulder to hide his face. Six years later, he became Emperor of France.
napoleon.orgu/1salt1pepper — 11 days ago
▲ 3.8k r/todayilearned
TIL coffee (the drink) wasn’t invented until the 1400s in Yemen, who maintained a virtual monopoly on it until Dutch smuggled the plant to Java in the 1600s
en.wikipedia.orgu/Ishmael_1974 — 9 days ago
TIL that one of the co-creators of Keurig coffee machines sold his stake for $50,000 in 1997. In 2010 more than $2 billion of Keurig machines and K-Cups were sold.
archive.boston.comu/TMWNN — 10 days ago
TIL that Will Sawin enrolled at Yale at the age of 10, and graduated from both Yale and high school at the age of 18. He received a PhD from Princeton at the age of 23 and is the Fernholz Professor of Mathematics there.
en.wikipedia.orgu/TMWNN — 10 days ago
TIL that in 2014, an elementary school in Oregon nixed its pay-to-pee policy for students after parents complained that students who had to pay "Super Pro" bucks to use the bathroom outside of scheduled breaks were incentivized to 'hold it in' so they could buy trinkets at the school store.
abcnews.comu/Sandstorm400 — 10 days ago