TIL that the name Idaho was sold to Congress in the 1860’s as a Shoshone word meaning “Gem of the Mountains.” In reality, the word was likely completely made up.
en.wikipedia.orgu/carboncopy95437 — 1 day ago
r/todayilearned
▲ 1.3k r/todayilearned
TIL Fruit flies are considered model organisms to understand human alcoholism. Also, after extensive binge drinking males are known to engage in homosexual behavior
nature.comu/DrS2pid — 22 hours ago
TIL about Ghostwatch (1992) - a faux documentary investigating a haunting in the UK. It used real popular journalists/broadcasters and aired on one of the only four public channels in the UK where it frightened millions who thought it was real. It caused a national scandal and remains an infamous.
en.wikipedia.orgu/BeekyGardener — 1 day ago
TIL that 31,000 years ago, someone in Borneo successfully performed a surgical amputation on a child who then survived for another 6 to 9 years.
nature.comu/NIGLRT — 1 day ago
TIL NASA has found evidence of caves beneath the Moon that could shelter astronauts from radiation.
science.nasa.govu/nuitFleur — 1 day ago
▲ 897 r/todayilearned
TIL King Charles XIV John was born in France and became one of Napoleon’s leading generals, eventually serving as governor of Rome. He later became king of Sweden and Norway. He eventually turned against Napoleon, leading Swedish forces in the coalition that helped defeat his former emperor.
en.wikipedia.orgu/carboncopy95437 — 1 day ago
TIL the U.S. deliberately maintains hundreds of vulnerable ICBM silos partly as a“nuclear sponge.”In a first strike,an enemy would have to spend a huge portion of its arsenal destroying the 450 silos, diverting warheads away from other strategic targets and Cities
warontherocks.comu/Electronic_Cause_796 — 1 day ago
▲ 2.2k r/todayilearned
TIL that in South Korea in the 1970s, men couldn't have long hair and women couldn't have short miniskirts above their knees or less than 17cm long.
koreatimes.co.kru/Recent_Flounder6011 — 1 day ago
▲ 199 r/todayilearned
TIL The American RIAA sued Limewire for 72 Trillion USD in 2011 - more than three times the annual GDP of the entire planet, and more than the entire music recording industry has made since Edison’s invention of the phonograph in 1877.
en.wikipedia.orgu/PermaBanned4Misclick — 21 hours ago
▲ 2.1k r/todayilearned
TIL the 12 oldest living people in the world are all women.
en.wikipedia.orgu/karmicbreath — 1 day ago
TIL that former U.S. President george H. W. Bush was the sole survivor of the Chichihima incident during WWII, in which he and his 8 comrades were shot down during an air raid over the Japanese island of Chichihima. His comrades were taken prisoner, tourtured, and, in some cases, eaten.
en.wikipedia.orgu/RealMCKenzie — 1 day ago
TIL that Emperor Nero entered the Olympic chariot race in 67 AD with a team of ten horses, despite the event normally being a four-horse race. He was thrown from his chariot during the competition and was unable to finish, yet the judges still awarded him the victory.
olympedia.orgu/Czech_Coconut — 1 day ago
▲ 343 r/todayilearned
TIL that the three-legged figure on the flag of Sicily is called a 'triskelion'
en.wikipedia.orgu/Obvious-Desk4573 — 1 day ago
▲ 3.0k r/todayilearned
TIL that the largest Hindu temple outside India is in Robbinsville, New Jersey
usa.akshardham.orgu/FormerlyIestwyn — 1 day ago
▲ 2.9k r/todayilearned
TIL that in classical Athens, a wealthy citizen assigned to equip and maintain a warship could challenge a man he claimed was richer under a procedure called "antidosis," in which the challenged man had to take on the expense, swap property with him, or let a jury decide which was wealthier.
en.wikipedia.orgu/ralphbernardo — 1 day ago
▲ 219 r/todayilearned
TIL that an Englishman, Karl Bushby, began an immense journey entirely on foot in the 2000s, taking him from Latin America to Central Asia—a trek spanning approximately 27 years.
en.wikipedia.orgu/Zestyclose_Dig158 — 1 day ago
▲ 286 r/todayilearned
TIL that the twit-twoo sound a tawny owl makes is two owls in a duet. The female tawny owl is the one who makes the twit (kee-wick) sound and the male tawny owl is the one who makes the twoo (hoo-hoo) sound.
bto.orgu/mechanicalHART — 1 day ago
▲ 4.1k r/todayilearned
TIL that after the RMS Lusitania sank, the enquiry recorded that the ship had been struck by two torpedoes, as survivors reported two explosions as it was going down. However, the log of the U-Boat which attacked her was adamant that only one was fired. The source of the second explosion is unknown.
en.wikipedia.orgu/Sebastianlim — 1 day ago
▲ 2.2k r/todayilearned
TIL the English Crown was originally elective. A council called the Witan, made up of nobleman, local chiefs, and bishops, and chose and deposed Kings. They also advised and consented to laws the King passed, gathering opinion from across the realm to ensure a law had strong support.
en.wikipedia.orgu/Salem1690s — 1 day ago
▲ 1.6k r/todayilearned
TIL about "Introjecting Voices" - which can occur when our minds have internalised other people's voices, attitudes, beliefs or criticisms until becomes part of our own inner voice or inner critic, often without us consciously realising it.
dictionary.apa.orgu/AdMaximum7545 — 1 day ago