Newest - TodayILearned

TIL of Cáin Adomnáin, "Europes first human rights treaty". Created in 697 CE, were a set of laws - which kings across Ireland & Scotland agreed to follow - guaranteeing safety of non-combatants in war (en.wikipedia.org)

The Cáin Adomnáin, also known as the Lex Innocentium (Law of Innocents), was promulgated amongst a gathering of Irish, Dál Riatan and Pictish notables at the Synod of Birr in 697. It is called the “Geneva Accords” of the ancient Irish and Europe’s first human rights treaty, for its protection of women and...

TIL about Blanche Monnier, a French woman who was kept locked in a small room for 25 years after she tried marrying someone her mother didn't like. She laid there in her own excrement, starving, for over 2 decades. (en.wikipedia.org)

"In 1876, at the age of 27, she desired to marry an older lawyer who was not to her mother's liking; she argued that her daughter could not marry a "penniless lawyer".[4] Her disapproving mother, angered by her daughter's defiance, locked her in a tiny, dark room in the attic of their home, where she kept her secluded for 25...

TIL of the Kingdom of Bailundo, a non-sovereign monarchy located in Angola. Its king was notably deposed in 2021 after being charged of involvement in a murder (en.wikipedia.org)

Ekuikui V sometimes dubbed himself as the “king of (all) Ovimbundu”. In early 2021, Ekuikui V was sentenced to six years in prison by the Provincial Court of Huambo (TPH) for his implication in a murder in 2017. Ekuikui V had issued a judgment in a traditional court case, finding Jacinto Kamutali Epalangana guilty of killing...

TIL an ant mega-colony exists across 3 continents and is thought to contain billions of ants, all of which recognise each other to be from the same colony. The largest part of the colony is in Europe (news.bbc.co.uk)

TIL that in industrialized countries, the most widespread contact allergy is to nickel, impacting 8-19% of adults and 8-10% of children, with women being 4-10 times more likely to be affected than men. (en.wikipedia.org)

TIL During the 2000's, Google, Apple, Adobe, Intel, and several other mega corporations had a mutual agreement not to hire each other's employees in order to keep salaries low. This led to a 400 mil class action lawsuit. (www.npr.org)

The suit alleged Google, Apple Intel and Adobe agreed not to recruit each others employees in order to drive down wages.

TIL that rapper Redman outed MTV Cribs as completely fake and revealed that MTV would routinely rent out mansions to make guests appear wealthier than they were. (hiphophero.com)

TIL O Say, Can You See has a second stanza that has a slightly religious bent. (hymnary.org)

TIL about the philosophical concept of Solipsism: the only thing you can be truly sure exists is the Self. (en.m.wikipedia.org)

It's an extreme view, and not many professionals endorse it, but it is an interesting thought!

TIL Clown face paint designs and facial looks are copyrighted and unique to a clown performer. These are logged by painting them onto eggs. (www.smithsonianmag.com)

TIL How to Do Great Work (paulgraham.com)

July 2023...

TIL about Wu-Tang Clan's 'Once Upon a Time in Shaolin,' an album so exclusive, only one copy was ever produced. (en.wikipedia.org)

cross-posted from: lemmy.world/post/937094...

TIL city of Palm springs California would routinely burn down Black family homes to make room for shopping center redevelopments (www.bbc.com)

The state of California is considering giving the descendants of slaves $1.2m each.

TIL about the Delisle temperature scale, where the scale increases as temperatures get colder and decreases as they get hotter. Absolute zero Kelvin is 559.73°De and the temperature of the sun is -8100°De. (en.wikipedia.org)

The Delisle scale is notable as one of the few temperature scales that is inverted from the amount of thermal energy it measures; unlike most other temperature scales, higher measurements in degrees Delisle are colder, while lower measurements are warmer....

TIL Canadian researchers watched 'The Dr. Oz Show' and found that nearly 40% of the medical advice is not evidence-based, and 15% goes directly against evidence. (www.reliasmedia.com)

TIL that a parrot named Willie alerted its owner, Megan Howard, when a toddler began to choke. Willie began screaming "mama, baby" while flapping its wings as the child turned blue, saving the girls life. (www.telegraph.co.uk)

TIL human bodies can incinerate and turn to ash and dust instantly during a rapid implosion (kbin.social)

Titan Sub Implosion...

TIL How the CIA Infiltrated the World's Literature (www.vice.com)

The CIA developed several guises to throw money at young, burgeoning writers, creating a cultural propaganda strategy with literary outposts around the world, from Lebanon to Uganda, India to Latin America. The same agency that occasionally undermined democracies for the sake of fighting Communism also launched the Congress for...

TIL five Lithuanian soldiers were declared missing during training, thinking the search party's were part of the exercise they evaded detection for 24 hours. (www.lrt.lt)

Five soldiers serving in a reconnaissance unit were declared missing during a military exercise on February 4–6. Believi...

TIL that Sigourney Weaver only earned $35,000 for Alien (1979) but got $1,000,000 and a share of the profits for Aliens (1986) (www.joe.ie)

TIL that there were 26 families of passengers on the Mayflower that are known to have left descendants; it is estimated that over 30 million people can trace their ancestry back to those 26 families on the Mayflower. (www.aop.com)

10 Things You Might Not Know about the Mayflower

TIL of the Yuen Long attack, where hundreds of suspected Triad members, in order to "counter-protest", took to the streets, beating people indiscriminately with metal poles and wooden canes. (en.m.wikipedia.org)

I've been reading into the topic of the 2019-2020 HK protests, and I find this really familiar with the recent reddit protests. Both started with a not well taken change, both started peacefully, but were surrounded by controversy on both sides. There were also the change supporters, who eventually won when the higher power came...

TIL the infamous 1/3 (Third Pounder) burger was relaunched as the 3/9 burger to overcome certain customers' thinking it was smaller than McDonald's 1/4 (Quarter Pounder) burger with the tagline "It's Bigger/ genius." (www.thrillist.com)

TIL that producers of the 1980 STAR WARS Christmas music album replaced the lead singer for the track "R2-D2 We Wish You a Merry Christmas" with the 17 y/o kid who was sweeping floors at the studio, and he nailed it. His name was Jon Bon Jovi. (en.wikipedia.org)

Christmas in the Stars: Star Wars Christmas Album is a record album produced in 1980 by RSO Records. It features recordings of Star Wars-themed Christmas songs and stories about a droid factory where the robots make toys year-round for "S. Claus". Much of the album is sung and narrated by British actor Anthony Daniels, reprising...