Today I Learned (TIL)

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You learn something new every day; what did you learn today? Submit interesting and specific facts about something that you just found out here.

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251
1
TIL in 1780 James Jackson (well known as a duelist with a fiery temper) killed Georgia governor George Wells in a duel. In 1788, he was elected governor but declined it, citing his inexperience. I... (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-12-15 06:33:41+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 1780 James Jackson (well known as a duelist with a fiery temper) killed Georgia governor George Wells in a duel. In 1788, he was elected governor but declined it, citing his inexperience. Instead he served as a congressman & senator before being elected the 23rd governor of Georgia in 1797.

252
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TIL Game of Thrones became the most pirated TV show in history, with the season 7 finale streamed or downloaded over 1 billion times. By season 8, illegal viewership doubled legal numbers with 55M... (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2024-12-15 02:21:26+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Game of Thrones became the most pirated TV show in history, with the season 7 finale streamed or downloaded over 1 billion times. By season 8, illegal viewership doubled legal numbers with 55M downloads for the premiere. HBO eventually embraced the piracy buzz, calling it a “free-to-play” model.

253
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TIL of the most enigmatic structure in cell biology: the Vault. Often missing from science text books due to the mysterious nature of their existence, it has been 40 years since the discovery of t... (thebiologist.rsb.org.uk)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/HerbziKal on 2024-12-15 01:13:00+00:00.

Original Title: TIL of the most enigmatic structure in cell biology: the Vault. Often missing from science text books due to the mysterious nature of their existence, it has been 40 years since the discovery of these giant, half-empty structures, produced within nearly every cell, of every animals, on the planet.

254
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TIL that mammary glands are modified/based off sweat glands (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/shemegma on 2024-12-15 01:07:46+00:00.

255
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TIL that in 1907 French waiters went on strike for better pay, more time off - and the right to grow mustaches. At the time, lower-class workers were forbidden to have facial hair. (www.atlasobscura.com)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/coolranch36 on 2024-12-14 21:54:09+00:00.

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TIL that Cool Whip, Tang and Pop Rocks were all invented by the same man. (www.classiccitynews.com)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/j54t on 2024-12-14 21:10:58+00:00.

257
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TIL of the Casuarina (she-oak/Australian pine), a tree that looks like a pine tree with its needle-like leaves but is actually a flowering plant. (en.wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Dromeoraptor on 2024-12-14 19:31:55+00:00.

258
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TIL that two of the Apollo missions carried seismic experiments that fired rocket propelled grenades up to 1500 meters. Five of the grenades remain on the moon, unexploded. (www.standingwellback.com)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/squareabbey on 2024-12-14 19:51:17+00:00.

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TIL about Theseus, a robotic mouse created by Claude Shannon in the 1950s, which could learn to navigate mazes using telephone relay switches, marking one of the first instances of machine learnin... (mitmuseum.mit.edu)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ralphbernardo on 2024-12-14 19:11:14+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about Theseus, a robotic mouse created by Claude Shannon in the 1950s, which could learn to navigate mazes using telephone relay switches, marking one of the first instances of machine learning. Theseus helped researchers better understand routing in telephone networks of that era.

260
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TIL that Matt Karedas (Samurai Cop) was served time for stealing a Rembrandt painting and had no idea about the movie's cult status. (en.wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/GI_Joby on 2024-12-14 17:31:17+00:00.

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TIL the salary for Privates before the US entered WWII was only $0.70 per day ($15 in 2024) (moneywise.com)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/letseatnudels on 2024-12-14 17:52:21+00:00.

262
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TIL Mercury is closer to Earth, on average, than Venus is because it orbits the Sun more closely. Further, Mercury is the closest neighbor, on average, to each of the other seven planets in the so... (pubs.aip.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/GoinThruTheBigD on 2024-12-14 17:02:21+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Mercury is closer to Earth, on average, than Venus is because it orbits the Sun more closely. Further, Mercury is the closest neighbor, on average, to each of the other seven planets in the solar system.

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TIL “enshittification” was named 2023’s Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society. It describes the decline of platforms like social media and e-commerce: starting user-friendly, shifting t... (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2024-12-14 16:21:37+00:00.

Original Title: TIL “enshittification” was named 2023’s Word of the Year by the American Dialect Society. It describes the decline of platforms like social media and e-commerce: starting user-friendly, shifting to prioritize businesses, and eventually maximizing profits at users’ and customers’ expense.

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TIL that there's a programming language called APL. It stands for 'a programming language.' (www.britannica.com)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Busy-Contact-5133 on 2024-12-14 15:57:39+00:00.

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TIL of Colin Fleming Brien, a WWII POW of the Japanese who survived his beheading, was buried alive, and dug his way out to make his way to a Japanese hospital where he recovered (imtfe.law.virginia.edu)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Idk_Very_Much on 2024-12-14 15:45:37+00:00.

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TIL in 2007 Trey Parker & Matt Stone, creators of South Park, negotiated an ad-sharing deal with Comedy Central that gave the creators a 50-50 split on all digital revenue. Those digital right... (www.hollywoodreporter.com)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-12-14 12:54:35+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 2007 Trey Parker & Matt Stone, creators of South Park, negotiated an ad-sharing deal with Comedy Central that gave the creators a 50-50 split on all digital revenue. Those digital rights helped them reportedly sign a $935 million, six-year deal in 2021; one of the biggest deals in TV history.

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TIL - the pH scale used in chemistry and medicine was developed at the Carlsberg R&D lab in their effort to provide a more consistent product to their customers (en.wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Old_Fart_on_pogie on 2024-12-14 10:46:30+00:00.

268
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TIL although Mongols form less than 0.45% of China's population, it's still ~6.3 million people. Mongolia itself has a total population of ~3.5 million people with ~96% of them being Mongols. (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Double-decker_trams on 2024-12-14 09:43:09+00:00.

269
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TIL that neutron star mergers can produce anywhere between 3 and 13 Earth masses of gold (en.wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Conspark on 2024-12-14 08:28:37+00:00.

270
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TIL that the person who co-wrote the Christopher Nolan Batman Trilogy also co-wrote Call of Duty Black Ops I and II (en.wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Danielnrg on 2024-12-14 07:49:34+00:00.

271
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TIL the typical Japanese dish "tempura" comes from Portugal. The name comes from Latin "tempora", meaning "times" or "time period", referring to fasting times when Cathloics avoided eating meat an... (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Double-decker_trams on 2024-12-14 07:30:50+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the typical Japanese dish "tempura" comes from Portugal. The name comes from Latin "tempora", meaning "times" or "time period", referring to fasting times when Cathloics avoided eating meat and ate fish or vegetables instead

272
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TIL Swiss German has no standard spelling. People write phonetically based on their dialect, so texts vary widely. Speakers can often tell someone's village by their accent or word choice. (en.wikipedia.org)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BezugssystemCH1903 on 2024-12-14 07:07:26+00:00.

273
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TIL that we humans are closer related to fungi than to plants (en.wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Vivaldi786561 on 2024-12-14 06:04:29+00:00.

274
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TIL of the Harry Potter prequel manuscript which was auctioned in 2008 and stolen in 2017. It remains missing. (wikipedia.org)
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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/HallowedAndHarrowed on 2024-12-14 05:25:09+00:00.

275
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TIL When Kim Wilde's '81 smash hit "Kids in America" was climbing the charts, Kim had never actually been to the US. The lyrics were written by her father who based them on a TV show he saw about ... (www.wilde-life.com)
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This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Bluest_waters on 2024-12-14 05:54:49+00:00.

Original Title: TIL When Kim Wilde's '81 smash hit "Kids in America" was climbing the charts, Kim had never actually been to the US. The lyrics were written by her father who based them on a TV show he saw about hardened, rebellious teens in America. The music was written by her brother.

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