Today I Learned (TIL)

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.

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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.

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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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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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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.

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

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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.

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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.

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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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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

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

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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.

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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.

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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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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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TIL that there’s a protein named Sonic Hedgehog (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ahlady on 2024-12-14 05:02:03+00:00.

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TIL Caribou are the only deer species that that male and female grow antlers. (canadiangeographic.ca)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/LowerGround318 on 2024-12-14 04:52:58+00:00.

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TIL that the platypus is not the only egg-laying mammal. Echnidas share that unique trait. (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/xFxD on 2024-12-14 04:43:21+00:00.

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TIL of the Mani pulite, a 1990s Italian corruption scandal that implicated over half the parliament and members of over 400 city and town councils. (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Idk_Very_Much on 2024-12-14 04:00:13+00:00.

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TIL the Hoover Dam was completed 2 years ahead of schedule (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/yowayb on 2024-12-14 03:37:21+00:00.

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TIL of the theory of nominative determinism in that people tend to gravitate towards careers that fit their names (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Blackdomino on 2024-12-14 03:14:18+00:00.