Today I Learned (TIL)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/kehillah on 2024-12-20 01:23:33+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/1000LiveEels on 2024-12-20 01:18:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that many of the first giant sequoia trees discovered by western explorers were cut down and exhibited at World's Fairs. Due to the sheer size of the trees, many fair attendees claimed they were hoaxes.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/DietDrBleach on 2024-12-20 01:08:25+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BiggieTwiggy1two3 on 2024-12-20 00:51:18+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Martha Gellhorn was the only woman reporter at the D-Day landings. Having been refused accreditation, she got there by stowing away in the toilet of a hospital ship until it set sail. She went ashore with medics to help bring back the wounded and reported on what she saw and heard.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Flares117 on 2024-12-19 19:11:36+00:00.

Original Title: TIL: In 2023, an infamous Mafia Hitman who was on the run for 16 years for killing people with a metal bar was discovered working as a pizza chef. His food became famous enough to be featured in the local newspaper which tipped off authorities.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Popepepe on 2024-12-19 18:36:04+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ozem_son_of_Jesse on 2024-12-19 18:08:10+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/TedTheodoreMcfly on 2024-12-19 12:09:17+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/sithmaster0 on 2024-12-19 16:53:02+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 1945, at 59 years old, Albert Stevens was misdiagnosed with terminal stomach cancer, and as a result was secretly injected with 131 kBq (3.55 μCi) of Plutonium as part of a human experimentation project by Joseph Gilbert Hamilton. It was later discovered the "cancer" was an inflamed ulcer.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/GabbotheClown on 2024-12-19 15:52:59+00:00.

Original Title: TIL: In the United Kingdom, Poland, Hungary, and the Netherlands, cassette data storage was so popular in the 80s that some radio stations would broadcast computer programs that listeners could record onto cassette and then load into their computer.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MajesticBread9147 on 2024-12-19 15:17:05+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Super_Goomba64 on 2024-12-20 00:32:19+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about the Dumont Network, the "Forgotten Network" that only lasted from 1940-1956. It competed with CBS and NBC, and, after the network went bankrupt, most of the network film tapes were dumped into the New York East River.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/haddock420 on 2024-12-19 22:31:08+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ShabtaiBenOron on 2024-12-19 13:39:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that even though he won the Academy Awards for best picture and director for "Gandhi" in 1982, Richard Attenborough was disappointed and openly claimed that Steven Spielberg's "E.T. the Extra-Terrestrial" should have won. Spielberg cast him as John Hammond in "Jurassic Park" to thank him.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/TZ-13 on 2024-12-19 07:59:59+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/HallowedAndHarrowed on 2024-12-19 20:54:40+00:00.

Original Title: TIL of the mystery soda machine on Capitol Hill Seattle, that operated from the late 1990’s until abruptly disappearing in 2018. The machine dispensed flavours of soda that were typically discontinued.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/JaneOfKish on 2024-12-19 20:24:08+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the shortest-lived "empire" in history was a restoration of the Qing Dynasty of China lasting for 11 days in July 1917. Monarchists seized Beijing and reinstated Emperor Puyi, deposed five years prior and now eleven years old, on July 1 and were pushed back out by Republican forces on July 12.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/nowlan101 on 2024-12-19 17:22:08+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about the phenomena of polyandry or “wife-sharing” in Qing Dynasty China. Due to practices such female infanticide and concubinage there was an overall gender imbalance in society that poor husbands would exploit via renting their wives out to other, unmarried men for a fee.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/zahrul3 on 2024-12-19 10:54:51+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Der_genealogist on 2024-12-19 17:47:46+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Organic_Situation401 on 2024-12-19 07:06:53+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ProudReaction2204 on 2024-12-19 05:19:46+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/LookAtThatBacon on 2024-12-19 04:22:34+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the first UPC-marked item ever to be scanned at a retail checkout was a 10-pack of Wrigley's Juicy Fruit chewing gum, purchased at the Marsh supermarket in Troy, Ohio, at 8:01 a.m. on June 26, 1974.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/armedsnowflake69 on 2024-12-19 03:38:19+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ObjectiveAd6551 on 2024-12-19 00:49:45+00:00.

Original Title: TIL “Jeopardy!” contestant Dhruv Gaur wrote “What is… We [love] you, Alex!” as his Final Jeopardy response while Alex Trebek was battling cancer. The message left Trebek visibly emotional and was widely shared as an example of fans’ affection for the longtime host.