Recent comments in /f/todayilearned
JurassicCotyledon t1_j9uzcmt wrote
Reply to TIL That Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is not only south of London, Paris, and Berlin, but also south of Milan, Italy. by scorr204
The most southern part of Canada shares the same latitude as Northern California.
horshack_test t1_j9uy1an wrote
Reply to TIL That Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is not only south of London, Paris, and Berlin, but also south of Milan, Italy. by scorr204
I'd say "farther south than" those cities is a better way of wording it (which is why the article you link to words it that way). In the overall sense, Toronto is west of those cities.
stainedglasseye t1_j9uxwco wrote
Reply to TIL that in 1846 Christian Friedrich Schönbein discovered a formula for nitrocellulose when working in his kitchen. He spilled nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the kitchen table, wiped it up with a cotton apron, then hung it on the stove door to dry. As soon as it was dry, the apron ignited. by Do_Not_Go_In_There
It was great for the advent of smokeless gun powders, but definitely caused a lot of headaches for film archivists over the years. I worked with it a bunch in lateral flow immune protein chemistry due to its capillary action, but not sure how many other applications it has outside that niche.
Stswivvinsdayalready t1_j9uxopo wrote
Reply to comment by jrhooo in TIL that the reason Yankee Doodle stuck a feather in his cap and called it 'macaroni' was because at one time macaroni was slang for something very fashionable or trendy by elephantsgraveyard
There's an emasculation aspect too. Riding a pony is for children and women, or maybe a fancy riding pony might be good for a walk in the park. Not a fit mount for a man of war.
timojenbin t1_j9uxhjc wrote
Reply to TIL about Janet Parker, the last person to die of smallpox in 1978. She worked above one of the last labs in its last months of permission to study the virus. The day Janet's viral strain was confirmed, Henry Bedson, the doctor in charge of the lab, took his own life. by w0mpum
He decided not to publish.
j_claus12 t1_j9uxa3g wrote
scorr204 OP t1_j9uw4k5 wrote
Reply to comment by Mammoth-Mud-9609 in TIL That Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is not only south of London, Paris, and Berlin, but also south of Milan, Italy. by scorr204
Ya, and dont even get me started on scandanavia lol.
Mammoth-Mud-9609 t1_j9uvyfv wrote
Reply to TIL That Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is not only south of London, Paris, and Berlin, but also south of Milan, Italy. by scorr204
Nearly the whole of the USA is south of London.
purplekaworu t1_j9uvspy wrote
Reply to TIL of Finnish man Lauri Allan Törni (born 1919) who fought in WW2 as both a Finnish and German soldier, and in the Vietnam War as a US Special Forces soldier. He was killed in a helicopter crash in 1965. by bermuda__
he's literally a fucking nazi. why should he be commemorated?
scorr204 OP t1_j9uvrpv wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in TIL That Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is not only south of London, Paris, and Berlin, but also south of Milan, Italy. by scorr204
It got removed because my link was not adequate to the derpy mods.
Mombelli_ t1_j9uvqrk wrote
DataWeenie t1_j9uvpdb wrote
Reply to TIL That Toronto, the largest city in Canada, is not only south of London, Paris, and Berlin, but also south of Milan, Italy. by scorr204
Yeah, it's pretty wild when you put a Map of Europe against North America. The gulf stream and Mediterranean do a lot.
[deleted] t1_j9uvnlw wrote
lemonyzest757 t1_j9uusuz wrote
Reply to comment by GoGaslightYerself in TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511
I know - I live in the Tidewater area. I don't know how much exactly is due to rising sea levels and how much to subsidence, but they are both factors.
GoGaslightYerself t1_j9uuc6s wrote
Reply to comment by lemonyzest757 in TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511
Much of the loss of land in the area is due to subsidence. There's a huge bolide crater -- bigger than Rhode Island and deeper than the Grand Canyon -- to the south of Tangier, and all the land, from Tangier to Virginia Beach, is slowly sinking to fill in that crater. Add the subsidence to the sea level rise and you've got some serious rising damp.
NewCanadianMTurker t1_j9utmhw wrote
Reply to TIL that in 1846 Christian Friedrich Schönbein discovered a formula for nitrocellulose when working in his kitchen. He spilled nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the kitchen table, wiped it up with a cotton apron, then hung it on the stove door to dry. As soon as it was dry, the apron ignited. by Do_Not_Go_In_There
Tons of important scientific discoveries actually happened accidentally. Even the creation of microwaves.
"While testing a new vacuum tube called a magnetron, he discovered that a chocolate bar in his pocket had melted from the heat. He decided to try another experiment by placing some popcorn kernels near the magnetron, and he watched as the kernels popped into fluffy popcorns."
https://celcook.ca/the-accidental-invention-of-the-microwave/
lemonyzest757 t1_j9utl38 wrote
Reply to comment by Logical_Crab_4594 in TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511
It's already happening.
['You can't live in a swamp': Virginia fishing village threatened by rising sea levels
A new study found that Tangier Island is losing ground faster than previously thought, highlighting how climate change threatens U.S. coastal communities.](https://www.nbcnews.com/science/environment/climate-change-tangier-island-sea-level-rise-rcna4830)
Beaglescout15 t1_j9ut7i9 wrote
Reply to comment by HPmoni in TIL about Janet Parker, the last person to die of smallpox in 1978. She worked above one of the last labs in its last months of permission to study the virus. The day Janet's viral strain was confirmed, Henry Bedson, the doctor in charge of the lab, took his own life. by w0mpum
> Confronted with a ticking clock, Bedson rushed ahead with his experiments, despite warnings from a WHO inspection team that his facilities were outdated and potentially unsafe.
It wasn't just honorable, he was directly negligent.
GoGaslightYerself t1_j9us0b9 wrote
Reply to TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511
Big vowel shift still present. "House" is pronounced "hice" (rhymes with "mice" or "lice")...and the number "four" is pronounced "far" (rhymes with "car") ... it takes a while to learn to understand it if you didn't grow up hearing it.
Apparently many of the original settlers were from the Cornwall area of SW England.
The colonial explorer John Smith (or possibly his doctor, Walter Russell, I forget) named the island after the same-named place in Morocco.
Upset_Advertising880 t1_j9uqv8f wrote
Reply to comment by [deleted] in TIL that scientists created contact lenses that zoom when you blink twice through the use of electric impulses by jamjam1090
points ear horn in your direction. what's that now?
coldfarm t1_j9uqn5m wrote
Reply to comment by MrSquigles in TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511
The accent continuum in the whole Tidewater and Chesapeake region is strongly rooted in the West Country. It also vanishes once you get more than a few miles from the Bay, excepting the Eastern Shore.
20BensonLikeAGoodLad t1_j9uqln1 wrote
Reply to comment by HighHcQc in TIL about the 1938 Gettysburg Reunion, where veterans of The American Civil War met, they were on average 94 years old. by VengefulMight
I have a neighbour who was born on the 1st of July 1916, the day the battle of the Somme started. He is still alive at the age of 106. If someone were to live to 106 in 1916, they would have been born in 1810.
MikeLitoris_________ t1_j9uq5ux wrote
Reply to TIL that in 1846 Christian Friedrich Schönbein discovered a formula for nitrocellulose when working in his kitchen. He spilled nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the kitchen table, wiped it up with a cotton apron, then hung it on the stove door to dry. As soon as it was dry, the apron ignited. by Do_Not_Go_In_There
That must have been a real "oh snap" moment.
NewCanadianMTurker t1_j9uq4o3 wrote
Reply to comment by danathecount in TIL residents of Tangier Island, 12 miles off the coast of Virginia, have remained so isolated they still speak a dialect similar to the original colonists from the 1700s by emily_9511
Interesting! But I'd imagine people would have to settle for a lot less than their ideal partner when there's so few to choose from. Even if the initial 160 people is composed entirely of loving couples, it would cause problems in the long-run if the children of these couples don't like each other very much.
bees422 t1_j9uzdn8 wrote
Reply to comment by stainedglasseye in TIL that in 1846 Christian Friedrich Schönbein discovered a formula for nitrocellulose when working in his kitchen. He spilled nitric acid and sulfuric acid on the kitchen table, wiped it up with a cotton apron, then hung it on the stove door to dry. As soon as it was dry, the apron ignited. by Do_Not_Go_In_There
Guitar finishes