Recent comments in /f/todayilearned
Angrygiraffe1786 t1_ja5abu9 wrote
Reply to TIL about Vesna Vulović, the Guinness world record holder for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 m (33,330 ft; 6.31 mi) by Cannabisseur78
That was an insane story. Aside from the whole plane crash thing, she had all the luck that day.
urmumsadopted t1_ja59p8f wrote
The first time I saw my daughter cry hooked to a heart monitor I thought she was having a heart attack, it went over 175
Fetlocks_Glistening t1_ja59ncv wrote
djs191 t1_ja59l29 wrote
Reply to TIL about Vesna Vulović, the Guinness world record holder for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 m (33,330 ft; 6.31 mi) by Cannabisseur78
She died alone in her apartment at 66 years old of heart failure.
drygnfyre t1_ja59duv wrote
Reply to comment by Aye_Eye_Captain in TIL On long-haul flights, flight attendants have hidden sleeping areas above the passenger compartment. by real_zexy_specialist
Commando taught me that not only can you easily get down to the landing gear, you can jump from the plane, and no matter how high up it is, you'll land harmlessly into water and make a tiny splash.
ShelleyTX t1_ja59958 wrote
Reply to TIL of the Battle of San Jacinto. Just six weeks after the Texans terrible loss at The Alamo in 1836. The Texans regrouped under Sam Houston, and surprised the Mexican forces and overwhelming defeated the Mexicans. The Texans had 11 soldiers killed and the Mexicans lost 650. by triviafrenzy
Fiesta San Antonio!
[deleted] t1_ja596n6 wrote
Reply to comment by DoomGoober in TIL of the Battle of San Jacinto. Just six weeks after the Texans terrible loss at The Alamo in 1836. The Texans regrouped under Sam Houston, and surprised the Mexican forces and overwhelming defeated the Mexicans. The Texans had 11 soldiers killed and the Mexicans lost 650. by triviafrenzy
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drygnfyre t1_ja594x2 wrote
Reply to comment by chop1125 in TIL Tolkien assisted on the Oxford Dictionary's first edition, focused on 'W' words waggle to warlock. He "learned more in those two years than in any other"; and certain etymologies continued to puzzle him for years, with many pages of notes written later on 'walrus' for a lecture at Leeds by PianoCharged
The other thing to note is the entire concept of language is that it evolves over times. Words like "doghouse" and the name "Vanessa" were outright invented by Shakespeare. They just became words and were accepted. Thus, while Tolkein is correct, at the same time, if enough people wrote and accepted "dwarves," it's also valid.
A good example would be "virus." Both "viruses" and "virii" are accepted as words, depending largely on the context.
justk4y t1_ja591ku wrote
Reply to comment by adamcoe in TIL of the 1955 Le Mans disaster. French driver Pierre Levegh crashed into a crowd of spectators. The crash, explosion and subsequent fire killed 84 and injured more than 120. It is still the deadliest car race crash ever. by triviafrenzy
Kids haven’t lived that long of a life
fatnoah t1_ja58wec wrote
Reply to comment by notimeleft4you in TIL On long-haul flights, flight attendants have hidden sleeping areas above the passenger compartment. by real_zexy_specialist
Thank you! You answered a question I've had for a while. I remember being on a flight and seeing one seat with a not in use curtain, and wondered what it was.
Dawnawaken92 t1_ja58kzc wrote
Reply to comment by AnotherLurkerino in TIL there is a machine for cancer diagnosis from your poop noises, called Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing, or SHART by chockychockster
A bit of fecal matter.
adamcoe t1_ja58gm6 wrote
Reply to comment by Habaneroe12 in TIL of the 1955 Le Mans disaster. French driver Pierre Levegh crashed into a crowd of spectators. The crash, explosion and subsequent fire killed 84 and injured more than 120. It is still the deadliest car race crash ever. by triviafrenzy
Is that worse somehow? Adult heads aren't worth as much?
ilovekickrolls t1_ja588oa wrote
Reply to comment by HalobenderFWT in TIL On long-haul flights, flight attendants have hidden sleeping areas above the passenger compartment. by real_zexy_specialist
Are we seriously not doing phrasing anymore?
JSnitch58 t1_ja585q7 wrote
Reply to comment by Landlubber77 in TIL in 1975 King Charles III (then a Prince) was the British monarchy's first qualified scuba Diver and first to dive under the Arctic ice. by mitchanium
I think they were just joking along
eviltwintomboy t1_ja57yqb wrote
Reply to TIL: Because Nintendo could not get the rights to the Popeye cartoon character, they came up with Mario instead. by A_Bruised_Reed
Similar to Star Wars: George Lucas wanted to do Buck Rogers, but couldn’t get the rights to it.
t3chiman t1_ja57xbm wrote
Reply to TIL in 1975 King Charles III (then a Prince) was the British monarchy's first qualified scuba Diver and first to dive under the Arctic ice. by mitchanium
In Resolute Bay, the average high daily temperature in April is 0F.
Charles did a tough dive.
[deleted] t1_ja57h8w wrote
bombayblue t1_ja57ce0 wrote
Reply to comment by DoomGoober in TIL of the Battle of San Jacinto. Just six weeks after the Texans terrible loss at The Alamo in 1836. The Texans regrouped under Sam Houston, and surprised the Mexican forces and overwhelming defeated the Mexicans. The Texans had 11 soldiers killed and the Mexicans lost 650. by triviafrenzy
Another important point is that the Texas Revolution came at a time when many other parts of the Mexican empire were also trying to revolt and break away.
Santa Ana was not the best leader.
G1fan t1_ja57ao1 wrote
Reply to comment by DiabeticPissingSyrup in TIL of David Sarnoff, the head of RCA and NBC who suppressed and then stole FM radio and Television from their inventors, driving one to suicide and the other to alcoholism. by Dega704
Americans downvoting you like you aren't right lmao.
Ameisen t1_ja574tw wrote
Reply to comment by TTVmeatce in TIL of the Battle of San Jacinto. Just six weeks after the Texans terrible loss at The Alamo in 1836. The Texans regrouped under Sam Houston, and surprised the Mexican forces and overwhelming defeated the Mexicans. The Texans had 11 soldiers killed and the Mexicans lost 650. by triviafrenzy
Slavery played a part, but the Texan Revolution was a part of a larger, general set of insurrections within Mexico at the time (the Mexican Federalist War) against Santa Anna.
Slavery was absolutely a cause, but the general trigger was the increasing centralization of the Mexican government. It wasn't that they violated the constitution, but that they replaced it with a centralist one in 1835.
PeachSnappleOhYeah t1_ja574sw wrote
Reply to TIL about Vesna Vulović, the Guinness world record holder for surviving the highest fall without a parachute: 10,160 m (33,330 ft; 6.31 mi) by Cannabisseur78
that's a record that i imagine will go uncontested for a while
jedipiper t1_ja56y4a wrote
Reply to comment by KingRaffles in TIL Tolkien assisted on the Oxford Dictionary's first edition, focused on 'W' words waggle to warlock. He "learned more in those two years than in any other"; and certain etymologies continued to puzzle him for years, with many pages of notes written later on 'walrus' for a lecture at Leeds by PianoCharged
My God, I love that show!
aheadwarp9 t1_ja56gsf wrote
Reply to comment by Formal-Rain in TIL scientists believe people started wearing clothes between 83k and 170k years ago because that's when clothing lice diverged from head lice. by cwood1973
I didn't realize the two were related.
AnotherLurkerino t1_ja56c0i wrote
Reply to comment by semi-nerd61 in TIL there is a machine for cancer diagnosis from your poop noises, called Synthetic Human Acoustic Reproduction Testing, or SHART by chockychockster
I feel like S.H.A.R.T has more... substance to it
somethingisaskew t1_ja5ahyt wrote
Reply to comment by Eroe777 in TIL that the 1980 miles of Alaska’s Yukon River is only crossed by 4 bridges. By comparison, the slightly longer Mississippi River is has more than 132 bridges. by triviafrenzy
I wonder if they got it by counting on Google maps or something? I know there are a ton around St. Louis including a foot traffic only bridge. Maybe whatever they looked at didn't show them all? Now I want to see all of the data but I don't want to do the work.