Today I Learned

TIL: The CIA Played a Large Part in the 2011 Syrian Civil War that Killed 350,000 People ( medium.com )

TIL one of the oldest TV shows was simply called "Sea Stories" on the BBC, featuring Royal Navy Commander A.B. Campbell describing the personalities and places he had seen. No known footage exists. ( en.wikipedia.org )

aired from 1936-1937. if anyone has a copy pls lemme know

TIL that there are two types of earwax: wet and dry ( www.self.com )

the type of earwax you have comes down in part to your skin type, Dr. Shapiro explains. People with oilier skin may have wet earwax, while those with drier skin tend to have dry earwax, she says....

TIL: How The Founder Of Zionism, Theodor Herzl, Planned on Eradicating Palestinians as early as 1890 ( medium.com )

TIL that some people do not have an inner voice and think in different nonverbal ways. ( humanities.ku.dk )

cross-posted from: https://lemmit.online/post/2916897...

Dementia and cancer could be prevented by taking 2p pill as Dr Michael Mosley says he's taking it

TIL that a Frenchman ate a plane ( en.m.wikipedia.org )

https://lemmy.world/pictrs/image/31e7c2b9-3af8-49c2-9483-d0eba629c56e.jpeg

TIL China now has a 3 child policy. ( en.m.wikipedia.org )

Maximum, that is....

TIL there's a rich history of conspiracy theories centered around Denver International Airport ( history.denverlibrary.org )

TIL Many bronze age peoples forgot what stone age tools were, and thought discovered ones as some kind of mystical talismans or signs from a thunder god ( www.theguardian.com )

Also mistaken for fulgurite by the more naturalistically minded, apparently. Maybe most common in the Nordics, based on viking references?...

TIL the origin of the word 'dog' is an etymological mystery. (The same is true about the word 'squid' but obviously I already knew that.) ( www.dictionary.com )

See also: https://www.etymonline.com/word/squid

TIL: UN Resolution 3379 Passed in 1975 with a vote of 72 to 35 Determined that Zionism is A Form of Racism ( medium.com )

TIL Earthworms aren't native to North America; they are a recent invasive species which does significant damage to forests ( www.outdoorlife.com )

TIL the American Conservapedia, among other atrocities, redirects Linux to GNU/Linux ( www.conservapedia.com )

I guess they have a quantum taste for GNU!

TIL Most Explosives used by Hamas Are Unexploded Israeli Bombs Dropped on Palestine ( medium.com )

TIL 40 states in the US charge you $20-$80 a day for being incarcerated in prison. ( en.m.wikipedia.org )

Very weird that I am so old and have literally never heard this mentioned in a TV show or book or movie or anything....

TIL: The Phrase “Death To America” Didn’t exist Before the CIA Overthrew the Iranian Government for Nationalizing their Oil in 1953 ( medium.com )

TIL if The Bare Naked Ladies had $1m when the song was recorded, and parked it in S&P500, they'd be rich.

While $1m USD in 1988 is worth only $2.6m in 2024, if they just put it in the S&P 500 back then and left it there, it'd be worth over $44.6m today....

TIL the PSVR uses Linux ( www.playstation.com )

just stumbled upon this license

Today I learned an oil company prevented the rescue of contracted divers working on their pipe to save money. ( www.youtube.com )

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trinidad_Petroleum_Holdings#Paria_Fuel_Trading_Company_diving_tragedy...

TIL about blindsight, a phenomenon by which visually blind people can apparently see or detect objects visually without using their visual cortex ( en.m.wikipedia.org )

It was a footnote in an article I read about a monkey using blindsight and that there had been several experiments with humans proving blindsight existed and that surprised me. As a footnote....

TIL Feminist Icon Gloria Steinem Was An Anti-Communist CIA Operative who Kept the Feminist Movement From Discussing Class; only Gender ( medium.com )

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