r/todayilearned • u/YappinZappin • 23h ago

TIL modern jet fighters are designed to be inherently unstable in flight - tactical Supermaneuvrability dictates aircraft have enhanced responsiveness. On the downside it means pilots are no longer flying the airplanes - most control actions are performed by an onboard computer.

en.wikipedia.org

4.3k Upvotes

355 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DonquixoteImu • 4h ago

TIL about William A. Chanler, A US Congressman and outspoken antisemite, who fought alongside the Senussi and Dervish Movements against Italy in both Libya and Somalia. Chanler regarded it as an American obligation to be on the side of any people who fought for their independence.

en.wikipedia.org

56 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/lmao-bruh-lol • 7h ago

TIL that in 1830, nearly half the students were expelled from Yale University, because they refused to draw their own geometric diagrams on the chalk board for maths exams rather than consult textbooks. This is also known as the Conics Sections Rebellion

mentalfloss.com

1.4k Upvotes

82 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ubcstaffer123 • 3h ago

TIL Driving for more than two hours each day can steadily decrease the IQ of middle-aged drivers

readersdigest.ca

11.9k Upvotes

903 comments

r/todayilearned • u/WorldTravelerBoss • 22h ago

TIL that Western European Crusaders sacked and occupied the Christian city of Constantinople in 1204, then turned Hagia Sophia, the city’s great cathedral, into a Latin Catholic church. The Byzantines recaptured the city in 1261. In 1453, the Ottomans turned Hagia Sophia into a mosque.

smarthistory.org

1.2k Upvotes

160 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ok-Drive4752 • 44m ago

TIL many historians consider the decline of Rome starting with the 378 AD battle of Adrianople. After the Goths were defeated by the Huns they fled into Roman territory were horribly abused by Rome. The Goths formed an army and destroyed 2/3 of the Eastern Roman army and slew Emperor Valens.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Fenomiminal • 8h ago

[TIL] Millbrook School in Millbrook, NY is home to the Trevor-Lovejoy Zoo, which is the only zoo in the United States inside a high school.

en.wikipedia.org

47 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 57m ago

TIL of the Mount of Temptation, the mountain that Jesus was supposedly shown the whole world by Satan to tempt him after fasting for 40 days, is also called Mount Quarantine (from the latin "quarranta" meaning 40 days).

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

71 comments

r/todayilearned • u/D_White93 • 22h ago

Today I learned about the time the UK shop WHSmith had it's own television network from 1984 to 1993

en.wikipedia.org

220 Upvotes

18 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 20h ago

TIL about Greg Land, an artist who illustrated several comics for both DC and Marvel, who is notorious for doing much of his art by tracing from other people's work, including pornography.

en.wikipedia.org

5.3k Upvotes

533 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Successful-Ear977 • 5h ago

TIL a nationwide US study found that only 42% of dog owners reported walking their dog during a typical week.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

6.4k Upvotes

2.4k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 • 7h ago

TIL that in the 1860s Canada its own variant of baseball. The "Canadian Game" had 11 field players per team who all got to bat during an inning instead of a 3 out rule, 2 innings instead of 9, 5 bases, and base runners were ruled out by throwing the ball directly at them while between bases.

protoball.org

486 Upvotes

87 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Round-Eggplant-7826 • 1h ago

TIL that between 1957 and 1962, approximately one-third of the United States was closed to Soviet citizens. Only seven states were accessible in their entirety: Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, North Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, and Mississippi.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

18 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Therealdarkviper • 34m ago

TIL that several crew members onboard the Challenger space shuttle survived the initial breakup. It is theorized that some were conscious until they hit the surface of the Atlantic Ocean.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

40 comments

r/todayilearned • u/eleanorharland • 7h ago

TIL a Dutch supermarket chain has "chat checkouts" for customers who aren't in a hurry and want to talk to the cashier. The first opened in 2019 to tackle loneliness among older people, and it was popular enough that the chain announced 200 more.

dutchnews.nl

5.2k Upvotes

164 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Greene_Mr • 6h ago

TIL about Jim Creighton, who invented modern pitching before the MLB era and who died after his abdomen "snapped" during a game at the age of 21.

en.wikipedia.org

7.1k Upvotes

262 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Johannes_P • 12h ago

TIL about mercury vapour turbines, which use this element as the working fluid of their thermal cycle

en.wikipedia.org

138 Upvotes

9 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Important_Ad7676 • 9h ago

TIL that the city of Opa-locka, Florida, was completely modeled after the One Thousand and One Nights folktales. Founded in 1926, the entire town features streets named Ali Baba Avenue and Aladdin Boulevard

en.wikipedia.org

376 Upvotes

45 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ijustwannanap • 7h ago

TIL that Winamp's slogan "It really whips the llama's ass!" comes from the Wesley Willis song "Whip the Llama's Ass". Willis was a schizophrenic musician and artist who released over 48 albums in his lifetime.

en.wikipedia.org

4.8k Upvotes

442 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Initial_Specialist69 • 10h ago

TIL There are "hunger stones" in rivers in central Europe. These stones were carved during droughts to mark the water level as a warning to future generations that they will have to endure famine-related hardships if the water sinks to this level again.

en.wikipedia.org

25.5k Upvotes

378 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheWeepingJester • 23h ago

TIL about terminal lucidity, whereby a person with dementia seems to recover shortly before dying.

en.wikipedia.org

232 Upvotes

27 comments

r/todayilearned • u/caulay_mcculkin • 14h ago

TIL whisker fatigue is a type of sensory overload in cats caused when their sensitive whiskers constantly brush against the sides of a deep or narrow food and water, and it can lead to cat acting tense or aggressive during mealtimes or pacing near the food bowl or acting hungry but refusing to eat.

petmd.com

3.6k Upvotes

83 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jacknunn • 10h ago

TIL that in 1656, a disagreement between two ministers led to the Scottish Church of the Holy Rude in Stirling being divided by an interior wall into two separate churches. The wall was demolished when the church was reunited in 1935

en.wikipedia.org

216 Upvotes

17 comments

r/todayilearned • u/johnsmithoncemore • 12h ago

TIL that from 2011 to 2013 a statue of Michael Jackson stood outside Fulham F.C. stadium Craven Cottage. Commissioned by the club's then chairman Mohamed Al-Fayed after Jackson's 2009 death it was not popular with the Fulham F.C fans and was removed by Al-Fayed's successor.

en.wikipedia.org

348 Upvotes

35 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Greene_Mr • 6h ago

TIL the 1998 film adaptation of Scott Smith's novel "A Simple Plan" went through five different directors, including Mike Nichols (with Nicholas Cage attached), Ben Stiller, and John Boorman (who cast the two leads), before finally being helmed by Sam Raimi.

en.wikipedia.org

192 Upvotes

32 comments

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