173 words TIL in 2008, after learning that Britney Spears was going through a hard time, Eric Idle changed a lyric referencing Britney in the song “Diva’s Lament” from his musical Spamalot “because we don't laugh at sad people.”
129 words TIL British English is the official version of English used by the UN. This means that all UN communications produced in English must be produced in British English using Oxford Spelling.
181 words TIL the #1 driver of "involuntary singlehood" is a person not knowing how to flirt correctly. The #2 driver was an inability to perceive signals of interest. #3 was a lack of effort.
148 words TIL when former NFL safety Dave Duerson took his life he left a note that read, “Please see that my brain is given to the NFL’s brain bank.” He shot himself in the chest rather than his head so as to preserve his brain. Doctors confirmed that he was suffering from chronic traumatic encephalopathy.
270 words TIL Michael Jackson was a virtuoso composer, despite being unable to read music or play instruments well. He wrote the the parts to his songs by singing and beatboxing into a tape recorder. "“He would sing us an entire string arrangement, every part. Had it all in his head, harmony and everything."
122 words Today I learned that non-spayed female ferrets will die if they don't have sex. They go into season and don't come out until they have mated, and the associated elevated oestrogen levels eventually cause anemia and death.
698 words TIL A monkey named Nim Chimpsky was raised by human parents like a human child in an attempt to teach him language through sign language. One sign Nim learned was "stone smoke time now" which indicated that he wanted to smoke marijuana.
119 words TIL It is commonly claimed 'What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger' however research shows that past stressful experiences do not create resilience to future trauma. Past traumatic experiences increase vulnerability to several mental illnesses.
342 words TIL Popped popcorn kernels are classified into three main shapes: unilateral, bilateral, and multilateral.
525 words TIL Over half of psychology studies fail reproducibility test
149 words TIL Over half of psychology studies fail reproducibility test
136 words TIL the Jewish religion does not cook/eat meat and dairy together because it is considered cruel to cook an animal in the very milk that was meant to nourish it.
178 words TIL in 1998, a married couple was left behind during a diving trip to the Great Barrier Reef. Two days passed before anyone realized what had happened. Despite a 5-day search, the couple was never found. A dive slate was later recovered which read "... rescue us before we die..."
175 words TIL according to the US Flag Code "The flag should never be used as wearing apparel, bedding, or drapery", and "should never have placed upon it, nor on any part of it, nor attached to it any mark, insignia, letter, word, figure, design, picture, or drawing of any nature
144 words TIL that veterinarians kill themselves at rates 2.5 to 3.5 times the general population, due in part to online trolling and threats from pet owners who blame them for the death of a pet, and easy access to lethal medicines
157 words TIL There are 41 countries that recognize sign language as an official language
126 words TIL a bunch of Harry Potter fans built a legitimate cult-like religion called Snapeism, based on the idea that Severus Snape was an immortal deity whose spirit inspired JK Rowling to write the Harry Potter books
121 words TIL that after George Washington read the Declaration of Independence on July 9, 1776, the crowd was so moved that they toppled the statue of George III, decapitated it, and then later melted the body to make bullets. the head eventually made it's way back to England.
130 words TIL that the most profitable act at the Moulin Rouge was a Flatuist known as both Le Petomane and The Fartiste. His performance profited over 20,000 Francs per show, more than double that of Sarah Bernhardt. He would later open his own performance hall and his act was a success until WWI began
253 words TIL that having a credit card balance greater than 30% of your credit limit will negatively affect your credit score.