Today I Learned...

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  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that Monty Python and the Holy Grail originally included the characters riding on real horses but they could not afford to rent them so they were forced to add in the iconic coconut bit, which is an old radio trick.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that when Michael Jackson granted Weird Al Yankovic permission to do "Fat" (a parody of "Bad"), Jackson allowed him to use the same set built for his own "Badder" video from the Moonwalker film. Yankovic said that Jackson's support helped to gain approval from other artists he wanted to parody.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that Christopher Walken is one of only two actors (the other being Alec Baldwin) to have a standing offer from Lorne Michaels to host Saturday Night Live whenever his schedule permits. Thus far he has hosted the show 7 times, his most famous appearance being the "More Cowbell!" sketch.
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  • como_agua1
    como_agua1 Posts: 210 Member
    edited March 2019


    today i learned how to sing this

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1emgUdD3_pE
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that Surgeons who had played video games in the past for more than three hours per week made 37 percent fewer errors, were 27 percent faster and scored 26 percent better overall than surgeons who never played video games.
  • pudgy1977
    pudgy1977 Posts: 13,499 Member
    edited March 2019
    TIL that Ben & Jerry learned how to make ice cream by taking a $5 correspondence course offered by Penn State. (They decided to split one course.)

    ETA: And apparently Ben wanted to call the business “Josephine’s Flying Machine”, but Jerry didn’t like it.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    edited March 2019
    TIL that Jupiter’s Great Red Spot is so loud, it’s acoustic sound waves heat up the surrounding atmosphere to almost 2400 degrees Fahrenheit.

    vszu12y4m0q6.jpg

    https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smart-news/jupiters-great-red-spot-also-red-hot-180959949/
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL The star wars theme was written purposely on the same key as the 20th Century Fox fanfare (that used to appear before the movie started) so that there will be a continuous feeling and a smooth entry to the film for the viewers.
  • RomaineCalm
    RomaineCalm Posts: 3,972 Member
    TIL that Edgar Allan Poe's Tell-Tale Heart was inspired by the courtroom prosecution speech by Daniel Webster of Captain Joseph White's murder trial in Salem, MA in the 1800's.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL Showman and businessman PT Barnum was frustrated with how long people lingered in his museum’s exhibits. He posted signs that said 'This Way to the Egress'. He knew most of the visitors would follow them not knowing 'Egress' meant 'Exit'. They couldn’t re-enter without paying the entry fee again.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that when J.R.R. Tolkien's son Michael signed up for the British army, he listed his father's occupation as "Wizard".
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL the Japanese bullet train system is equipped with a network of sensitive seismometers. On March 11, 2011, one of the seismometers detected an 8.9 magnitude earthquake 12 seconds before it hit and sent a stop signal to 33 trains. As a result, only one bullet train derailed that day.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that the real Johnny Appleseed did plant apples on the American frontier, but that they were mostly used for hard apple cider. Safe drinking water was scarce, and apple cider was a safer alternative to drink.
  • JetJaguar
    JetJaguar Posts: 801 Member
    TIL Snapchat was originally called "Picaboo". It's name was changed after they were contacted by a publisher of a book by the same name. The "boo" in the name is the reason the logo is a ghost.
  • pudgy1977
    pudgy1977 Posts: 13,499 Member
    TIL a quivery voice is one of your body’s fight-or-flight reactions. “It’s all related to your vocal cords, which are regulated by the vagus nerve,” Andrew Ordon, MD, said on The Doctors. “The vagus nerve has a ton of connections in your brain, including the amygdala, which is involved with reacting to emotions and situations. The vagus nerve gets stimulated and the vocal cords and the muscles in your neck that tense the vocal cords go through a bit of a spasm.” The result: limited control over your own voice.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL of Dr. Donald Hopkins. He helped eradicate Smallpox, and is on the verge of killing another disease. He's taken Guinea Worm Disease down from 3.5 million cases a year to just 28 cases last year.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL: "39 or 40" decimals of pi are enough to calculate the circumference of the observable universe within the size of the simplest known atom.

    https://www.jpl.nasa.gov/edu/news/2016/3/16/how-many-decimals-of-pi-do-we-really-need/
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL Sir Isaac Newton's dog set his laboratory on fire, ruining his 20 years of research. When he saw what the dog had done, Newton is said to have exclaimed, "O Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done."
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  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL Wilma Rudolph had polio as an infant and was unable to walk properly until she was 11. For several years, her family had to massage her legs four times a day, and she had to wear a metal brace. In 1960, she became the first American woman to win three gold medals in an Olympic event.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that the lead singer of Toto, Joseph Williams, is the son of Star Wars/Jaws/Jurassic Park composer John Williams.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL that in the 50's NASA recruited Deaf people to research why they didn't get motion sickness. Tests included flights in 'Vomit Comet' and sailing in the rough seas (researchers got violently sick, while Deaf people just played cards happily).
  • tinak33
    tinak33 Posts: 9,883 Member
    TIL that light roast coffee has more caffeine than dark roast coffee. That light roast coffee has more of the origin flavor of the bean, whereas dark roast takes on more flavor from the roasting process.

    TIL that I like light roast coffee better. haha
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    tinak33 wrote: »
    TIL that light roast coffee has more caffeine than dark roast coffee. That light roast coffee has more of the origin flavor of the bean, whereas dark roast takes on more flavor from the roasting process.

    TIL that I like light roast coffee better. haha

    I knew that, that's why I now prefer light roast and scoff at dark roast.

    cjntsmb32865.gif
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  • thereshegoesagain
    thereshegoesagain Posts: 1,056 Member
    1sphere wrote: »
    https://artsandculture.google.com/explore this is a nice site to learn and waste time in

    Now I know how I'm spending my Friday night, perhaps Saturday night as well.
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  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
    TIL The Falkland Islands minefields have become a large nature reserve for Penguins, who aren't heavy enough to detonate them.
  • Liftingat58
    Liftingat58 Posts: 508 Member
    TIL There are a lot of People from Canada on MFP!

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