Today I Learned...

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  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL that McDonald’s stopped using beef tallow in their French fries after a wealthy heart attack survivor spent $3 million dollars on full page newspaper ads calling out the chain for their unhealthy menu.
  • jjpptt2
    jjpptt2 Posts: 5,650 Member
    edited January 2019
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    TIL the origin of the phrase "saved by the bell" -

    In the late 1800s-early 1900s, may people feared being misdiagnosed as dead, and subsequently being buried alive. So a safety coffin was invented with a air line to the surface and a bell. The person in the coffin could pull a string to ring the bell, someone would hear the bell, realize they were in fact alive, and dig them up. They were thus, saved by the bell.

  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL Super Mario Bros was so popular that at the end of 1985, Japan's highest-selling book was a strategy guide on how to beat the game.
  • beagletracks
    beagletracks Posts: 6,035 Member
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    TIL the wheel was invented before the wall and that both were invented in the Medieval era.

    I feel like maybe I should try a different fourth grade. Mr. Steidel with the sweaty armpits seems to be just making stuff up.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL JFK's father Joseph Kennedy made much of his fortune through insider trading. FDR later made him chairman of the Securities and Exchange Commission. When asked why he appointed a crook, FDR replied, "set a thief to catch a thief." Kennedy proceeded to outlaw the practices that made him rich.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL nearly all the castles depicted in Monty Python and the Holy Grail are actually Doune Castle from different angles.

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  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL that a marathon is exactly 26 miles and 385 yards because that happened to be the length of the 1908 London Olympic marathon and not because it is the distance between Marathon and Athens, which is approximately 25 miles.
  • SwannySez
    SwannySez Posts: 5,864 Member
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    TIL that google image's "safe search" is not stringent enough to avoid getting yourself in trouble on MFP. Never trust the google.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL about "Aquaponics" which combines fish farming with plant farming, using water and waste from the fish to grow plants. It can require as little as 2% of the water used in standard farming methods.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL that only 7 companies in the world control almost every single beauty product you buy. These 7 conglomerates own around 182 brands across the globe. They also are responsible for advertising and the way we think about beauty.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL that the town of Honiton U.K, has a "Hot Penny Day", a parade where children collect thrown coins. The tradition was purportedly started by wealthy people, whom would heat pennies on a stove, throw them into the streets, and laugh at the peasants burning their fingers while picking them up.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL that physicist Heinrich Hertz, upon proving the existence of radio waves, stated that "It's of no use whatsoever." When asked about the applications of his discovery: "Nothing, I guess."
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL Gary Gygax's wife was convinced he was having an affair so she followed him to a dimly lit basement and burst into the room only to find him and his friends hunched over hand drawn maps. Gary would go on to invent the role playing game "Dungeons and Dragons".
  • SirMxyzptlk
    SirMxyzptlk Posts: 841 Member
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    There was the ousted member named Kegal Spice.
  • SwannySez
    SwannySez Posts: 5,864 Member
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    SirMxyzptlk wrote: »
    There was the ousted member named Kegal Spice.

    Kegel. With an e.
  • SirMxyzptlk
    SirMxyzptlk Posts: 841 Member
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    SwannySez wrote: »
    SirMxyzptlk wrote: »
    There was the ousted member named Kegal Spice.

    Kegel. With an e.

    Thanks Swemmy Spice.
  • cee134
    cee134 Posts: 33,711 Member
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    TIL Martin Short, Steve Martin and Tom Hanks have regular ‘colonoscopy parties’ where they prep together overnight and share one car on the ride to get their colonoscopies the next day.
  • yukfoo
    yukfoo Posts: 871 Member
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    cee134 wrote: »
    TIL Martin Short, Steve Martin and Tom Hanks have regular ‘colonoscopy parties’ where they prep together overnight and share one car on the ride to get their colonoscopies the next day.

    I did not need to know this... 5fj95au77o6j.png

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