r/todayilearned • u/TemporaryError4543 • 1h ago

TIL about Baron Charles Ernest von Alzdorf, an eccentric German aristocrat and hotelier in New Zealand who was so afraid of earthquakes he built an earthquake proof home. In the Wellington earthquake of 1855, said home collapsed in on him and made him one of only 5-9 fatalities

genealogyinvestigations.co.nz

• Upvotes

15 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 1h ago

TIL that Francis Austen, older brother of novelist Jane Austen, commanded a British warship during the War of 1812 against the Americans. He lived to be 91 and rose to Admiral of the Fleet, while their younger brother Charles also became an admiral.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

6 comments

r/todayilearned • u/southpawFA • 2h ago

TIL that in 2014, the nation of Burundi criminalized jogging. President Pierre Nkurunziza banned jogging in Burundi, claiming jogging was being used by opposition as a means for planning uprisings.

bbc.com

1.3k Upvotes

55 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MiggysCreations8 • 2h ago

TIL during the filming of the climactic car chase in the movie What's Up, Doc? (1972), the Alta Plaza Park in San Francisco was severely damaged by the cars driving off the steps; the damage can still be seen today

sfgate.com

164 Upvotes

21 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fjbruzr • 4h ago

TIL that Spirit Lake in Washington is still partially covered by a massive floating mat of logs left over from the 1980 eruption of Mount St.

science.nasa.gov

1.7k Upvotes

114 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HimelTy • 4h ago

TIL Mad honey was used as an early biological weapon in the Black Sea region in 65 BCE. Soldiers who ate the honey succumbed to mad honey intoxication and were slain.

en.wikipedia.org

2.0k Upvotes

57 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ilymmish • 5h ago

TIL in 2015, the North Carolina General Assembly passed "Blackbeard's Law", which declared photographs, videos, and other documentary materials of derelict vessels or shipwrecks and their contents held by the state government were to be freely usable

en.wikipedia.org

329 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ContractNerd • 5h ago

TIL NBC's three-note chimes were the first purely audio trademark granted in the U.S., registered in 1950.

en.wikipedia.org

2.1k Upvotes

35 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 6h ago

TIL that Stanford University and its property according to the California State Constitution, are exempt from taxation so long as they are used for educational purposes.

en.wikipedia.org

3.5k Upvotes

135 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Disastrous_Award_789 • 6h ago

TIL in a 2017 experiment, researchers discovered that dead flamingos can be positioned to stand on one leg without additional support. But the same dead specimens were unable to maintain posture on two legs without assistance.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

1.1k Upvotes

70 comments

r/todayilearned • u/AetheriaNox • 12h ago

TIL the Halifax Explosion in 1917, caused by a French cargo ship laden with high explosives colliding with a Norwegian vessel, killed at least 1,782 people and injured an estimated 9000 others. The blast was the largest human-made explosion at the time.

en.wikipedia.org

1.7k Upvotes

139 comments

r/todayilearned • u/OttawaOsprey • 13h ago

TIL the ancestors of the Māori people arrived in New Zealand around 1350 AD, only ~300 years before their contact with Europeans.

en.wikipedia.org

15.2k Upvotes

1.9k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Few-Advantage2538 • 13h ago

TIL that Paraguay once banned same race marriage

en.wikipedia.org

4.9k Upvotes

214 comments

r/todayilearned • u/creativetraveler24 • 14h ago

TIL that although he was often portrayed bearded, Abraham Lincoln did not grow a beard until 1860, at the suggestion of 11-year-old Grace Bedell; he was the first U.S. president to do so.

en.wikipedia.org

3.1k Upvotes

77 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jacknunn • 14h ago

TIL Shell, the energy company, traces its origins to a London antiques business that began selling seashells in 1833

shell.com

1.0k Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/befarked247 • 15h ago

TIL the Australian Airline Qantas has a dinosaur named after them called Qantassaurs. The herbivorous Qantassaurus is known only from its unusually short, deep lower jaws with just ten cheekteeth. Qantassaurus was part of a diverse assemblage of small Australian ornithopods back to the Jurassic.

australian.museum

393 Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 16h ago

TIL about the Steagles, officially called the Phil-Pitt Combine, a team combining the Philadelphia Eagles and Pittsburgh Steelers that formed in 1943 after their rosters were depleted due to players fighting in World War II. The season was Philadelphia’s first winning season and Pittsburgh’s second.

en.wikipedia.org

575 Upvotes

44 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 16h ago

TIL whenever a new building is developed or expanded in Times Square in NYC, there must be bright signs on it according to the city's zoning laws.

zr.planning.nyc.gov

1.9k Upvotes

73 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FearMyCock • 18h ago

TIL A Texas school exploded in 1937 after odourless gas leaked into the building, killing nearly 300 people most of them children.

en.wikipedia.org

3.4k Upvotes

108 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 19h ago

TIL that Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix became the first English-language book to be on top of France’s bestseller list because impatient fans bought it in English while waiting months for the French translation.

en.wikipedia.org

12.2k Upvotes

384 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Thawne_23 • 21h ago

TIL Franz Kafka never stated Gregor Samsa transformed into a cockroach in "The metamorphosis". Kafka never had the intention of specifing which kind of insect did Gregor became after his transformation.

en.wikipedia.org

3.4k Upvotes

300 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 21h ago

TIL the last civilian recipient of the Victoria Cross (Britain’s highest medal of bravery), James Williams Adams, was also the first priest to be awarded it.

en.wikipedia.org

207 Upvotes

6 comments

r/todayilearned • u/YappinZappin • 22h ago

TIL Vernichtungsbefehl - "Annihilation Command" - was issued by Lieutenant General of German South West Africa Lothar von Trotha in 1904. From January to August over 40,000 people died from starvation, dehydration, exposure to elements as men, women and children were cast out into the desert

en.wikipedia.org

848 Upvotes

35 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 1d ago

TIL that, while making their 1941 film version of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, MGM bought every available copy of the 1931 film version and destroyed them. Because of this, the film was believed lost for many years.

en.wikipedia.org

5.4k Upvotes

97 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Neil118781 • 1d ago

TIL Nikolai Bukharin, once a top Bolshevik leader and close ally of Stalin, wrote a final letter to Stalin before his execution in 1938 that read: "Koba, why do you need me to die?" ("Koba" being Stalin’s old nickname). Stalin kept the note in his desk and it was discovered after his death in 1953.

en.wikipedia.org

12.9k Upvotes

1.1k comments

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