Today I Learned (TIL)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Turbulent_Click_964 on 2024-11-09 15:31:37+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/SomethingMoreToSay on 2024-11-09 15:24:58+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/JackThaBongRipper on 2024-11-09 15:19:15+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that an English chemist named James Price claimed to be able to turn mercury into silver or gold. When asked by members of the Royal Society to perform the experiment in front of credible witnesses, he reluctantly agreed, only to drink poison in front of them instead.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Boomtown_Rat on 2024-11-09 15:06:32+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/RealisticBarnacle115 on 2024-11-09 13:07:50+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about Lion City, an ancient underwater city in China that’s about 1,400 years old. It was purposely flooded in 1959 to create a hydroelectric dam and rediscovered in 2001 in excellent condition, with preserved homes, temple structures, paved roads, and even wood.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Algrinder on 2024-11-09 13:04:07+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/efequalma on 2024-11-09 12:26:43+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that early PlayStation 1 consoles had a design flaw causing the laser to misalign over time, leading to disc read errors. A common workaround was to place the console upside down, which allowed gravity to realign the laser, enabling games to load properly.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/slopeclimber on 2024-11-09 09:34:09+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/letseatnudels on 2024-11-09 07:40:15+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Token_Thai_person on 2024-11-09 10:23:41+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-11-09 09:43:27+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the musical Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark had the largest production budget in Broadway history at $75 million. When it closed after a three-year run, its investors had reportedly lost $60 million.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/meyerovb on 2024-11-09 05:00:50+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/gullydon on 2024-11-09 08:41:28+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Of the 45 persons who have served as President of the United States, at least half have displayed proficiency in speaking or writing a language other than English. Of these, only one, Martin Van Buren, learned English as his second language; his first language was Dutch.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-11-09 07:13:41+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 2011 a drunken moose in Sweden became stuck in an apple tree while attempting to eat more fermented apples. Responding firefighters managed to bend the tree down far enough for the moose to slide off the branches and be set free.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Vorghul on 2024-11-09 06:31:17+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/RealisticBarnacle115 on 2024-11-09 04:53:59+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the Ainu worship bears, seeing them as divine gifts that provide hide and meat. When they find a cub, they raise it lovingly in the village, sometimes feeding it breast milk, and treat it as a god. Once the bear reaches one or two years old, they ceremonially kill it, honoring its sacred role.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/DeVoto on 2024-11-09 05:03:32+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/AngryCanadienne on 2024-11-09 03:54:00+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/rubix_redux on 2024-11-09 03:35:21+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Bluest_waters on 2024-11-09 02:32:36+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Joseph Conrad's 'Heart of Darkness' was published to little fanfare and was nearly forgotten. However by the 1960s it had had been analysed more than any other work of literature that is studied in universities. It would serve as the basis for the movie 'Apocalypse Now', revered as a classic

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Affectionate_Way_805 on 2024-11-09 02:58:16+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/efequalma on 2024-11-08 23:20:54+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about Philo Farnsworth, a farm boy from Idaho who, at just 14, conceived the idea for electronic television while plowing a field. Despite no formal training, his unexpected innovation laid the foundation for the technology that transformed communication and entertainment worldwide.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2024-11-09 01:34:17+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the world record for the longest marathon theatre performance by an individual is 110 hours 46 minutes & was achieved by Adrian Hilton when he recited the complete works of William Shakespeare at a Shakespeare Festival in London in 1987.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/efequalma on 2024-11-09 01:12:43+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in RuneScape, the "Party Hat," initially a common item from a 2001 holiday event, has become one of the game's most valuable assets. Originally considered worthless and often discarded, these hats are now rare collectibles, with some colors valued at billions of in-game gold.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/jdm1891 on 2024-11-08 23:28:23+00:00.