TIL Mount Kailash has no successful record of ascent. Mountaineer Reinhold Messner was given the opportunity to climb it in 1980s , but he declined, saying "If we conquer this mountain, then we conque
TIL that Frank Shackleton, the brother of famous polar explorer Ernest Shackleton, was one of the men accused of stealing the Irish Crown Jewels in 1907, a theft which has never been solved.
TIL that Brighton City Airport in the UK, is the oldest airport that was designed for commercial use, to still be operating. It is often used by filmmakers who are wanting to depict small or pre-war a
Scientists believe that smashing heavy atoms close together in a particle accelerator can create strong magnetic fields that literally pull dark matter out of empty space.
Measuring brain activity in 263 people with major depressive disorder, researchers identified five brain profiles for depression in which functional connectivity between brain regions differed
TIL that in 1674, English physician Thomas Willis documented testing for diabetes by tasting patients’ urine, noting that diabetic urine could taste “wonderfully sweet” like honey or sugar
Higher overall disgust sensitivity was associated with a greater likelihood of identifying as a Republican and holding a conservative ideology. A person with high disgust sensitivity and low bodily aw
TIL the popsicle was invented by accident in 1905 when 11-year-old boy named Frank Epperson left a glass of powdered soda on his porch during a record-cold night and it froze around the stick he had u
Each 1°C of global warming brings about 2.63°C of local summer warming in Germany, with a range of 1.62 to 3.62. Heatwaves there will climb far faster than the world average.
TIL that Katharine Hepburn and Stanley Kramer put their salaries in escrow to make “Guess Who's Coming to Dinner” because Spencer Tracy was so ill they didn’t know if he would be able to finish the fi
TIL about the Gnadenhutten Massacre. It was the killing of 96 pacifist Moravian Christian Indians (Lenape and Mohican) by U.S. militiamen from Pennsylvania. Non-resisting men, women and children were
TIL that when construction of Florence Cathedral began in 1296, its designers planned a massive dome even though no one knew how to build it. More than a century later, Filippo Brunelleschi solved the
TIL of the Elaine Massacre of 1919 in Arkansas. Over three days black people were hunted and killed by whites until Federal troops arrived. Afterwards 12 black men were sentenced to the electric chair
TIL of Don Ritchie; a man who lived close to a notorious suicide spot who officially prevented 180 suicide attempts. He would approach an individual and simply ask, "Can I help you in some way?"
TIL the US dropped about 7.6 million tons of bombs across Indochina during the Vietnam War, which is more than 3x the amount U.S. Air Force dropped in the European and Pacific theaters of WW2 combined
TIL British Intelligence had a special, bugged luxury complex during WWII where they kept high profile Nazi POW’s, just left a bunch of alcohol out, and waited for them to start spilling secrets as th
TIL that MLB Hall of Famer Reggie Jackson was recruited for football by Alabama, Georgia, and Oklahoma, all of whom were willing to break the color barrier for him. He declined Alabama and Georgia as
African elephants use dozens of different medicinal plants to treat themselves and their families when they are sick. This is the conclusion of a study which interviewed people who live and work along
TIL that in 393 CE Boxing (Pugilatus) was banned in Rome because of too much brutality. Using gloves (Cestus) with nails attached, with neither weight categories nor time limits, the bouts would last
Past emissions from top polluters will continue warming the planet for decades to come. Future fossil fuel production will exacerbate climate disasters for many decades to come, so new legal battles a
TIL the plan for organising Winston Churchill’s funeral began 12 years before his death, such was the logistics involved. However, the plan had to keep being changed, as Churchill kept outliving his p
TIL that Charondas, a Greek lawmaker, issued a law that anyone who brought weapons into the Athenian Assembly would be executed. When 1 day after hunting, he arrived at the Assembly with his knife sti
TIL New Yorkers leave over $100 million a year in unclaimed 5 cent bottle deposits ($139 million in 2021). Until 2009 the beer and soda distributors kept every cent of it. The state now takes 80% and
TIL that since the inception of the NCAA women's tournament in 1982, current LSU coach Kim Mulkey has participated as a player or coach every year except 1985 and 2003.
Researchers identified a teenager with an exceptionally rare memory ability, capable of recalling details with accuracy that exceeds an estimated 99.9% of the population, offering new insights into hu
