TIL there's a calculator that tells you exactly how many ads you've been served in your lifetime and how much advertisers have spent specifically targeting you

https://attentionworth.com/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rk6xax/til_theres_a_calculator_that_tells_you_exactly/

TIL the late Senator Strom Thurmond’s father shot and killed a man who called him a “dog and a scoundrel”. A jury acquitted William Thurmond of murder.

https://www.goupstate.com/story/news/1998/08/06/letters-to-the-editor/29602945007/
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rk63pp/til_the_late_senator_strom_thurmonds_father_shot/

TIL that other than the tiny microstates of Nauru, Niue, and the Vatican, the only country to have never had a Red Cross or Red Crescent Society is Oman. Nicaragua's parliament also dissolved theirs in 2023, making these five nations the only ones without the Red Cross.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Red_Cross_and_Red_Crescent_societies
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rk2bt1/til_that_other_than_the_tiny_microstates_of_nauru/

TiL Women are less likely to receive bystander CPR than men due to fears of 'inappropriate touching'

https://www.abc.net.au/news/health/2023-10-06/women-less-likely-to-receive-bystander-cpr-than-men/102937012
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rk28du/til_women_are_less_likely_to_receive_bystander/

TIL about William Price, a Welsh physician and Neo Druid who after the death of his infant son Iesu Grist in 1884, performed one of the first modern cremations in the UK, burning the body on a pyre. He was arrested though acquitted as their was no law against cremation. He was 84...his wife was 18.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Price_(physician)#Later_life_and_advocacy_of_cremation:_1883%E2%80%931893
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rk105p/til_about_william_price_a_welsh_physician_and_neo/

TIL about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. All 36 men of the study lost 25% of their body weight eating 1,560 calories daily, proving that a calorie deficit alone causes weight loss. These starvation conditions produced a severe physical and mental decline in the subjects.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minnesota_Starvation_Experiment
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rk0dto/til_about_the_minnesota_starvation_experiment_all/

TIL that the descendants of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who is credited as the founding father of Pakistan, have remained in India after the partition of British colonial India into India and Pakistan in 1947, after his only child, Dina Wadia's decision to stay back in India for her marital life.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dina_Wadia
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjz6dk/til_that_the_descendants_of_muhammad_ali_jinnah/

TIL about "alpine glow," a stunning optical phenomenon where mountains light up in pink, purple, and orange hues just after sunset or before sunrise, caused by sunlight reflecting off atmospheric ice crystals while the foreground stays in shadow.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpenglow
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjxnpm/til_about_alpine_glow_a_stunning_optical/

TIL the rivers are so clean in Bern and Basel in Switzerland that many people commute to work by swimming.

https://edition.cnn.com/2025/07/24/travel/video/switzerland-floating-commute-aare-rhine-lbg-ldn-digvid
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjwwl0/til_the_rivers_are_so_clean_in_bern_and_basel_in/

TIL the Royal Navy trained WWII fighter direction officers using ice cream tricycles fitted with radios and compasses to simulate aerial combat. Instructors noted students pedaled much faster than ordered whenever a (female) WRNS member was piloting an attacking bomber trike

https://ethw.org/The_Beginnings_of_Naval_Fighter_Direction_-_Chapter_5_of_Radar_and_the_Fighter_Directors
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjvssi/til_the_royal_navy_trained_wwii_fighter_direction/

TIL chicken sold in supermarkets are often "plumped" with a salt water solution to increase sell weight, making up as much as 30% of the total weight. A serving of plumped chicken can contain between 200 and 500mg of sodium while non-plumped chicken generally contains 45 to 70mg.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plumping?Plumping_Chicken
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjubrg/til_chicken_sold_in_supermarkets_are_often/

TIL the Kuwaiti Dinar is the nominally strongest currency in the world, with 1 KWD being worth 3.25 US Dollars, or 2.81 Euros, or 2.44 Pound Sterlings, or 513 Japanese Yens, or 22.4 Chinese Yuans

https://wise.com/gb/blog/strongest-currencies-in-the-world
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rju4om/til_the_kuwaiti_dinar_is_the_nominally_strongest/

TIL a married Czech couple born on the same day both won gold medals at the 1952 Olympics

https://the-game.imago-images.com/articles/emil-zatopek-and-dana-zatopkova
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rju1vj/til_a_married_czech_couple_born_on_the_same_day/

TIL that the last time the United States authorized a private person to conduct war (granting a letter of marque) was during the Second Barbary War (1815)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Letter_of_marque
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjt01a/til_that_the_last_time_the_united_states/

TIL of Sabbatai Zevi who in the 17th century claimed he was the Messiah, leading to a significant portion of Jews world wide believing him. Only for him to end up converting to Islam.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sabbatai_Zevi
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjn8pf/til_of_sabbatai_zevi_who_in_the_17th_century/

TIL that Universal Studios owned an earlier incarnation of the Disney character Pete through the Oswald the Lucky Rabbit series, with the two Petes appearing as regular antagonists within their series' (Mickey Mouse and Oswald) heyday.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pete_(Disney)
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjm5oy/til_that_universal_studios_owned_an_earlier/

TIL that VLC Media Player’s lead developer, Jean-Baptiste Kempf, turned down millions of euros to keep VLC ad-free and open source.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean-Baptiste_Kempf
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjkiuj/til_that_vlc_media_players_lead_developer/

TIL what the R word stands for, had assumed it was Republican

https://www.specialolympics.org/stories/impact/why-the-r-word-is-the-r-slur
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjj6w2/til_what_the_r_word_stands_for_had_assumed_it_was/

TIL that the 2017 application by Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc. to build a railroad through northern Illinois from Wisconsin to Indiana was rejected by the U.S. Surface Transportation Board. One of the reason was that Great Lakes Basin Transportation, Inc had only $151 worth of net assets.

https://will.illinois.edu/news/story/great-lakes-basin-railroad-rejected-application-information-fundamentally-f
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjiv1n/til_that_the_2017_application_by_great_lakes/

TIL that in 1979, the CIA rescued 6 diplomats from Iran by faking a sci-fi movie called 'Argo.' They used fake scripts, posters, and ads in Hollywood magazines to convince authorities the diplomats were just a film crew scouting locations. It actually worked.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canadian_Caper
#til #todayilearned
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/1rjiftm/til_that_in_1979_the_cia_rescued_6_diplomats_from/