Today I Learned (TIL)

1

TIL a company that made smart airline suitcases had to shut down operations after several major airlines banned luggage with non-removable batteries to reduce the risk of battery fires. The compan... (www.theverge.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Bigred2989- on 2025-07-18 04:51:59+00:00.

Original Title: TIL a company that made smart airline suitcases had to shut down operations after several major airlines banned luggage with non-removable batteries to reduce the risk of battery fires. The company claims they had sold around 65,000 suitcases around the time of the ban.

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TIL when infamous fraudster Bernie Madoff died, he was cremated (contrary to Jewish tradition) and his family refused to claim his ashes, so they are currently sitting in a lawyer's office. (now.tufts.edu)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/lifeofcelibacy on 2025-07-18 04:28:05+00:00.

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TIL that in the United States flamethrowers are legal in most of the country, with exception to Maryland’s full ban and California requiring a permit from the State Fire Marshal. (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MothersMiIk on 2025-07-18 03:56:38+00:00.

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TIL despite Australia’s reputation for having dangerous snakes, Australia averages just 1-2 snake bite deaths per year. (theconversation.com)

submitted 1 hour ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/optichange on 2025-07-18 03:19:50+00:00.

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[TIL] It took U of Oklahoma students just two days to defeat a new, electronic, windshield-blocking parking enforcement device called The Barnacle, using things like defoggers, Faraday cages, and ... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 4 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/bourj on 2025-07-18 01:56:19+00:00.

Original Title: [TIL] It took U of Oklahoma students just two days to defeat a new, electronic, windshield-blocking parking enforcement device called The Barnacle, using things like defoggers, Faraday cages, and bait cars.

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TIL MC HAMMER was a true gangster and other rappers feared him. He would threaten and put out hits on other rappers who he felt discredited him, or his family. (www.kqed.org)

submitted 5 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/SpongerPower on 2025-07-18 00:38:17+00:00.

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TIL Harvard had lost original Magna Carta hiding in its archives for almost 80 years. (hls.harvard.edu)

submitted 5 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/One_Needleworker5218 on 2025-07-17 22:50:50+00:00.

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TIL in 2016, the CEO of human resources startup Zenefits had to send a memo explicitly banning drinking and having sex in the office after "several used condoms were found in the stairwell". (www.refinery29.com)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/LookAtThatBacon on 2025-07-17 23:41:55+00:00.

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TIL Historians rediscovered the tomb of the “missing pharaoh” Thutmose II the first new royal tomb found since Tutankhamun. (archaeologymag.com)

submitted 5 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/One_Needleworker5218 on 2025-07-17 23:34:06+00:00.

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TIL that Polish model Agnieszka Kotlarska-Świątek, survived missing TWA Flight 800, only to be murdered by a stalker weeks later in front of her husband and daughter (en.wikipedia.org)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BrianOBlivion1 on 2025-07-17 23:32:17+00:00.

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TIL that in 1996 a group in England broke into an air base and used hammers to significantly damage warplanes, which were due to be sold to Indonesia. A jury found the group innocent because they ... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 9 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/unclear_warfare on 2025-07-17 20:17:50+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1996 a group in England broke into an air base and used hammers to significantly damage warplanes, which were due to be sold to Indonesia. A jury found the group innocent because they felt the planes were likely to be used in the Indonesian military's genocide in East Timor

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TIL older adults who regularly use smartphones and computers tend to have lower rates of cognitive decline (www.theguardian.com)

submitted 9 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/mrinternetman24 on 2025-07-17 20:04:07+00:00.

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TIL Investigation on the Bangla 211 plane crash revealed the the pilot had been "severely distressed" and hadn't slept the night before the flight. He was crying in the cockpit while telling the s... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 9 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ainsley-Sorsby on 2025-07-17 21:10:13+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Investigation on the Bangla 211 plane crash revealed the the pilot had been "severely distressed" and hadn't slept the night before the flight. He was crying in the cockpit while telling the story of an alleged affair with one of his trainees and was too anxious to pay attention to the job

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TIL the Ottoman Empire allowed new sultans to execute their brothers to secure the throne, Mehmed III had nineteen brothers killed under this law. (qawl.com)

submitted 9 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MeatUnusual2098 on 2025-07-17 20:55:24+00:00.

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TIL that in 1971, a man hijacked a Thunder Bay to Toronto flight to Havana. 30 years later, he was arrested in USA when Canadian investigators googled his name, with the sole hit being a then-rece... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 9 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/SamsonFox2 on 2025-07-17 17:57:50+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1971, a man hijacked a Thunder Bay to Toronto flight to Havana. 30 years later, he was arrested in USA when Canadian investigators googled his name, with the sole hit being a then-recent article about his work with Bronx kids.

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TIL that Apple’s macOS and iOS took their roots from Unix systems written in the C programming language, which was created by Dennis Ritchie in the early 1970s at Bell Labs (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 9 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/LinaRaye on 2025-07-17 11:08:05+00:00.

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TIL Crispin Glover did not reprise his role as George McFly in Back to the Future II and filed a lawsuit that created new rules for use of likeness with the SAG (comicbook.com)

submitted 13 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/xThrillhoVanHoutenx on 2025-07-17 15:53:29+00:00.

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TIL that hundreds of tree seeds went to the moon with the Apollo 14 mission, resulting in Moon Trees planted all around the country during the 1970s—few of which still stand today. (www.atlasobscura.com)

submitted 13 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/stopitsgingertime on 2025-07-17 15:59:16+00:00.

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TIL that during World War I, the French planned to build a fake Paris, complete with a duplicate Champs-Élysées, to confuse German bomber pilots. (doughboy.org)

submitted 13 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MeatUnusual2098 on 2025-07-17 15:26:52+00:00.

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TIL of the Cottingley Fairies. In 1917, two young English girls took photos of what they claimed were real fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle then published the pics as proof of supernatural phenomen... (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 13 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MrMojoFomo on 2025-07-17 15:15:21+00:00.

Original Title: TIL of the Cottingley Fairies. In 1917, two young English girls took photos of what they claimed were real fairies. Sir Arthur Conan Doyle then published the pics as proof of supernatural phenomena. It wasn't until the 1980s that the girls admitted the fairies were really cardboard cutouts

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TIL that Melbourne is 20km closer to Antarctica than is to Darwin Australia. (www.ricklecouteur.com)

submitted 19 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Tim22Mt on 2025-07-17 10:35:08+00:00.

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TIL that in 1998, workers found 1,200 human bones from at least 10 bodies in Benjamin Franklin’s London basement. Before assuming murder, it was revealed his house was used as an underground anato... (www.smithsonianmag.com)

submitted 19 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MeatUnusual2098 on 2025-07-17 10:15:20+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1998, workers found 1,200 human bones from at least 10 bodies in Benjamin Franklin’s London basement. Before assuming murder, it was revealed his house was used as an underground anatomy school by his scientist friend William Hewson.

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TIL Nebraska was bombed by both sides during WWII (www.onlyinyourstate.com)

submitted 19 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/bryson1995 on 2025-07-17 05:43:50+00:00.

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TIL Martin Scorsese is a huge admirer of Polish cinema from the 50's and 60's and often shows his favorite classic Polish films to actors and even executives before working with them. Scorsese has... (culture.pl)

submitted 19 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/noccaguy on 2025-07-17 08:55:06+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Martin Scorsese is a huge admirer of Polish cinema from the 50's and 60's and often shows his favorite classic Polish films to actors and even executives before working with them. Scorsese has an honorary doctorate from a Polish university and made a list of his 21 favorite Polish movies.

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TIL about Perrine, Florida - In 1948, after it elected a black mayor the all-white city council dissolved the town (en.wikipedia.org)

submitted 23 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/pijinglish on 2025-07-17 06:06:40+00:00.