Today I Learned (TIL)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Morella1989 on 2025-07-31 00:58:08+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that from 1867 to 1974, various US cities had ugly laws targeting disabled or visibly poor people. San Francisco’s 1867 law made it illegal for anyone diseased, maimed, mutilated, or deformed to appear in public unless for demonstrations showing their need for reformation.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Morella1989 on 2025-07-31 00:32:46+00:00.

Original Title: TIL of Sada Abe (1905–after 1971), a geisha and prostitute who, in 1936, strangled her lover and cut off his genitals, which she carried in her kimono. The case became a national obsession in Japan and inspired many works of art. She served 5 years and later wrote an autobiography.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/IFuckinHateCommunism on 2025-07-31 00:20:34+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the original Eeny, meeny, miny, moe was about slaves and included a racial slur and was used like it is today, the exact origin is debated. Overtime the slur was replaced with tiger to make it more acceptable.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Comprehensive_Boot_2 on 2025-07-30 22:41:12+00:00.

Original Title: TIL In Iceland, family names are not commonly used, instead the use of patronymics (or matronymics in recent years) are favored by law. A patronymic (or patronym) is based on the given name of one's father, grandfather (an avonymic), or earlier male ancestor.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/johnsmithoncemore on 2025-07-30 23:01:50+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/TheHabro on 2025-07-30 20:50:44+00:00.

Original Title: Til about Ancient Roman festival Lupercalia. During festivities young men would run through the city naked and strike passers-by with strips made of goat's skin. Some women would purposely get in the way, believing it would bless them with fertility.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/lxlviperlxl on 2025-07-30 21:17:22+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/DriveRVA on 2025-07-30 21:00:41+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/johnsmithoncemore on 2025-07-30 21:13:07+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about the artist Lee Lozano, who as a work of art titled: "Decide to Boycott Women", refused to speak or interact with other woman. It lasted the last 27 years of her life. She cut off all ties with female friends, family, fellow artists, and long-time supporters of her art.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/NateNate60 on 2025-07-30 21:07:40+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 1975, Stephen Hawking wagered to cosmologist Kip Thorne a subscription to Penthouse (an adult magazine) that Cygnus X-1 would not turn out to be a black hole. Hawking lost the bet but was okay with it because if he had won, much of his research would've been proven wrong.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/One_Needleworker5218 on 2025-07-30 20:56:01+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/usaidr on 2025-07-30 19:59:35+00:00.

Original Title: TIL U+3164 (Hangul Filler) is a Unicode character that looks completely blank but isn’t. It was originally designed as a placeholder for Korean syllables, and today it’s also used in odd text tricks, like blank-looking messages.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ill_Definition8074 on 2025-07-30 19:46:10+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/LookAtThatBacon on 2025-07-30 18:31:38+00:00.

Original Title: TIL banks keep stacks of bills with dye packs next to a magnetic plate at a bank teller's workstation. It remains in standby mode until it's removed from the plate, causing it to become armed. A radio transmitter located at the door triggers an explosion that can reach temperatures of about 400 °F.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ainsley-Sorsby on 2025-07-30 18:26:12+00:00.

Original Title: TIL The plot of "Mostellaria", a comedy by early roman playright Plautus, follows a young man who goes wild after his father leaves on a business trip: he spends all of his money, trashes the house while throwing a party and invents a ghost story as a cover up when his father abruptly returns

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/carrot-man on 2025-07-30 17:38:18+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ShinyHeadedCook on 2025-07-30 17:16:10+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/GeoColo on 2025-07-30 17:13:13+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 1977, a Soviet nuclear reactor aboard the Kosmos 954 satellite malfunctioned and fell from orbit, scattering radioactive debris across northern Canada. The cleanup cost millions of dollars, most of which the USSR refused to pay.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/johnsmithoncemore on 2025-07-30 17:18:28+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Narase33 on 2025-07-30 16:17:22+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Objective_Horror1113 on 2025-07-30 15:16:12+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Nikola Tesla believed he received extraterrestrial signals in 1899 during experiments in Colorado. In 1901 he wrote he may have heard “the greeting of one planet to another” and thought the signals came from Mars long before radio astronomy existed.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BaconReceptacle on 2025-07-30 14:46:43+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/CupidStunt13 on 2025-07-30 14:37:28+00:00.

Original Title: TIL The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy author Douglas Adams and comedian Stephen Fry purchased the first three original Apple Macintosh computers available in Europe. It started a lifelong friendship

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/SantaCruzPirate on 2025-07-30 13:56:15+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MichiganCarNut on 2025-07-30 13:41:16+00:00.