Today I Learned (TIL)

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/JIN_HO_KWA_4896 on 2025-07-28 00:02:41+00:00.

Original Title: TIL in 1942/WW2 the Japanese army made Allied POWs sign a pledge not to escape. Most Australians POWs signed "Ned Kelly", an infamous australian outlaw, knowing that Japanese administrators who were not familar with english names.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Scienscatologist on 2025-07-27 23:47:33+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MrMiracle27 on 2025-07-27 16:36:59+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that until it closed in 2012 amid animal welfare concerns, Wildlife Wonderland Park near Bass, Victoria, was home to the Giant Earthworm Museum. Inside the worm-shaped museum, visitors could crawl through a magnified replica of a worm burrow and a simulated worm's stomach.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/OccludedFug on 2025-07-27 21:45:53+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Madmystic94 on 2025-07-27 21:30:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Star Trek Creator Gene Roddenberry was asked to write a series called Riverboat, set in 1860s Mississippi. When he discovered that the producers wanted no black people on the show, he argued so much with them that he lost the job

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Senaurus on 2025-07-27 21:21:38+00:00.

Original Title: TIL In 1945 a mix of American soldiers and Filipino guerillas attacked a POW camp behind Japanese lines, an American fighter flew over the camp making noise to distract the guards, in the end the Japanese lost hundreds to only two allied deaths and over 500 prisoners were rescued.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/primal_cortex on 2025-07-27 20:10:57+00:00.

Original Title: TIL In 1854, Clarissa Davis, an enslaved woman, escaped from Virginia by disguising herself as a man and hiding in a box near a steamship furnace. After 75 days in hiding, she endured the perilous journey to Philadelphia with help from an ally onboard. She was later assisted and able met her family.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/marhaus1 on 2025-07-27 19:44:28+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/renyzen on 2025-07-27 19:25:49+00:00.

Original Title: TIL there was so few currency in circulation in Colonial America that they resorted to cutting up Spanish silver coins into eight pieces to create smaller denominations, these "Pieces of Eight" were Legal Tender in the USA until 1857

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MonkeyIncidentOf93 on 2025-07-27 18:53:14+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/BrilliantStill22 on 2025-07-27 17:56:30+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Twin Peaks was massively popular in Japan in the early 1990s. Daytime TV programs speculated about the identity of Laura Palma’s killer, mock funerals were held and a wide range of merchandise was sold. It also inspired games like Silent Hill and Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/SuperMcG on 2025-07-27 17:48:13+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Lilswingingdick212 on 2025-07-27 16:51:10+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/greatest-lovemachine on 2025-07-27 15:41:39+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Physical_Hamster_118 on 2025-07-27 16:08:53+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/thisisreddawn on 2025-07-27 15:44:17+00:00.

Original Title: TIL In 1980, when doctors told Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito he had to amputate his leg to save his life, he said he would rather take his own life. This stubbornness eventually contributed to his death, which opened a power vacuum and led to the collapse of Yugoslavia in the coming decades.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ghosts_of_Bordeaux on 2025-07-27 15:26:26+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Leo Hirschfield, the Austrian-American inventor of both the Tootsie Roll & the first commercially successful gelatin dessert mix, committed suicide in 1923 after contracting a chronic illness and his beloved wife was committed, leaving a note simply stating "Sorry, but could not help it."

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Necessary-Rip-6612 on 2025-07-27 13:38:15+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/DanielCallaghan5379 on 2025-07-27 13:13:53+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/aadamblanco on 2025-07-27 12:54:57+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/gullydon on 2025-07-27 12:19:07+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the Irish Elk, a deer type that went extinct around 7,700 years ago, had the largest antlers of any known deer (span 3.5 metres across), which developed because female elk chose their mates based on antler size. In the end, alongside human hunting, it contributed to the species extinction.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/a3poify on 2025-07-27 09:57:00+00:00.

Original Title: TIL jazz singer Jimmy Scott suffered from Kallmann syndrome, which stunted his puberty leading to his height being limited to 4'11 (until the age of 37, when he suddenly grew 8 inches) and his unusually high, androgynous voice.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/kaze2295 on 2025-07-27 08:10:22+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Oturanthesarklord on 2025-07-27 10:38:48+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1996, Mcdonald's tried to sue the owner of a family owned restaurant located in Fairbury, Illinois that had opened in 1956 called "McDonald's Family Restaurant" and lost, ironically the owner of "McDonald's Family Restaurant" is named Ronald McDonald.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/strangelove4564 on 2025-07-27 08:38:34+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the longtime BBC "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" theme song was the 1975 Eagles track "Journey of the Sorcerer". Glenn Frey and Don Henley, preferring a stadium rock sound, didn't want the song on their album. Writer and guitarist-banjoist Bernie Leadon left the group that year.