Today I Learned (TIL)

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Torley_ on 2025-07-16 11:15:38+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the US government tried to control the relentless Oregon dunes by planting European beachgrass starting in the 1920s — a geo-engineering project that inspired Frank Herbert’s creation of the Dune universe. However, the Oregon Dunes Restoration Collective sees the sand as a threatened resource.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/OneVeryCoolFact on 2025-07-16 11:12:14+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/CreeperRussS on 2025-07-16 11:02:22+00:00.

Original Title: TIL In the oldest surviving law code, some of the laws include: "If a man knocks out the eye of another man, he shall weigh out half a mina of silver." and "If a man has cut off another man's foot, he is to pay ten shekels."

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Upstairs_Drive_5602 on 2025-07-16 08:57:01+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that the Apollo spacesuits were designed and hand-stitched by seamstresses from Playtex, better known for making bras and girdles. Their 21-layer A7L suit design, built for NASA, beat competing military prototypes and provided astronauts with mobility and thermal insulation.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Smaptimania on 2025-07-16 08:52:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that it was popularly believed in ancient Rome that Emperor Nero would return from the dead to rule the Empire again as "Nero Redivivus", and this belief influenced early Christian depictions of the Antichrist

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Vegetable-Orange-965 on 2025-07-16 08:17:58+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that when a formerly Christian person converts to some varieties of Slavic neopaganism, they undergo a formal ceremony called raskrestitsia (de-Christianization) which involves kneeling on twigs, as priests carrying fire walk around them in a circle. At the end, they receive a scoopful of mead.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/zahrul3 on 2025-07-16 04:24:49+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that according to a 2009 Debenhams' survey, straight men only buy their own underwear between ages 19-23 when they're most likely to be single and actively dating, otherwise their mom or their wife/partner buys it for them.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Better_March5308 on 2025-07-16 00:52:26+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/TheDwarvenGuy on 2025-07-16 03:40:38+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that pencils were invented after a massive deposit of solid graphite was discovered in England, being the only place in the world with pieces large enough to cut into solid rods. England's monopolies over these lead other countries to smuggle graphite and recycle graphite powder.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MIMIR_MAGNVS on 2025-07-16 03:24:40+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/matsuphoto on 2025-07-15 23:56:15+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Turbulent-Offer-8136 on 2025-07-15 21:40:31+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that the Sebastopol Bell in Windsor was looted from a Russian church during the Siege of Sebastopol in 1855 at the end of the Crimean War, and it is only rung when the most senior members of the British royal family pass away

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/EPWilk on 2025-07-15 22:42:01+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MeatUnusual2098 on 2025-07-15 22:33:37+00:00.

Original Title: TIL World's first known medical bachelor's degree issued by Al Qarawiyyin University in Fez in 1207AD to a Moroccan doctor Abdellah Bensaleh El-Koutami, who practiced medicine, pharmacy, and veterinary science.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/willardTheMighty on 2025-07-15 21:45:20+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ok_Application_5402 on 2025-07-15 21:59:28+00:00.

Original Title: TIL the Calibri font caused the Pakistani Prime Minister to be disqualified from office in 2017. Forged documents about the PM's income that claimed to be from 2006 used the font, but the font was not publicly released until 2007.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Spykryo on 2025-07-15 21:29:47+00:00.

Original Title: TIL of the 1st Alabama Cavalry Regiment, made up of Alabamans who had remained loyal to the Union during the Civil War. They served as General Sherman's close escort during his March to the Sea, where his army destroyed Southern industry, property, and infrastructure.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/XyleneCobalt on 2025-07-15 20:49:05+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ainsley-Sorsby on 2025-07-15 20:16:38+00:00.

Original Title: TIL During the famine of 1328-30 many cities in Italy expelled people to preserve supplies. Florence took them in and provided aid for them along with its own citizens. They established government taskforces that implemented relief measures and spent about 60k gold florins in aid programs

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ConsistentQuality628 on 2025-07-15 20:15:36+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/notathrowaway1707 on 2025-07-15 19:57:24+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/PikesPique on 2025-07-15 18:38:16+00:00.

Original Title: TIL why 33⅓ LPs have small center holes and 45s have large ones. It's the result of a format war between Columbia Records and RCA, which gave 45s a larger hole to work better with automated record changers. Spindle adapters were later invented so both formats can play on the same turntable.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Thin-Rip-3686 on 2025-07-15 18:07:05+00:00.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Ill_Definition8074 on 2025-07-15 17:30:30+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that when football player Chase Winovich was traded to the Cleveland Browns in 2022, he held an online poll for fans to pick a new jersey number. Out of 50,000 total votes, 35,000 votes were for #69. Winovich subsequently adopted the number.

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The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/catman__321 on 2025-07-15 16:10:43+00:00.