Today I Learned (TIL)

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Nmeri17 on 2025-07-06 09:24:19+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/MajesticBread9147 on 2025-07-06 09:18:43+00:00.

Original Title: TIL after hearing her employer and lover who admired the Marquis de Sade claim that a woman couldn't write an erotic novel; writer Anne Desclos wrote one that was both massively successful and caused the government to pursue obscenity charges because of the sadomasochistic themes therein.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/polopiko on 2025-07-06 06:44:24+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that Göbekli Tepe in Turkey is the oldest known temple complex in the world, built over 11,000 years ago, thousands of years before Stonehenge or the Pyramids, and it was constructed by prehistoric hunter-gatherers before the invention of farming or writing.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Tim22Mt on 2025-07-06 06:33:11+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Gary Webb exposed CIA ties to the crack epidemic in 1996. Though discredited at the time, later reports confirmed parts of his story. He died in 2004 from two gunshot wounds to the head, ruled a suicide but many found it suspicious given his revelations.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/The_Critical_Cynic on 2025-07-06 04:20:46+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that Silentó, who's 2015 debut single "Watch Me (Whip/Nae Nae)" peaked at number three on the US Billboard Hot 100 when he was 17 years old, was arrested and charged with the murder of his cousin in 2021. He plead guilty to voluntary manslaughter in 2025, and was sentenced to 30 years in prison.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ToptextBottomtext420 on 2025-07-06 03:31:38+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that old Celtic, English, and Germanic folk would participate in an event called “flyting”: where two people would poetically throw insults and crude humor at each other in a duel of dictionary skill; it was essentially the earliest form of rap battling

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/carboncopy95437 on 2025-07-06 03:26:24+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that in 1987, a farmer in Argentina stumbled upon a giant tibia bone sticking out of the ground. It belonged to a massive dinosaur now known as Argentinosaurus, which some scientists consider the largest land animal to ever exist

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/VanGoghEnjoyer on 2025-07-06 03:19:47+00:00.

Original Title: TIL about a Chinese TV show called “Interviews Before Execution”, which aired from 2006 to 2012, where journalist Ding Yu interviewed convicted murderers just hours before their death sentences, and the program regularly drew up to 40 million viewers in Henan Province

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/PrimaryInjurious on 2025-07-06 02:51:24+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/CapnFancyPants on 2025-07-06 00:46:57+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/WouldbeWanderer on 2025-07-06 00:05:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL that the Oberammergau Passion Play has occurred every 10 years in Bavaria since 1634. The tradition began during an outbreak of bubonic plague, where the villagers vowed to perform the play if God would spare the village from the plague, during which half of the village's residents had died.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-07-06 00:02:44+00:00.

Original Title: TIL at his second exhibition, 7-year-old Kieron Williamson sold out all 16 of his paintings in 14 minutes for a total of £18,200. At a subsequent exhibition in 2010, his paintings sold out in 30 minutes for £150,000. By 2013, at the age of 10, he had earned an estimated £1.5m from his artwork.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/l__o-o__l on 2025-07-05 22:40:05+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-07-06 00:05:56+00:00.

Original Title: TIL studies have found that Nobel Prize-winning scientists are about 25x more likely to sing, dance or act than the average scientist. They are also 17x more likely to create visual art, 12x more likely to write poetry, and 4x more likely to be a musician.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/Calrimetre on 2025-07-05 23:16:05+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/haddock420 on 2025-07-05 23:01:26+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/drunkanddusky on 2025-07-05 22:49:56+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/PerfectUpstairs4842 on 2025-07-05 20:32:47+00:00.

Original Title: TIL Judith Durham, lead singer of iconic 1960s band The Seekers, was scheduled to sing "The Carnival Is Over" at the closing ceremony for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney; however, she broke her hip. A month later, she would perform the song at the closing ceremony for the Paralympics from a wheelchair.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/everydaydudey on 2025-07-05 15:48:05+00:00.

Original Title: TIL The largest piece of fossilised dinosaur poo discovered is over 30cm long and over two litres in volume. Believed to be a Tyrannosaurus rex turd, the fossilised dung (also named a 'coprolite') is helping scientists better understand what the dinosaur ate.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/LorenzoApophis on 2025-07-05 18:48:33+00:00.

Original Title: TIL James Joyce's novel Finnegans Wake is named after a comedic Irish-American ballad called Finnegan's Wake, about a man who breaks his skull and is thought dead, but when whiskey is spilled on his body at his wake, comes back to life and joins the celebration

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-07-05 19:05:12+00:00.

Original Title: TIL a study followed thousands of people, both with & without OCD, from 1973-2020 & found that those with OCD died at an earlier average age than those without it by 9 years (69 v 78). People with OCD were 230% more likely to die earlier from unnatual causes & nearly 5x more likely to die by suicide

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/tyrion2024 on 2025-07-05 17:40:46+00:00.

Original Title: TIL June Huh dropped out of high school & then took 6 years to earn his B.S. Though a professor had sparked an interest in mathematics, he was accepted into only 1 PhD program due to his undergraduate experience. However at age 39, he was awarded the Fields Medal "the highest honor in mathematics".

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/ThrustBastard on 2025-07-05 17:26:48+00:00.

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/XyleneCobalt on 2025-07-05 17:23:07+00:00.

Original Title: TIL dogs began to diverge from wolves when random genetic mutations gave some wolves the ability to much more effectively digest starches and fats, causing them to follow nomadic humans and eat the leftovers of the food they ate

This is an automated archive made by the Lemmit Bot.

The original was posted on /r/todayilearned by /u/liebkartoffel on 2025-07-05 17:17:53+00:00.

Original Title: TIL composer Alex North was initially hired to write the score for 2001: A Space Odyssey, but director Stanley Kubrick ultimately decided to use pre-existing classical pieces instead. North wasn't aware his score had been tossed aside until he attended the film's premiere.