Today I Learned 🎓

TIL that in 1921, over 10,000 armed West Virginia coal miners fought coal company forces in the Battle of Blair Mountain. After nearly a week of fighting, President Warren G. Harding sent U.S. troops, including aircrafts, to end the largest armed uprising in the U.S. since the Civil War. [Source]

TIL that the day that the 44th president of the USA was sworn into office, a Japanese city that shared his name celebrated the inauguration with women dancing the hula, a traditional dance from the POTUS' home state of Hawaii. [Source]

TIL Canada has a lake five times saltier than the ocean where people can float effortlessly like the Dead Sea [Source]

TIL Unscramblerer did a study on the most mispronounced words in the USA. Topping the list was the word "Gyro". The most searched human name was "Aoife". Condiments can be very tricky as "Worcestershire sauce", "Mayonnaise", and "Tzatziki all made the list for states. [Source]

TIL a man in Australia couldn't afford the travel back home to Wales, so he mailed himself in a 30x26x38 inch crate from Melbourne to what ended up being the US. He was diverted from a direct 36-hour flight & spent 92 hrs in the crate including 22 hrs upside down which caused him to suffer greatly. [Source]

TIL that metal band System of a Down’s 2001 single “Chop Suey!” was supposed to be titled “Suicide” yet was changed due to pushback from Columbia Records. The new title is never said in the lyrics. Despite this, singer Serj Tankian can still be heard saying “We’re rolling Suicide” during the intro. [Source]

TIL that in 2008, Nebraska passed a Safe Haven law with no age limit, accidentally allowing parents to legally abandon children up to age 18. In just 127 days, 35 older children and teens were surrendered before lawmakers amended the law to close this loophole. [Source]

TIL: The popular children's song "do your ears hang low" is actually a sanitized version of a World War I soldiers song called "do your balls hang low" [Source]

TIL Spartan men and women competitively performed a type of dance that doubled an an exercise intended to make their butt as toned as possible: They would leap in the air and slap their butt with their feet, as many times as possible. One Spartan girl was recorded to have achieved 1000 slaps [Source]

TIL "wireheading" (direct stimulation of the mesolimbic pathway) creates a euphoria stronger than any drug with zero tolerance. The bliss was so overpowering that historical rat and human subjects ignored food, sleep, and sex, willingly starving themselves to press a button until physical collapse. [Source]

TIL the ABS plastic used in Lego bricks withstands compression better than concrete [Source]

TIL in 1842 after hearing false news that war had broken out between the United States and Mexico, Commodore Jones captured Monterey, CA with no resistance. After learning their mistake the Mexican troops were freed, the Americans set sail, saluting the Mexican flag as they exited the harbor. [Source]

TIL George Lucas gave Mel Brooks his blessing to make "Spaceballs" on the condition that no action figures be produced, to ensure they wouldn't be mistaken for official Star Wars toys. [Source]

TIL when Shirley Temple retired from movies at age 22 in 1950, she discovered that her father had "drastically mismanaged" her money by making bad investments. Out of the $3.2 million she had earned during her career, only $44K remained in her trust account. She said "I wasn't upset; I was shocked." [Source]

TIL ancient Greeks treated every stranger as a potential god in disguise. Their hospitality code, "xenia," required hosts to bathe and feed guests before even asking their name—because a bad host risked the wrath of Zeus. The Trojan War was framed as punishment for violating it. [Source]

TIL postpartum confinement centres in parts of Asia let new mothers spend about a month recovering under the traditional Chinese practice of "doing the month", based on the philosophy of restoring yin–yang balance after childbirth [Source]

TIL in 1927 Japan and the United States exchanged dolls to improve their relations. 12739 "American blue-eyed dolls" were sent to Japan and 58 Japanese ambassador dolls (one for the Empire and each prefecture, major city and territory) were sent to the USA [Source]

TIL that corn tortillas were not widespread in Mexico prior to the Mexican Revolution in 1920. Before this, parts of the country and parts of society like the North mainly ate flour tortillas or bread. The staple became a nationalistic symbol after the revolution and the growth of tortillerias. [Source]

TIL that Anthony "Gaspipe" Casso, a brutal Lucchese mob boss and later informant, was so unruly in prison that the FBI took the incredibly rare step of kicking him out of the Witness Protection Program. [Source]

TIL that in London from 1760 to 1794 men could buy a pocket book directory detailing the physical appearance, sexual specialities and cost of local sex workers in an annual publication called Harris's List [Source]