TIL (Timeline I Learned)

TIL the Ritonavir crisis of 1998, an event where the life-saving HIV medication (Form I) became insoluble in water, happened when a more stable, insoluble form of the drug (Form II) was discovered. As it spread, any manufacturing plant that made contact with Form II couldn't make Form I anymore. [Source, Comments]

TIL the final battle in Avengers: Endgame was originally much longer, with its own three-act structure. One planned scene had the battle stopping for about three minutes so 18 characters could discuss what to do. [Source, Comments]

TIL that production on Cast Away was halted for about a year so Tom Hanks could lose weight and grow his hair and beard. During the hiatus, director Robert Zemeckis made What Lies Beneath with most of the same crew. [Source, Comments]

TIL when Harambe was 2 years old, his mother, his 11-month-old brother, and his two-year-old half-sister died of chlorine gas poisoning after a container of chlorine solution left too close to a space heater released gas into the gorilla enclosure. [Source, Comments]

TIL The history of Scottish clan tartans (ie: specific tartans belonging to specific clans) was historical fiction made up by a pair of Welsh brothers [Source, Comments]

TIL that in 1928, up to 2,000 United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) workers and their families were massacred by Colombian troops in the town square of Ciénaga, allegedly to prevent an invasion by U.S. troops. [Source, Comments]

TIL The famous female pirate Anne Bonny only had a career of 61 days before being captured! [Source, Comments]

TIL the Mimizuka monument in Japan houses thousands of ears and noses of Korean people that Japanese warriors sliced off during Toyotomi's invasion of Korea (1590s). Generally, most Japanese people don't visit the monument or know about it at all, with Koreans being the predominant visitors. [Source, Comments]

TIL mythbusters found that increasing bra size led men to give 30% more tips while women gave 40% more [Source, Comments]

TIL Jehovah's Witnesses believe that only 144,000 people will go to heaven. There are currently over 9 million of them [Source, Comments]

TIL that In 2022, a man won a free drink in a contest while on a cruise. This was his last memory before waking up overboard in the Gulf of Mexico without the ship in sight. He treaded water for 18 hours & was stung by two swarms of jellyfish all over his legs & arms before being being rescued. [Source, Comments]

TIL a man who ate between 6-9 pounds of cheese, sticks of butter, and hamburgers a day for about 8 months developed xanthelasma and raised yellow lesions caused by cholesterol appeared on his eyelids. Over the next month, the lesions appeared on the palms of his hands, elbows, and soles of his feet. [Source, Comments]

TIL prion disease, which is 100% fatal and has no cure, can survive in soil for years, spread to growing plants or wildlife, and can be reliably destroyed through sustained heat of at least 900°F for several hours. [Source, Comments]

TIL Helen Keller joined the Socialist Party in 1909 and was a founding member of the ACLU. [Source, Comments]

TIL Jay Z has had the final say over superbowl half time shows since 2019 [Source, Comments]

TIL that Alex Trebek's Jeopardy! schedule had him filming five episodes a day on just 46 days a year. [Source, Comments]

TIL that after 300 years of Spanish colonial rule, only 35% of Mexicans spoke Spanish. Mexico gained it's Independence in 1821, and by 1895, that figure had skyrocketed to 83% following Mexico's independence and decades of policies promoting Spanish. [Source, Comments]

TIL about Pablo’s Group. Mountain gorillas usually have 5-10 in a group, but Pablo’s Group consisted of a historic 65 gorillas in 2006, partly due to the dominant silverback leaders forming an alliance and protecting the group together. [Source, Comments]

TIL that around 40% of Yemen’s total renewable water resources are used to grow khat, a mildly amphetamine-like drug widely consumed across the country and of major importance to its economy, despite Yemen being one of the world’s most water-scarce countries [Source, Comments]

TIL the band DragonForce only received about $3,000 in royalties for the inclusion of Through the Fire and Flames in the Guitar Hero games [Source, Comments]