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/r/todayilearned/
Today I Learned (TIL)
13-16 minutes
TIL the first woman to be on the ballot in all 50 states was in 1988: a black woman named Lenora Fulani. She is 74 years old now.
TIL Neptune is not blue in colour, instead it's pale greenish-blue, as is Uranus. The original photos of Neptune taken by Voyager 2 in 1980s had been enhanced to highlight it's atmospheric features. Over time the captions of this changes were left out and blue became the defining colour of Neptune.
TIL that in Mike Tyson’s last professional boxing match to date, he faced the 6ft 6 Kevin McBride. Tyson would attempt to break McBride’s arm, before being shoved to the floor by McBride and then eventually quitting on his stool, just before the 7th round.
TIL of 'Joe Martin', a captive orangutan actor that starred in over 50 silent era films, and for years lived essentially as a free human, wearing clothes, having it's own keys to come and go, attending film premieres and trusted to work with many children. Eventually it attacked many people...
TIL the phrase "neither rhyme nor reason" is from Edmund Spenser. Elizabeth I told her treasurer to pay Spenser "what is reason." Edmund wasn't paid, and wrote "I was promis'd on a time,\To have a reason for my rhyme:\From that time unto this season,\I receiv'd nor rhyme nor reason." He got paid.
TIL Hemingway was three months sober when he killed himself in 1961
TIL the baku, a mythical Japanese creature that eats nightmares. In the Meiji period, children would say, "Baku-san, come eat my dream" three times to get rid of bad dreams. But if the baku remained hungry after eating, it might also devour their hopes and desires, leaving them with an empty life.
TIL the word Orangutan is derived from the Malay words orang (person) and hutan (forest). It's entirely co-incidental that they have orange fur.
TIL in 1714, a Native American guide in eastern North America showed a group of settlers a deep path worn in the streambank by herds of eastern elk crossing the river. By 1880, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declared the eastern elk subspecies extinct.
TIL that Dippin Dots, the popular ice cream snack commonly found in stadiums, arenas, and theme parks, were originally created as cryogenically frozen cow feed.
TIL that in Romania in 1999, a man and a woman died of carbon monoxide poisoning while having sex in a car parked in a garage with the engine running and won the 1999 Darwin Award.
TIL that the Spice Girls co-wrote all their own songs. When they left their original management, they allegedly stole the masters of their recordings from the management office to make sure they retained creative control of their work.
TIL that KFC’s handwritten recipe is stored in a safe within a vault at KFC’s Louisville headquarters. To maintain confidentiality, KFC employs two separate suppliers: one blends part of the recipe, and the other completes it, ensuring no single entity has access to the entire formulation. 
TIL of the "Casu martzu" - a sardinian fermented sheep cheese that has live maggots in it. It's considered unsafe to eat if the maggots have died, and is served alongside strong red wine. The larvae in the cheese can launch themselves distances up to 15 centimetres when disturbed.
TIL Kasane Teto, a virtual singer software created on the Japanese textboard 2channel for April Fools' Day, 2008. Initially conceived as a hoax by users who planned to make a fake Vocaloid character, it was eventually developed into a real product. She was introduced as a "diva born from a hoax".
TIL that in Venezuela, they have an avocado sauce similar to guacamole called guasacaca, and it's served with arepas and Venezuelan barbecue.
TIL: In 1799, Edward Hamilton recaptured the frigate Hermione utilizing a daring night boarding attack with only 100 men to their 351. They had only 1 death compared to the Spanish which lost 120 men and had 231 taken prisoner. He was rewarded with money, knighthood, a sword, and numerous medals.
