/f/todayilearned
TIL In 1939 chess Grandmaster Miguel Najdorf started regular simultaneous blindfold exhibitions hoping that international news coverage would reconnect him with family in Poland. He succeeded in setting the record and getting international coverage but his family had already been killed by nazis.
theguardian.comSubmitted by SigmaGrooveJamSet t3_zhvbtd
TIL that Evelyn Nesbit, dubbed "the world's first supermodel" became known for her involvement in a feud between her husband Harry Thaw and architect Stanford White who drugged and assaulted her age of 16, this led to Thaw murdering White inside Madison Square Garden in 1906.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by TopAbies9056 t3_z1utg9
TIL Al Capone was only 33 when he was locked away for tax evasion and developed neurosyphilis, leading to his death at 48. Eliot Ness was 27 when he formed the Untouchables--he died in a state of financial ruin in his 50s, likely hastened by his heavy drinking in his later life
fbi.govSubmitted by capsaicinintheeyes t3_yfs4ef
TIL "to pull oneself up by one's bootstraps" is an example of an impossible task. The idiom dates at least to 1834, from the Workingman's Advocate: "It is conjectured that Mr. Murphee will now be enabled to hand himself over the Cumberland river or a barn yard fence by the straps of his boots.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by meat-juice t3_11gbneo
TIL a German scientist named Alfred Wegener was ridiculed in 1912 for advancing the idea that the continents were adrift. Ridiculed as having “wandering pole plague.” or “Germanic pseudo-science” and accused Wegener of toying with the evidence to spin himself into “a state of auto-intoxication."
britannica.comSubmitted by Hot----------Dog t3_xur1gi
TIL that Chinese Food was introduced into America during the California Gold Rush, starting in 1848. As 30,000 immigrants had arrived from the Canton region of China, the restaurants gave the predominantly male population a connection to home and provided gathering places for the Chinese community.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jdward01 t3_120j0ln
TIL that George "Washington" Carver never formally used Washington as a middle name. He originally chose the middle initial W at random to ensure accurate mail delivery. Someone once asked if the "W" stood for Washington and Carver said "Why not?" He signed his name as George or George W. Carver.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by AspireAgain t3_10gaz13
TIL of Macadam roads. These roads were convex, raised a few inches, and made of layered crushed rock; they were state-of-the-art for the 19th century. The rise of automobiles led to the dust issues that were solved by binding the roads with tar, leading to the invention of tarmac.
en.wikipedia.orgSubmitted by jamescookenotthatone t3_1181yq6
TIL African elephants can exchange information by emitting low-frequency sounds that travel dozens of miles under the ground on the savanna. The sound waves come from the animals' huge vocal cords, and distant elephants “hear” the signals with their highly sensitive feet.
kqed.orgSubmitted by iboughtarock t3_yif71y
TIL In 1983, Air Force One (with Reagan aboard) landed six minutes before a microburst slammed into the ground at Andrews Air Force Base, causing wind speeds to hit 149 mph. At the time, that was the fastest wind speed ever measured by an anemometer.
usatoday.comSubmitted by theotherbogart t3_yr2pva