TIL Helen Viola Jackson who died in December 2020 was the last surviving civil war veteran’s spouse. She was married to someone alive at the time of Abraham Lincoln
https://people.com/human-interest/last-known-widow-of-civil-war-veteran-helen-jackson-dies/
TIL that tomato juice was invented at the French Lick Springs Hotel in 1917 when their chef ran out of orange juice and needed a substitute
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tomato_juice
TIL Factum Foundation will provide a resin replica to any museum willing to return looted Bakor monoliths to Nigeria. The original basalt sculptures range from 40cm to person height. This approach is a potential model for how museums can handle restitution.
https://www.apollo-magazine.com/bakor-monoliths-nigeria-restitution-chrysler-museum/
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15i5t88/til_factum_foundation_will_provide_a_resin/
TIL Tamara Torlakson pooped her pants while running a marathon and still set her personal best.
https://www.insider.com/woman-pooped-pants-during-marathon-ran-with-it-in-shorts-2021-11?amp
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15i5nhr/til_tamara_torlakson_pooped_her_pants_while/
TIL a Reading, PA Funereal Home has kept the mummified corpse of “Stoneman Willie” for 128-years, and he will finally be laid to rest this fall.
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15i5n8f/til_a_reading_pa_funereal_home_has_kept_the/
TIL that all baskets are made by hand all over the world. No one has ever created an efficient machine to make baskets.
TIL Nigeria has the world’s 7th largest oil refinery
https://wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_oil_refineries
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15i42qt/til_nigeria_has_the_worlds_7th_largest_oil/
TIL The U.S. Government Sends a Handful of People 300 Joints per Month. The Program Was Shut Down in 1992, With Only 13 Patients Being Grandfathered In.
https://herb.co/news/legalization/us-government-gives-free-joints-for-life
Today I learned that Physarum Polycephalum, also known as slime mold or the blob. Can move without legs, has no eyes or mouth, but can still detect and digest any food it comes across.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Physarum_polycephalum
TIL that new chemotherapy can kill all solid tumors in animal trials and the treatment will now begin trials on humans.
https://interestingengineering.com/health/new-chemotherapy-can-kill-all-solid-tumors-animal-trials
TIL that the first bees emerged over 120 million years ago, surviving the dinasour wipe out. It is revealed in a recent study in Current Biology. Surprisingly, bees diversified and spread much faster than previously believed.
https://interestingengineering.com/science/ancient-bees-dinosaurs-120million-year
TIL the Landkreuzer P. 1000 Ratte was approved by Hitler to be the largest tank ever built, it would have weighed over 1000 tonnes and would have destroyed bridges due to it's weight alone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Landkreuzer_P._1000_Ratte
TIL Saskatchewan, Canada has sand dunes covering an area of over 1900 square km (733.6 square miles) and are usually 15-20 meters tall (49 - 65 ft).
https://www.todocanada.ca/great-sandhills-hike-this-unique-desert-in-saskatchewan/
TIL of Kaskaskia, IL, which, as a result of a shift it the Mississippi River's course, is now on the Missouri (West) side of the river and so only accessible from Missouri. 21 people live there today but it was once the capital of IL.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kaskaskia,_Illinois
TIL- The phrase "Catch-22" is a term coined by Joseph Heller, who used it in his 1961 novel Catch-22. A satire about war pilots where to prove they're able to fly they have to be proven insane.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Catch-22_(logic)
TIL the style of moustache worn by Hitler was called "The Toothbrush." It was made popular by Charlie Chaplin.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toothbrush_moustache
TIL there is a town in Texas USA named "Canadian" and its citizens are called "Canadians"
https://www.cityofcanadiantexas.com/community/page/history-canadian-river-trails
TIL Adolf Hitler hired the creator of Porsche to make the first Volkswagen Beetle(his personal car)
https://dw.com/en/hitler-and-his-volkswagen-tracing-the-80-year-history-of-the-beetle/a-43942998
TIL the Shar Pei is an ancient dog breed, but its wrinkles are new. In 1978, Guinness named it the rarest dog breed —only 60 in existence! The publicity made demand skyrocket... so breeders mixed in other breeds, resulting in the huge wrinkles. <100 of the original still exist.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shar_Pei
TIL: The Austrian Crown Jewels includes The Ainkhürn, an artifact which was once thought to be an actual unicorn horn, but which is probably from a Narwhal.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Austrian_Crown_Jewels#Ecclesiastical_Treasury
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/15geqt3/til_the_austrian_crown_jewels_includes_the/
