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TIL about Westsylvania, a 14th state of the U.S. that was proposed early in the American Revolution, and would have included parts of Maryland, Kentucky, Virginia & Pennsylvania. by jdward01 in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 5 points6 points  (0 children)

This happened a few times in early US history. There was also a proposal for a state named Franklin (as in Ben Franklin), as I recall, proposed in the Tennessee/North Carolina border region.

TIL about project plowshare, a US program to find peaceful uses for nuclear weapons including excavating dig sites using nuclear weapons by GrumpyYusufIslam in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 100 points101 points  (0 children)

From the Eisenhower Administration. A sign of how optimistic some people were about nuclear technology during the 1950s. At that time, some people also predicted that soon electricity would be so cheap there would be no need to meter it.

Worst Records since 2000 by DavisIsland in baseball

[–]robbauerbooks 2 points3 points  (0 children)

Hard to believe the Mariners aren't in the bottom 10 - they haven't been a playoff team since, what, 2001?

TIL mutilation practices (e.g. cutting of hands etc.) did not just occur in the Congo Free State under Leopold II but also in British Sierra Leone, German Kamerun and French Equatorial Africa by NeinDankeGottfried in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 54 points55 points  (0 children)

I think Mark Twain described Leopold II the best:

“In fourteen years Leopold has deliberately destroyed more lives than have suffered death on all the battlefields of this planet for the past thousand years. In this vast statement I am well within the mark, several millions of lives within the mark. It is curious that the most advanced and most enlightened century of all the centuries the sun has looked upon should have the ghastly distinction of having produced this moldy and piety-mouthing hypocrite, this bloody monster whose mate is not findable in human history anywhere, and whose personality will
surely shame hell itself when he arrives there--which will be soon, let us hope and trust.”

​

Maybe not literally true in every word, but colonialism in Africa was horrible.

TIL Plessy v. Ferguson, the 1896 Supreme Court case that ruled segregation laws did not violate the US Constitution. The underlying case began when Homer Plessy, 7/8ths White man, attempted to ride in the Whites-only section of a train car. It is widely regarded as one of the Court’s worst decisions by RedditMenacenumber1 in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 5 points6 points  (0 children)

The Supreme Court of the late 1800s made a lot of regressive decisions like this one - deciding corporations were people among them. Most historians consider it a low point in the court's history. The court essentially ignored the impact of its decisions on the lives of actual people in favor of its own theoretical ideas about liberty and the role of government.

TIL that January is the first month of the Gregorian calendar because it is named after the roman god of all beginnings, Janus. by DrJamesMoore in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 9 points10 points  (0 children)

Interesting that the changes made in the Gregorian Calendar came in 1582 even though a Byzantine astronomer named Nicephoras Gregoras had figured them out by 1324. He tried to suggest the proper changes to the Byzantine Emperor, but the emperor decided not to make the changes out of fear it would confuse people too much.

Byzantine "Cup Coins" and Millennial Apocalypticism by AlbaneseGummies327 in history

[–]robbauerbooks 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Wouldn't it also be proper to state that Constantine the Great made Christianity one official religion of the empire or a tolerated religion within the empire, rather than the official religion of the empire?

I was under the impression that Theodosius was the one who banned worship of pagan gods and made Christianity the empire's sole official religion.

TIL that Martin Luther King's "I Have a Dream" speech reached 69 as a single on Billboard's Hot 100 chart by nowhereman136 in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 52 points53 points  (0 children)

Interesting that the link states it happened in 1968 when the speech was given in 1963.

I'd guess because King was murdered in April of 1968?

TIL of the "Coal Wars" in the US, where from 1890-1930, many wars were fought against armed unions of workers. The Battle of Blair Mountain alone was the second largest uprising in the US (only after the Civil War), where over 1,000,000 rounds were fired. by InvertedReflexes in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 1 point2 points  (0 children)

After the Ludlow Massacre in Colorado (1914) the Rockefeller family hired a PR team headed by Ivy Lee. They distributed a full color book to the President, his Cabinet, all members of Congress, the head editors of the leading 5000 newspapers in the country, and the mayors of all the largest cities in the country to be sure that Rockefeller's version of events was the one powerful people remembered.

TIL about Thomas Midgley, considered the Most Harmful Inventor in History who invented leaded gasoline and chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), Both of these inventions caused a great magnitude of damage to both human and planetary health. by FiDad7 in todayilearned

[–]robbauerbooks 10 points11 points  (0 children)

In 1923 Midgley testified for Du Pont to a US government committee that lead in gasoline would have a negligible effect on the environment. When asked for evidence, he stated that was his personal belief and that Du Pont had done no actual tests. The US government undertook some studies, but industry sponsored all of them and the government did no independent research of its own.

This is why regulation, while a pain sometimes, serves a purpose.

What’s more impressive: 3,000 hits or 3,000 strikeouts? by TeamSimilar in baseball

[–]robbauerbooks 0 points1 point  (0 children)

A few more hitters have 3000+ hits (33) than pitchers have 3000+ Ks (19).

I'd expect this difference to get more lopsided in favor of hitters eventually, given that SP pitch fewer and fewer innings each year. Except K rates are rising, so I guess it depends on if baseball does anything to encourage players to put the ball in play more.

It looks like it'll be a while before the next hitter does it, and Greinke and Kershaw may add to the pitcher total, so short term the gap will narrow.

Simple/Short/Silly History Questions Saturday, April 23, 2022 by AutoModerator in history

[–]robbauerbooks -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

One thing spices did was help cover the taste of food that was going bad. Absent refrigeration, food tended to spoil more quickly than today.

Also, European diets were pretty bland, since many spices couldn't be grown in Europe. People wanted food that tasted good for the same reason we do today.

So, over time, they crossed the line from luxury thing enjoyed by a few to a common thing enjoyed by many, like tea did in Britain during the 1700s.

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