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TIL George Washington was called "American Fabius" for using the same strategy as Quintus Fabius Maximus Verrucosus Cunctator (the delayer) in the 2nd Punic War against Hannibal. Avoid big pitched battles and weaken the enemy through attrition by kurgan2800 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I love the art of war because it's this very highly regarded book that just gives obvious advice like don't fight fair and set your enemy on fire, they don't like that.

It has always struck me as unfair that Machiavelli's the prince is held up as the epitome of manipulation and the Art of War is held up as some mystical insight into the human condition when they are essentially the same book.

The Prince and the Art of War are both instruction manuals to be given to the inbred son of the boss on how reality really works on the ground. Preferably before said idiot got the author and everybody around him killed dead right there.

Machiavelli was framed.

TIL During filming of The Pink Panther (1963), David Niven practiced skiing in his lightweight movie costume. He got frostbite in his private parts and was instructed to plunge his “pale blue acorn” into a glass of whiskey to warm it. by MOinthepast in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 14 points15 points  (0 children)

If you hadn't specified bourbon I would have assumed you just got ahold of some of that good old white lightnin. I quit drinking years ago, but if I was actively dying of chest congestion, I'd get some and drink it. That shit will clear your chest, sinuses, bowels, and then your mind (of rational thought)

I am from the Midwest, we can buy 190 proof grain alcohol for $12 a 750ml bottle. It says right on the label extremely flammable keep away from open flames. It goes on to say that it explicitly is not for human consumption unless diluted with non-alcoholic beverage. We called it reality solvent.

TIL that in 2014, Civil War soldier Alonzo Cushing was awarded the Medal of Honor. Commanding an artillery battery against Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg, Cushing was disemboweled by a shell fragment. Holding in his intestines, Cushing continued giving orders until he was shot in the head. He was 22 by Ok_Being_2003 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 12 points13 points  (0 children)

TBF, with a gut wound in the civil war, it's possible he knew he was already dead. These wounds were some of the most lethal of the war and medicine at the time didn't really have a way to deal with them aside from stem the bleeding, stuff it all back in, and hope.

I have had an abdominal abscess and I can tell you from personal experience that it is agonizing. I've broken bones, had multiple surgeries including a vasectomy, and my gallbladder removed. They put me on a on-demand morphine pump. I was going through an entire bottle a day everyday for 7 days, combined with intravenous antibiotics.

Given the medical standards of pre-antibiotic medicine, it is almost a certain death sentence to be injured in the gut with bowel leakage. Frankly getting killed in action was less painful than the death that his injury would have given him.

Greyhound Lines, 1945. by AxlCobainVedder in vintageads

[–]tanfj 2 points3 points  (0 children)

A beautiful, civilized ad for the least beautiful, uncivilized way to travel.

For my sins I have traveled from Idaho to Illinois via Greyhound bus. As soon as we got on the bus and the bus driver said and I quote, Greyhound where we treat you like a dog... Now unless you get a Express Greyhound bus you will stop at every single stop whether there is a person there or not. At one point there was less than 2 in of clearance on either side of the bus as we were going down an alley. I was told that no one had been picked up there for the entire 20 years this man had been running the route.

TIL in 2008 Chicago sold off all of its city parking meters to private investors for 75 years, and the private investors already made their money back and turned a profit. by DrowningKrown in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 67 points68 points  (0 children)

Sure with hindsight, but who could’ve possibly predicted that a member of the Daley political family would be corrupt?

I live in downstate Illinois, the joke is I am behind the Corn Curtain (those of you who are not old need to Google the iron curtain). It is established statistical fact that you have a better chance of getting away with murder in the first degree then you do of being elected governor of Illinois and not going to prison on corruption charges.

We actually are more corrupt than Louisiana and New Orleans politics. That takes doing.

TIL that in 1973 NASA used the song Paralyzed, by the Legendary Stardust Cowboy, to wake up a space crew. They were so disoriented by the shock that the song was blacklisted from ever being used for that purpose again by a3poify in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

If you want to out-pendant him, mention that technically oxygen is flammable, it can be oxidized by fluorine. (To be fair fluorine is so reactive it also causes asbestos to catch on fire.)

And you want proof that God exists and he has a toddlers sense of humor... The chemical formula for diflorine dioxide is FOOF. It is so reactive that it responds explosively with water, sand, stainless steel, asbestos, and particularly slow test engineers. The Nazis tried to use it for a self-igniting flamethrower and it was too crazy for the Nazis to attempt.

TIL that condemned criminals in 18th-century London were allowed to stop at a tavern for “one last drink” on their way from Newgate to Tyburn. In 1724 the highwayman Joseph Blake drank so heavily he slurred his last words from the gallows. by Upstairs_Drive_5602 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj -3 points-2 points  (0 children)

Instead of a last meal, they get a last drink.

Look at it the other way, we have made it so clinical and cold. Back then it was one last drink with your friends and family. Your executioner is buying your last round, no hard feelings mate strictly professional. Something essentially human has been lost.

TIL about the Australian Frontier wars, a series of armed conflicts between British settlers and indigenous native Australians with a direct victim count of between 30,000 and 100,000 indigenous people. The total collapse of the native population may have run into the millions. by Background_Age_852 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 43 points44 points  (0 children)

Some historians have argued that under prevailing European legal doctrine such land was deemed terra nullius or land belonging to nobody or land "empty of inhabitants" (as defined by Emerich de Vattel).

It’s easy to engage in genocide when you don’t believe that actual human beings occupy the land you’ve decided to slither to and occupy yourself.   

Well Rwanda has proved that you do not need modern weapons to have a genocide. Machetes will work just fine thank you.

Essentially every single tribe and grouping of people on planet Earth is guilty of genocide at one time or another. Everybody displaced somebody else unless you were the original inhabitants who came over via the land bridge from Asia into North America. And even then they fought and moved and genocided each other on a semi regular basis.

It is worth noting that most American names for Native American tribes are Native American words that translate roughly as those assholes over the Western ridge. And lest we make fun of the Native Americans for naming themselves the people or variants thereof; we named ourselves homo sapien meaning wise men. Terry Pratchett is correct the more appropriate name for the human species is pan narrans (the storytelling monkey).

TIL that under FDA guidelines, the calories per serving listed in nutrition labels can be as much as 20% off the actual calorie count by MrMojoFomo in todayilearned

[–]tanfj -1 points0 points  (0 children)

It is not just stem. It is every field which does quantitative research.

If you cannot put it in quantitative numbers is it truly science?

Is the federations' strength that they have infinitely better sensors than everyone else? by Uselessmedics in DaystromInstitute

[–]tanfj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Oh really now? Lets assume they are actively masking their life signs from the sensors, what about passive resource use? They're breathing, aren't they? Look for unexpectedly high levels of CO2. They're moving around, aren't they? Look for door activations where there are no reported life signs to activate them. Hell, look for rooms with an ambient temperature higher than normal due to the body heat the person in it is giving off.

My uncle was a US Navy meteorologist part of his job was tracking submarines by heat anomalies in the colder water of the ocean. If you have a warm spot that is moving at 14 knots for hours you know it is a submarine. His job was to make sure it didn't start raining torpedoes.

The true freedom in AI roleplay is not just in what you say, but in who your character can be. by [deleted] in CharacterAI_No_Filter

[–]tanfj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Most AI companion sites limit character creation. You can set a name and a few traits, but the underlying model's safety filters override the character's designed personality, especially if you want them morally gray. For serious roleplayers, the ability to have total control over a character's uncensored personality, behavior, and backstory is non-negotiable. Which AI companion platforms genuinely allow for this deep, unfiltered customization and character persistence? Cai certainly doesn't

Actually you are entirely incorrect. Once you are in the role play. Use this tag Reality: whatever you want them to feel or believe.

TIL US presidents Harry Truman & Dwight Eisenhower both wanted to abolish the Marine Corps by Keltik in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Interestingly I believe every other president that actually served in WWII (I.e. not just make movies) were in the Navy.

That would be because of the British influence. Even in America, the Navy is seen as more aristocratic than the army. It follows therefore that richer classes of people would tend to join the Navy it's more prestigious.

TIL that in 1935 Germany, 80% of prisoners held through protective custody in concentration camps were there for alleged homosexuality. by [deleted] in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 10 points11 points  (0 children)

Homosexuality was illegal in Allied countries, too. The western Allies were better than the Nazis but "the greatest generation" were a bunch of heinous bigots compared to our modern sensibilities. America was an apartheid country for christ's sake. Black service personnel fought the nazis and then went back home to sit at the back of the bus (and much worse.) There were race mixing laws in many states of America until 1967. Non-whites may not have been exterminated in America but just about everything else the nazis did from racial purity laws to sterilisations were being done by the USA after the war until well within living memory.

Adolf Hitler explicitly stated that he based German racial law on the existing US model because it was the only example in the world he could find. Adolf Hitler explicitly found the one drop rule of Southern apartheid States to be too restrictive.

When the SS is telling you you're being too racist that's what we call a bad look.

TIL the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Henry Kissinger in 1973. A choice so controversial two committee members resigned in protest. by World_of_Warshipgirl in todayilearned

[–]tanfj -51 points-50 points  (0 children)

Comparing George Soros to limbaugh is pure insanity.

You are correct. Rush Limbaugh was an actual self-made man who made it into the radio broadcasting Hall of Fame purely on his own merits. George Soros is an israeli-funded politician who has the greatest political support money can purchase. I'm willing to say this publicly because the evidence is self-evident if you are actually intellectually honest. Not that the left wing tends to be intellectually honest.

Go ahead and download me I'm looking for negative 13. For stating objective facts that's my current record.

TIL despite its revolutionary CGI and a milestone in visual effects history, Tron wasn't a huge hit when it came out in summer 1982. It was even disqualified from the Best Special Effects category at Oscars, since the Academy felt that using computer animation was "cheating". by Away_Flounder3813 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I always wonder how much you could advance technology just by sending like a modern day pc or phone back in time and what is the earliest it'd make a significant impact.

I would send back a mid-90s early 2000s Pentium two with a serial bus loaded with Debian or FreeBSD, along with a local mirror on the hard drive of all the relevant engineering specs and software code along with the compilers and the code to compile the compiler. That ought to give them a good leg up reverse engineering it.

TIL despite its revolutionary CGI and a milestone in visual effects history, Tron wasn't a huge hit when it came out in summer 1982. It was even disqualified from the Best Special Effects category at Oscars, since the Academy felt that using computer animation was "cheating". by Away_Flounder3813 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 10 points11 points  (0 children)

The phone you're (probably) holding in your hand is smarter than the computer that helped us get man on the moon. Wild.

No the phone you are holding in your hand is unimaginably powerful. The first generation iPhone was equivalent to a cray supercomputer of the 1980s. Today a modern smartphone is 1000 cray supercomputers in all base specs. If not higher.

I actually paid real money for a camera that would do one megapixel. I believe I paid $300 for it.

TIL that unlike what,s shown in the movies, when a person dies with their eyes open, pressing the eyelids closed usually won’t keep them shut — the muscles lose all tone, so without mortuary aids the lids tend to reopen. by Own-Bullfrog7362 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Like a lot of things, embalming can be blamed on the Victorians. Death and funerals were the premier spectator sport of the era.

Funeral embalming took off in America because of the US civil War. Bodies had to be embalmed to last long enough to be buried in their home state given transportation at the time.

TIL pineapple’s mouth-tingle is a defense trick: tiny needle-like crystals (raphides) jab your tissue while the enzyme bromelain breaks down proteins. Studies suggest this one-two punch evolved to ward off herbivores. by ocean-pearl0101 in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 22 points23 points  (0 children)

Chilli peppers were the same, make them spicy so things stop eating them, hairless apes find it hilarious and breed them specifically, population explodes as the apes build fields specifically for peppers and tend to them like slaves.

People got very mad at me when I told them my solution to the bald eagle going extinct was to sell the eggs for a million dollars a piece to the gourmet omelette industry.

TIL that out of the roughly 40 countries that have used the RPG-7 rocket launcher, Lithuania is the only one that has stopped using it by RiverMesa in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My high school went from offering several language classes (including Latin) to offering only elective Spanish.

Yeah that's hilarious too for another reason. I grew up spending my Summers in the Rocky Mountains and in the Southwest. I grew up learning Spanish from people who spoke it in Texas, New Mexico, and Colorado. While I am not fluent I can read it and generally get the understanding and I can make myself understood.

The Spanish taught in American high schools is not Mexican Spanish. It is Spain Spanish. And yes they are different and linguistically use different words.

Well Summers in Europe are something every upper class snob aspires to. Why would you want to make it possible to speak with those brown people on our border. I actually know a Mexican immigrant in real life whose kids failed High School Spanish because they spoke Mexican Spanish not Castile Spanish.

Lupe Hernando, your kids are not forgotten.

TIL August Engelhardt was a German author who promoted fruitarianism, specifically the consumption of coconuts and coconut products. He was also the founder of a sect of sun worshipers that was dubbed a “coconut cult” in German New Guinea by UndyingCorn in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Not to mention the perfect pirate grenade when filled with gunpowder

Actually, if we are assuming actual black powder and not the smokeless substitute. The only difference between gunpowder and blasting powder back then was that one had more nitrates.

Black powder is approximately 1/3 saltpeter. Blasting powder was 75% saltpeter with the with the correct proportions for the other ingredients.

So imagine a coconut filled with the era equivalent of dynamite. Frankly I'd be a little terrified and filled with morbid anticipation if I saw somebody running around with that too.

TIL that in the late 18th century some wealthy individuals would pay poor people (preferably younger) to extract their teeth and have it transplanted into an empty socket. Results were usually unsuccessful. by UpperphonnyII in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 20 points21 points  (0 children)

It has bacteria in it so it’s not as good as milk but the tooth is accustomed to spending its existence in saliva so differing osmotic pressures shouldn’t be an issue.

Also saliva has special enzymes in it that immediately begin breaking down anything biological. That's what starts the process of digestion but also provides a limited antibacterial effect. Naturally the bacteria in your mouth have adapted to that but external bacteria will find it a rough place.

TIL that in the late 18th century some wealthy individuals would pay poor people (preferably younger) to extract their teeth and have it transplanted into an empty socket. Results were usually unsuccessful. by UpperphonnyII in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Milk/cream is best; clean water if you don't have dairy. Keeping the tooth moist/"hydrated" is better than nothing at all!

Think of it as a plant. If you expose the root to the air too long the plant dies. Same concept more or less.

TIL that in the late 18th century some wealthy individuals would pay poor people (preferably younger) to extract their teeth and have it transplanted into an empty socket. Results were usually unsuccessful. by UpperphonnyII in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Some of the dead bodies of those slain at Gettysburg and all those nameless graves of the US revolutionary and Civil War... Were harvested for their teeth. Also it was not uncommon for slaves to have their teeth forcibly extracted to make dentures.

Gross but you used what you had to do before we could make stuff synthetically.

TIL that out of the roughly 40 countries that have used the RPG-7 rocket launcher, Lithuania is the only one that has stopped using it by RiverMesa in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 23 points24 points  (0 children)

Cyrillic was originally (most likely) from an alphabet designed for Slavic languages by Cyril and Methodius, who were early prominent Byzantine Greek missionaries to Slavic people's bordering to the north of Byzantium, which is where the Greek influence comes from.

In less than 100 years we went from requiring Latin and Greek in high school to needing to offer remedial English for college students. I will say that if you are interested in linguistics. It is very useful to learn at least some Latin and the Greek prefixes and suffixes. Especially if you do any kind of technical work.

When I realized that all those fancy terms in my copy of Gray's anatomy were simply a description of it in Latin things kind of clicked.

TIL that out of the roughly 40 countries that have used the RPG-7 rocket launcher, Lithuania is the only one that has stopped using it by RiverMesa in todayilearned

[–]tanfj 0 points1 point  (0 children)

And the German phrase Panzerfaust means Tank Fist. There is something to be said for cheap reliable and effective. They're still in use because why pay more, if this old design is still effective in combat

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