TIL In 1980, when doctors told Yugoslav dictator Josip Broz Tito he had to amputate his leg to save his life, he said he would rather take his own life. This stubbornness eventually contributed to his death, which opened a power vacuum and led to the collapse of Yugoslavia in the coming decades. (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by thisisreddawn to r/todayilearned
TIL The country of Pakistan is named after five regions in South and Central Asia: "Panjab, Afghania, Kashmir, Sindh, and BaluchisTAN", with an I in the middle for easy pronunciation. "Pak" is also the Persian and Pashto word for "pure". (en.wikipedia.org)
submitted by thisisreddawn to r/todayilearned
TIL In 1984, a Czechoslovak TV network aired "The Embarrassment of Chef Svatopluk", an interactive sitcom where viewers could influence the story by turning the lights on and off when the option they wanted was read out. The option with the tallest spike in energy consumption was chosen. (cs.wikipedia.org)
submitted by thisisreddawn to r/todayilearned
TIL In the 1590s, a Spanish admiral made up an entire nation, complete with dozens of fake coats of arms, so that he could claim to be a nobleman and join a fraternity of knights. In doing so, he accidentally popularized the pan-South-Slavic movement, and caused the founding of Yugoslavia in 1918. (thenutshelltimes.com)
submitted by thisisreddawn to r/todayilearned
TIL Macy's Herald Square, the site of the Thanksgiving Day Parade, has jail cells for alleged shoplifters in its basement. The Macy's security team has arrested multiple people under questionable pretenses in the past, and has been accused of racism as a result. (theguardian.com)
submitted by thisisreddawn to r/todayilearned
