TIL that the football penalty kick was invented in County Armagh, Ireland, in 1890 by a goalkeeper named William McCrum. He proposed it to stop defenders from cynically tackling attackers near the goal line, the English FA rejected it as an insult, arguing that "gentlemen" would never cheat
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_McCrum

https://redd.it/1uyyvko
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TIL the iconic guitar tone on Dire Straits' "Money for Nothing" was a complete accident caused by a microphone pointing at the floor, and audio engineers still can't perfectly replicate it.
https://www.soundonsound.com/techniques/classic-tracks-dire-straits-money-nothing?hl=en-IN

https://redd.it/1uyszpx
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TIL the Telugu letter "Gna" (జ్ఞా) forced Apple into an emergency global update in 2018 because simply displaying it would fatally crash the iOS user interface.
https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2018/feb/16/apple-bug-crashes-apps-that-display-telegu-character

https://redd.it/1uzy29t
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TIL while waiting for a flat tire to be fixed before deaparture, Sue Hendrickson decided to explore an area their fossil expedition never checked. She then found a few fossils, and upon further excavation, a near complete T Rex fossil, that is now named "Sue"
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sue_(dinosaur)#Discovery

https://redd.it/1v06jsy
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TIL that Anne Frank had an older sister, Margot Frank. According to Anne’s own diary, Margot kept a diary of her own, which has never been found and is now considered lost literature.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Margot_Frank

https://redd.it/1uzt4fq
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TIL the Great Wall of China isn't actually visible from space with the naked eye. NASA has repeatedly confirmed astronauts can't spot it unaided, despite the myth.
https://www.nasa.gov/image-article/great-wall

https://redd.it/1v04itv
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TIL In later Greek tradition, Odysseus was accidentally killed by Telegonus, the son he had with the sorceress Circe. Unaware Odysseus was his father, Telegonus attacked Ithaca, wounded him with a spear, and killed him. This story comes from the lost epic Telegony, not The Odyssey.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telegonus_(son_of_Odysseus)

https://redd.it/1uzyk8c
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TIL that The Senator, the largest and oldest tree east of the Mississippi, died when a 26 year old woman started a fire in it to get a better look at the meth she was trying to smoke.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Senator_(tree)

https://redd.it/1uzxjuw
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TIL "Lamine Yamal" is actually two first names. His parents named him in honor of Lamine and Yamal, two family friends who paid their rent during a period of severe financial hardship.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lamine_Yamal

https://redd.it/1uzs8z2
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TIL that during the War of 1812 British officer James Dacre was acquitted by court martial for the loss of his ship after defending himself by noting it had been French-built.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Richard_Dacres_(Royal_Navy_officer,_born_1788)#Aftermath

https://redd.it/1v081bm
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TIL that the world's first crisis hotline was founded after a 14-year-old girl committed suicide when she began menstruating and believed she had contracted an STD.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chad_Varah#Samaritans

https://redd.it/1uzp612
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TIL a school district appealed all the way to SCOTUS to try to ban “I (heart) Boobies! (KEEP A BREAST)” bracelets
https://www.aclupa.org/press-releases/us-supreme-court-rejects-school-districts-appeal-i-heart-boobies-keep-breast/

https://redd.it/1v06vrx
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TIL towards the end of filming "Tenet," Robert Pattinson gifted Christopher Nolan a book of Oppenheimer speeches. According to Nolan, the speeches showed Oppenheimer "wrestling with the implications of what's happened and what he's done." This led to Nolan's decision to make "Oppenheimer" (2023).
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oppenheimer_(film)

https://redd.it/1v0z3wx
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TIL it was severely taboo for US presidents to leave the country while in office, with Theodore Roosevelt's visit to Panama to inspect progress on the canal in 1906 being the first time a sitting president has left the country.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_international_trips_made_by_presidents_of_the_United_States

https://redd.it/1v0sguz
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TIL Athletic Bilbao is the 4th most successful team in Spanish football history, has won 24 league cups, and has never been relegated. This is despite the fact that they only recruit and play players of Basque origin, a diaspora of roughly 3 million people, less than the population of Iowa.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Athletic_Bilbao

https://redd.it/1v12tws
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TIL Leonor, Princess of Asturias, who was born in 2005, has been preparing to become Spain's first Queen regnant in over 150 years since she became the first in line to the throne at the age of 8 & was given the title Princess of Asturias. The last Queen regnant was Isabella II (reign: 1833-1868).
https://www.nine.com.au/lifestyle/royals/princess-leonor-of-spain-everything-to-know-next-spanish-queen-20240411-p5qmkw.html

https://redd.it/1v11myw
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TIL that there was a Sitka Spruce called "Kiidk'yaas" with a unique mutation that gave it gold needles. It was a holy tree to the Haida people, but it was illegally cut down in 1997 by a disgruntled forest engineer; ironically, this was supposedly an act of protest against the logging industry.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kiidk'yaas

https://redd.it/1v0pjpt
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TIL in 1782 King Taksin of Thailand was deposed in a coup. His friend, a general fighting in Myanmar, returned to Bangkok and put down the coup. However, he then executed Taksin and crowned himself, starting the current Thai dynasty.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taksin

https://redd.it/1v0wbmc
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TIL that, both geologically and ecologically, Lake Baikal is more like a tiny ocean than a huge lake. It's situated on a continental rift, contains both hydrothermal vents and cold seeps, and has lifeforms including sponges, a species of seal and fish with traits usually seen only in the deep ocean.
https://www.armatusoceanic.com/interview/marianne-moore

https://redd.it/1v0stgk
@r_til

TIL that the color of Spain's third stripe flag has controversy. The Republicans (anti-monarchist) had purple as the 3rd stripe to represent Castille. The Nationalists used red in the bottom stripe. The current flag uses red. Many trade unions and left-wing groups waive the purple striped flag.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_of_the_Second_Spanish_Republic

https://redd.it/1v0xlb2
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