Beecher Networks - Web Development, Hosting & Domains
Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 92

Thread: Today I Learned...

  1. #1
    Capped Player SkStu's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    13,932
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    3,354
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,779
    Thanked in
    2,612 Posts

    Today I Learned...

    (the concept is stolen shamelessly from elsewhere, but a place to share with the foot.ie community the things that you were blissfully unaware of before very recently)...

    I will start us off

    There is a patron saint of work-related stress St. Walter of Pontoise and his feast day is today.
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walter_of_Pontoise

  2. #2
    Capped Player SkStu's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    13,932
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    3,354
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,779
    Thanked in
    2,612 Posts
    I am reading a (fairly decent, actually) book called "The Bushmans Lair: On the Trail of the Fugitive of the Shuswap" and at the beginning of Chapter 4, there is an extract from a 1986 report entitled "A Suggested Remote Viewing Training Procedure" which was released with numerous other previously declassified documents by the US Government in 2017. The excerpt states:

    Fifty years of laboratory parapsychology experiments have demonstrated that many people can perceive information inaccessible to the 'conventional five senses'...a few individuals have so developed this process that they can provide detailed descriptions of hidden or concealed events, places, people, objects, feelings, and color with considerable consistency.
    The report also states that it is something that can be taught. Anyway, I found it extremely interesting! And obviously had no idea that it was even remotely possible.

    https://documents.pub/document/a-sug...g.html?page=13

  3. Thanks From:


  4. #3
    First Team
    Joined
    Nov 2017
    Posts
    1,812
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    713
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    619
    Thanked in
    399 Posts
    I actually knew you were reading that already.

  5. Thanks From:


  6. #4
    Director dahamsta's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2001
    Location
    The Internet
    Posts
    13,975
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    481
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    805
    Thanked in
    500 Posts
    I knew that you knew that.

    I learn new things from my kids constantly, because they're far smarter than me. I will be joining in on this thread.

  7. #5
    Coach John83's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Dublin
    Posts
    8,624
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,950
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,148
    Thanked in
    711 Posts
    Frank Zappa's album "Jazz From Hell" was required to have an "Explicit lyrics" sticker.

    It has no lyrics.

  8. #6
    Biased against YOUR club pineapple stu's Avatar
    Joined
    Aug 2002
    Location
    In the long grass
    Posts
    38,099
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    2,663
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,893
    Thanked in
    3,197 Posts
    When Werner von Braun was building rockets for Nazi Germany (before defecting to the US and becoming a key part of the space programme) he was having a problem with one of his early designs. It wouldn't land where it was supposed to, and he couldn't work out why.

    So he said he'd stand exactly where it was supposed to land, the better to observe the end of its trajectory and try see what was going wrong.

    Sod's law - that was the one time the rocket landed exactly on target. He just about managed to get out of the way, but still ended up in hospital with injuries from the accident.

    (Space Race by Deborah Cadbury)

  9. Thanks From:


  10. #7
    Coach tetsujin1979's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Dublin, originally from Limerick
    Posts
    22,241
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,103
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,992
    Thanked in
    3,286 Posts
    The "key" in "Key Lime Pie" comes from the Florida Keys, where it is a local speciality
    All goals, yellow and red cards tweeted in real time on mastodon, BlueSky and facebook

  11. #8
    Capped Player SkStu's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2007
    Posts
    13,932
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    3,354
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,779
    Thanked in
    2,612 Posts
    One of the major differences between "abduction" and "kidnapping" is that demanding a ransom will usually change an abduction to a kidnapping!

    The word kidnap dates from the late seventeenth century and was derived from the process of stealing African and other children to provide servants to the American colonies [kid- (child) and -nap (seize, snatch away)]

  12. #9
    International Prospect osarusan's Avatar
    Joined
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    7,908
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,206
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,787
    Thanked in
    999 Posts
    Can I add in cool stuff I did not actually learn about today, but did learn on equally random days in the past?

  13. #10
    Coach John83's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Dublin
    Posts
    8,624
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,950
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,148
    Thanked in
    711 Posts
    Only if you lie about when you learned it.

  14. #11
    International Prospect osarusan's Avatar
    Joined
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    7,908
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,206
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,787
    Thanked in
    999 Posts
    So today I learned that the word 'indentured' (indentured servants, etc) came from the French word endenture, meaning indentation.

    When contracts about work were written, each party involved would receive a copy. To prevent forgery, the originals would be aligned perfectly, one on top of the other, and then a random jagged line would be cut (indented) into the corner.

    If the issue of forgery ever arose, the originals (or supposed originals) would be aligned perfectly on top of each other again, to see if the original indentation matched or not.

  15. Thanks From:


  16. #12
    Director dahamsta's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2001
    Location
    The Internet
    Posts
    13,975
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    481
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    805
    Thanked in
    500 Posts
    Are we allowed to add things we learned not-today? EDIT: Ack, I see that was already asked and answered. I learned these things today. Definitely today!

    I was surprised to learn that demesne is pronounced "duh-mayn".

    And that the decorative blocks at the corners of houses are called quoins. I had to look that up so I could correctly direct my anger at the pretention.

  17. #13
    International Prospect osarusan's Avatar
    Joined
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    7,908
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,206
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,787
    Thanked in
    999 Posts
    Another interesting thing I learned just today is that the length of a day is increasing at an imperceptbly slow pace. The dinosaurs that roamed the earth 250 million years ago would have experienced a day that was around 23 hours long, and whatever creatures roam the earth 250 million years in the future will experience a day of around 25 hours.

    At the time of the formation of the moon, an earth day would have been only 2-3 hours long, but has lengthened ever since in an incredibly gradual process. This is because the gravitational interplay between the moon and the earth, and the transfer of angular momentum, is causing the moon to move farther away at a rate of approximately 1-2cm a year. Accompanying this is the earth's rotation slowing down by 1/500th of a second every century, leading to an increase of about an hour every 200 million years or so.

    Billions of years in the future this interplay will finally end when an equilibrium is reached where the length of an earth day is the same length as a lunar month, which will be about 45 hours. At that time, the earth will always show the same face to the moon, as it now does to us (because the same process just described has already resulted in the earth's mass slowing down the rotation of the relatively smaller mass of the moon until one rotation on its axis lasts as long as one circle around the earth).

  18. Thanks From:


  19. #14
    Biased against YOUR club pineapple stu's Avatar
    Joined
    Aug 2002
    Location
    In the long grass
    Posts
    38,099
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    2,663
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,893
    Thanked in
    3,197 Posts
    Wham only released two studio albums.

  20. #15
    International Prospect osarusan's Avatar
    Joined
    Sep 2004
    Location
    Scotland
    Posts
    7,908
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,206
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,787
    Thanked in
    999 Posts
    When planning the construction of Egypt's Aswan Dam in the 1960s, surveyors drilled down into the river Nile looking for bedrock. To their surprise, they had to drill down much farther than expected, as they found nothing but sedimentary rock for hundreds of metres. Further drilling and study revealed that the sediment had filled up what was a massive canyon under the Nile, as much as 1000 miles long and with a deepest point of as much as 2000 metres.

    This canyon was formed during the Messinian salinity crisis, which occurred approx 5.9 million years ago, when the Strait of Gibraltar was forced closed through tectonic movement, and the Mediterranean Sea was cut off from the Atlantic ocean.

    Over time, the Mediterranean gradually evaporated down to virtually nothing (causing it to become hypersalinated also). As the level of the Mediterranean dropped, the level of the Nile (which drains into the Mediteranean) began to drop also as it eroded the rock beneath it, carving out a canyon.

    This erosion continued until the Zanclean flood (5.3 million years ago), which was the Atlantic ocean refilling the Mediterranean basin through the Strait of Gibraltar. As the sea level rose again, this caused the Nile to stop eroding its bedrock, and the entire canyon was eventually filled in with sediment.

  21. Thanks From:


  22. #16
    Coach tetsujin1979's Avatar
    Joined
    Nov 2003
    Location
    Dublin, originally from Limerick
    Posts
    22,241
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,103
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,992
    Thanked in
    3,286 Posts
    The term potshot originated in California, during the gold rush. A prospector with a gun would shoot an animal to be thrown into the pot for food.
    All goals, yellow and red cards tweeted in real time on mastodon, BlueSky and facebook

  23. Thanks From:


  24. #17
    Biased against YOUR club pineapple stu's Avatar
    Joined
    Aug 2002
    Location
    In the long grass
    Posts
    38,099
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    2,663
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    4,893
    Thanked in
    3,197 Posts
    Samuel Johnson of dictionary fame, fans of Blackadder will recall, was Dr Johnson.

    He got that doctorate from Trinity College Dublin.

  25. #18
    Coach John83's Avatar
    Joined
    Feb 2003
    Location
    Dublin
    Posts
    8,624
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    1,950
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    1,148
    Thanked in
    711 Posts
    I wouldn't take too much heed of the history in Blackadder. Johnson's honourary doctorate came some 20 years after his dictionary, so he was still Mr Johnson when Baldrick lit the fire with his manuscript.

    Speaking of which, modern historians don't think Walter Rayleigh introduced the potato to Europe [1]: it wasn't grown in the regions he visited. He did popularise it in Britain and Ireland though. After he helped put down the Desmond Rebellions, he was granted around 1/500th of all the land in Ireland, including his home in Youghal, though he sold up after a couple of decades. Hugh Grant is descended from him.

    Rayleigh sold his Irish estates (in Cork, Tipp and Waterford) to Lord Cork, who died having been chased off his lands by another rebellion, the one Cromwell put down.

    [1] "To me, it's a potato. But to Sir Walter bloody Raleigh, it's fine estates, luxury carriages and as many girls as his tongue can handle!"
    Last edited by John83; 25/04/2022 at 2:33 AM. Reason: Britain and Ireland: there was no UK back then!

  26. #19
    Director dahamsta's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2001
    Location
    The Internet
    Posts
    13,975
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    481
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    805
    Thanked in
    500 Posts
    He didn't bring tobacco either.

    He did live in Myrtle Grove in Youghal though, a ~450 year old house still occupied privately in Youghal, which I always find super cool. (Although I wouldn't like to be maintaining it!)

    You can't really visit Myrtle Grove, however you can visit the Collegiate Church next door, which dates from around 1220, and that abuts the old town walls, which you can walk up to. There's a couple of people working in the church now, a touchscreen with info, maps kids can use to find all the interesting stuff, and little mice kids can be tasked with finding. Very well done, well worth a visit, and donation-only.

  27. Thanks From:


  28. #20
    Director dahamsta's Avatar
    Joined
    May 2001
    Location
    The Internet
    Posts
    13,975
    Thanks Thanks Given 
    481
    Thanks Thanks Received 
    805
    Thanked in
    500 Posts
    TIL that the green code in the Matrix was just sushi recipes.

    https://www.wired.com/story/the-matr...-sushi-recipe/

Page 1 of 5 123 ... LastLast

Similar Threads

  1. Sexuality, learned or innate?
    By peadar1987 in forum Current Affairs
    Replies: 31
    Last Post: 17/06/2011, 3:44 AM
  2. What has Stan learned?
    By tetsujin1979 in forum Ireland
    Replies: 22
    Last Post: 08/04/2007, 2:05 AM
  3. Lessons to be learned from A-League?
    By Snoop Drog in forum Premier & First Divisions
    Replies: 82
    Last Post: 09/02/2006, 10:56 PM

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •