2 Comments TIL There is a hill in rome made up of 80 million broken pots that were discarded after use in shipping. by whatilearned July 13, 2022, 5:40 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
3 Comments TIL In 1974 at a Canadian army training base in Quebec, cadets were being trained to handle discarded explosives. A cadet asked one of the instructors if he could pull the pin on the grenade, and the instructor told him it was safe. It exploded, killing 6 cadets and injuring 65 others. by whatilearned June 26, 2022, 1:36 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
TIL in the 1700s oysters were so overly abundant and popular in New York City that the discarded shells were repurposed into mortar paste to aid NY’s building boom. Trinity Church is an example of a building built with oyster-shells. by whatilearned June 10, 2022, 3:06 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
TIL about archeological Tells. Neolithic human settlement sites that grew into large (some over 100 feet tall) hills due to the people there discarding remains into the ground below, building on top of discarded buildings, and the collection of sediment/materials from everyday living. by whatilearned April 4, 2022, 12:48 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
1 Comment TIL about Monte Testaccio, an ancient artificial mound in Rome in which more than 50 Million pieces of Roman pottery were discarded. It was in operation till the 3rd century AD. by whatilearned February 5, 2022, 8:32 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
3 Comments TIL Russian hipsters in the 1950’s, called the stilyagi, used discarded X-Rays to copy and distribute Western records that managed to make it into the Soviet Union. It was called bone music. by whatilearned January 12, 2022, 12:51 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
1 Comment TIL about the jabuticaba tree, the Brazilian grape tree, it is unusual as the berries grow directly on the trunk. They are so popular in some Brazilian states the sidewalk is actually stained purple from their discarded skins of the fruit. by whatilearned October 14, 2021, 11:58 am 12 Points Upvote Downvote
2 Comments TiL Coca-Cola acquired the production company set to make Stand By Me, but discarded the film as having no commercial value. Rob Reiner managed to convince Norman Lear to donate $8M of his own money to make the academy nominated film. by whatilearned October 11, 2021, 8:50 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
3 Comments TIL Anti-littering legislation date back to ancient Greece, a marker on the island of Paros has the inscription “whoever drops their litter on the street owes 51 drachmae to whoever wishes to claim them”. In modernity cigarette butts are the most littered item, with 4.5 trillion discarded each year. by whatilearned July 10, 2021, 3:55 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
3 Comments TIL that Hydrilla was introduced to America in the 1950’s from someone who discarded a used aquarium containing the plant into waters near Tampa Bay, FL. It is now one of the most invasive marine plant species in the Western hemisphere and notoriously difficult to eradicate much less manage. by whatilearned March 26, 2021, 9:38 pm 12 Points Upvote Downvote
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