This thread is for sharing interesting things you learned today. I'll start. Today I learned about the existence of fitness expert Betty Brosner, born August, 1929, still alive. She was a bodybuilder, and was one of the biggest pin-up girls of the 1950s.
The US has an estimated 9 million feral hogs in 36 states that cause $2.5 billion in agricultural losses. A sounder of feral hogs can devour ten acres of corn in a single night and a feral hog can take down an adult whitetail deer. They have a short gestation period of only 114 days, an average litter of 4-12 piglets, and their females can get pregnant at 6 months of age.
I just noticed the "Five Reddest Reds in America" above the title. Definitely at the height of McCarthyism.
In 1940, George Orwell reviewed Hitler's Mein Kampf. An excerpt from that review: https://bookmarks.reviews/george-orwells-1940-review-of-mein-kampf/
I hope this isn't cheating, but yesterday I learned that there are some little islands very close to Newfoundland that are actually part of France: There's a fun one for trivia night. The Treaty of Paris in 1763 is where France gave up their holdings in Canada to England, but they were allowed to keep these islands so they could continue their fishing operations along the coast of Newfoundland. England reoccupied the islands a few times during subsequent conflicts, but the French resettled them in 1816, and they've remained French since then.
And if you look along the north coast, you will see a lot of communities with French names. This dates back to the days of the French Shore https://salutcanada.ca/en/listings/french-shore-memory-of-the-french-fishery-in-newfoundland-and-labrador/
Today I learned that there was never any official protest from the U.S. government on the subject of Vietnam War draft dodgers coming to Canada. During the years 1965-1973, Canada accepted these draft evaders as legitimate immigrants, and the U.S. government put no pressure on Canada as a result of it, no diplomatic backlash, not a word. ‘Hell, they’re your problem, not ours’: Draft Dodgers, Military Deserters and Canada-United States Relations in the Vietnam War Era
That's neat, I never really thought about it for some reason. I assumed if they ever tried to return to the States, they'd be arrested. But there doesn't seem to have been any attempts to extradite them. Just a neat aside - my parents befriended a draft dodger when he moved to our community. He started a successful business (I worked for him for one summer), and later in life he entered politics, serving as an MP for seven years. The States' loss, I guess !
That would have been the case up to January 21, 1977. That was President Jimmy Carter's first full day in office, and on that day he granted unconditional pardons to hundreds of thousands of men who had evaded the draft during the Vietnam War. Needless to say, the decision was controversial at the time. Of the 100,000 who had moved to Canada, only about half of them went back to the States. I think draft evaders would be a principled lot!
People with admirable principles stood on both sides of the divide that was Vietnam. Principles ranged from,"Avoid dying in a senseless military action that the French have already proven can't be won" to a genuine willingness to risk life and limb in the service of others. My cousin died in action a few days after he arrived in-country. He was nineteen and newly married.
The swivelling office chair was invented by Thomas Jefferson. The office chair with wheels was invented by Charles Darwin.
I had to look up the value of that. The figure I found is from 2021. Total fine troy ounces is 261,498,926.241 - for a total book value of 11,041,059,957.90 https://www.fiscal.treasury.gov/reports-statements/gold-report/21-02.html
That reminded me of a story I read about a police dog that was forced to write up a police report so his handler wrote the report on behalf of his canine partner. https://www.police1.com/international/articles/officer-criticized-for-writing-police-report-on-behalf-of-k-9-u0ZAlT9NyKXP08Su/
Actually, I rather suspect he intelligently designed it Anyway, TIL that John Steinbeck wrote a werewolf novel when he was young. https://www.npr.org/2021/05/28/1001309335/a-young-john-steinbecks-unpublished-werewolf-novel-isnt-going-to-print
Today I learned that in the song Don't Bring me Down, by Electric Light Orchestra, that Jeff Lynne does not sing "Don't being me down, Bruce." but "Don't bring me down, groos."
Today I learned that turtles breathe out of their butt underwater https://www.reconnectwithnature.org/news-events/the-buzz/nature-curiosity-how-turtles-breathe-underwater/
