TIL about Dame Jocelyn Bell Burnell, an astrophysicist who discovered pulsars in 1972, had her boss not only take credit for the discovery but also win a Nobel prize for it.
TIL that from 1742 to 1752 the city of Tallin, Estonia, was governed by a former African slave named Abram Gannibal. His grandson, Alexander Pushkin, is considered to be the father of the Russian literature and the greatest Russian poet. Abram's son Ivan Gannibal founded Kherson, Ukraine
@todayilearned@pluralistic yesterday I learned that James Farley, the Irish-American Catholic political kingmaker who put FDR in the presidency, "retired" from politics to drive Coca-Cola's global conquest. I had no idea Coca-Cola was so central to the soft [drink] power of the US. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Farley
TIL Leonard Nimoy refused to join Star Trek the Animated Series without George Takai and Nichelle Nichols claiming they were proof of ethic diversity in the 23rd century.
Today I learned about the Overthrow of the Hawaiian Kingdom in 1893 when a group of European and American businessmen overthrew the monarchy. In 1993 the US government apologized for it.
TIL that english scientist Henry Cavendish discovered physical laws like Ohm's, Dalton's, or Charles's law and few others as first but they were not named after him because he didn't publish his notes and didn't tell his fellow scientists, propably due to being asocial and shy
TIL that during WWII, Ford's mile-long assembly line at ‘Willow Run Plant” produced B-24’s at a peak rate of nearly one every hour (~63min). A symbol of American industrial might, exemplifying how industry (and some 6 Million women) pivoted to support the war effort, vital to Allied victory:
@todayilearned why are we unable, in Europe's industrial powerhouses, to achieve something similar to support #Ukraine? This is the chance to help Ukraine fight for our future security and a peaceful life.
If Ukraine falls, Putin certainly won't stop there!
@eliasp it is not that we are unable to. European politicians are unwilling to, because in a democracy you do not get elected for making your own country poorer.
And investing billions in military production builds assets that are of little value, once the war is over.
If the EU had shared defence this would all be much more efficient and fair.
TIL when Nobel Prize winning physicist Gerard 't Hooft had an asteroid named after him, he wrote a constitution for it's future inhabitants including articles that forbid use of imperial measurement units, outlaw the use of apostrophes, and limit the length of tax forms to one page.
Today I learned about the battle of Wabash, aka the battle of a thousand slain, considered one of the worst defeats in US military history in which 1400 Army troops faced 1100 Native Americans resulting in 21 Native American deaths and almost 700 American deaths
TIL about Murphy, a disabled Bald Eagle who became famous after he attempted to hatch a rock. In 2023 the keepers of his sanctuary replaced his rock with an orphaned eaglet, allowing Murphy to finally become a real parent