30 fascinating facts from the series “Today I learned” (31 photos)

Curious people are never bored! After all, they can learn something new every day. Fortunately, these days there are more than enough opportunities for this.





1. We are completely blind for about 40 minutes a day due to saccadic masking. Without it, our life would be like constantly watching a movie shot on a shaky handheld camera.



Saccadic masking, or visual suppression of saccades (very rapid movements of two eyes in the same direction), is a sharp decrease in visual sensitivity, “turning off” the processing of blurred retinal images. However, the speed of saccades is so high that we simply do not notice this temporary blindness.

2. In 1915, a pharmacist saw his sister making mascara from charcoal and petroleum jelly and thought he could make a better product. His invention was easier to use and much safer for the eyes





He named his new company "Maybelline" after his sister "Maybel" and the main component "Vaseline".

3. In Japan there is a “wind telephone”. An unconnected phone booth where grieving relatives can “talk” to deceased loved ones



The Wind Phone was installed after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami and has been used by more than 30,000 people.

4. The average lifespan of a domestic cat has increased from seven years in the early 1980s to fifteen years in 2021



5. Environmental activist Julia “Butterfly” Hill lived for 738 days on a 1,500-year-old California redwood tree (named Luna) 55 m above the ground.



She wanted to prevent the Pacific Lumber Company from cutting down the tree. And she managed to save the moon.

6. American actor Jonathan Goldsmith has advocated for landmine survivors, helped prevent and treat cancer in dogs, save the Siberian tiger, and stop child sex trafficking in Cambodia.



7. Domestic dogs have developed forehead muscles. This helps to “imitate” people’s facial expressions



8. Climbers and other people who find themselves in a survival situation often feel someone's strange presence next to them. This someone supports them and gives advice. The phenomenon is called third syndrome



9. In 1941, the USS New York opened fire on an object, mistaking it for a Japanese aircraft. The fire continued until the navigator realized that they were shooting at Venus



10. In 1554, Elizabeth Crofts hid in a wall in Aldersgate Street (London), pretended to be a heavenly messenger and preached an anti-Catholic sermon. 17,000 people came to listen to her



This historical event is called the “bird in the wall.”

11. Mixed breed dogs live an average of 14 years, while purebred dogs live an average of about 10 years.



12. Willie O'Ree, the first black NHL player, was blind in one eye. When he was 18 years old, a puck ricocheted into his eye. He hid it throughout his 21-year career



13. When an American film has more than one writer, "&" indicates that the writers worked on the script together. And the "and" means they worked independently on separate drafts



14. Pajamas have their own history. During World War I air raids in England, people began to wear pajamas rather than nightgowns so they could be ready to run outside at a moment's notice and still look presentable.



15. In PC/console games, about 60% of the female avatars you see are used by men



16. In the 1800s, bananas were considered an “immoral fruit” due to their shape. Fruit companies have started producing postcards featuring women eating bananas to combat this cliché.



17. Sea urchins in English are called Sea Urchins, not Sea Hedgehogs. Because until about the 15th century the word Urchin was used to refer to any hedgehog



18. In a life-threatening emergency, people may exhibit extreme physical strength that is unusual for them. She is called hysterical or superhuman



Examples include a woman who saved several children by fighting a polar bear, and a woman who managed to lift a car high enough to save a man.

19. In the Middle Ages, there were something like nursing homes - in monasteries, where elderly people could pay for their accommodation (as well as food and clothing) for the rest of their lives



20. After Shia LaBeouf stole someone else's work for his directorial debut, he also stole the text of a public apology to answer a question about plagiarism. He took it on the Yahoo! Answers



21. The only confirmed case of Halloween candy poisoning occurred in 1974. Ronald O'Brien killed his son Timothy by giving him candy sticks laced with cyanide.



He did this to collect an insurance payout.

22. The thymus gland, a small organ behind the breastbone, teaches new white blood cells NOT to attack the body's own cells. Only 2% survive this rigorous training program; the rest commit suicide to avoid attacking friendly cells



23. In Switzerland in the 15th century, there was a case when a rooster was accused of laying eggs and thus violating the laws of nature. And then sentenced to public burning alive



24. Once upon a time there lived a goose named Andy, and from birth she had no legs. The goose's owner put her in Nike sneakers so she could stand and move. Andy became a role model for disabled children. In 1991, she was killed under mysterious circumstances.



25. The minimum number of non-repeating chess games is greater than the number of atoms in the observable Universe



The first is approximately 10

120

(Shannon number). Second - from 10

79

to 10

81

, that is, at 10

40

times less than Shannon's number.

26. Queen Elizabeth I of England needed 600 horse-drawn carts to transport everything she needed for her summer vacation outside the city.



She usually stayed at the castle of some local nobleman. But if the castle turned out to be too small, the owners were in a hurry to leave to make room for Her Majesty. Naturally, she did not accept refusal and did not pay for the stay.

27. Every 21st New Yorker is a millionaire



28. In 1988, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante was supposed to audition for Frank Zappa's touring band, but he changed his mind and turned it down.



The reason was that Zappa introduced a strict drug ban among his musicians. Frusciante said: "I wanted to be a rock star, do drugs and pick up girls, and I couldn't do that if I was in Zappa's band."

29. The state of New Mexico in the USA got its name 250 years earlier than the country of Mexico got its name. Both names come from the ancient valley of Mexico, which was the heart of the Aztec civilization.



30. The city of Beijing (Illinois, USA) received its name due to the erroneous assumption that it is located on the opposite side of the globe from Beijing, China. In fact, the point opposite to it is in the Indian Ocean