TIL that Socrates reckoned that writing would weaken people’s memories and encourage only superficial understanding. [source, comments]

TIL surgeon Neil Hopper has been jailed for insurance fraud and possession of extreme pornography after it was proven he intentionally caused both of his legs to be amputated by submerging his feet in dry ice for 8 hours. He was previously shortlisted to become a para-astronaut and go to space. [source, comments]

TIL that Them!, released in 1954, was meant to be a color 3-D movie. However, a broken camera rig on day one of shooting forced the filmmakers to switch back to black and white. Critics later said this decision made it creepier. [source, comments]

TIL the Mariners are the only active MLB franchise to never appear in the World Series. [source, comments]

TIL Canadian pro snooker player Bill Werbeniuk drank 40 pints a day and in the UK was allowed to write off six per game against tax. [source, comments]

TIL that in the 2008 movie 'The Women' no men appear on screen. They're just referenced. [source, comments]

TIL that drinking French Press or unfiltered coffee can raise cholesterol levels by amounts comparable to eating a Big Mac, due to compounds called cafestol and kahweol that aren’t removed without paper filtration [source, comments]

TIL that Anton Chekhov's play The Cherry Orchard, contains two loaded guns which are never fired. This goes against Chekhov's own narrative principle known as Chekhov's Gun, which states that all elements in a story must be necessary. [source, comments]

TIL William Gibson, author of the seminal 1984 Sci-Fi novel about virtual reality titled ‘Neuromancer,’ knew nothing about computers at the time and actually wrote the book using a typewriter. [source, comments]

TIL that President Roosevelt used the National Guard during WW2 to seize Montgomery Ward and arrest its CEO, Sewell Avery, for refusing to negotiate with striking workers [source, comments]

TIL Refined avocado oil has the highest smoke point of all cooking oils at 271 °C (520 °F). This is significantly higher than other cooking oils such as canola oil 204 °C (400 °F). Cooking oils with high smoke points are useful for deep-frying. [source, comments]

TIL Autistic men are 4 times more likely than Autistic women to be single [source, comments]

TIL longest U.S. government shutdown lasted 35 days from 12/22/2018 to 1/25/2019 [source, comments]

TIL that in 1994 the United States and North Korea almost went to war after North Korea withdrew from the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) In 1993. Tensions lowered after former U.S president Jimmy Carter flew to North Korea to meet with Kim Il Sung, signing the Agreed Framework. [source, comments]

TIL that Anders Hejlsberg, a Danish software engineer who currently works for Microsoft, is the original author and core developer of four programming languages : Turbo Pascal, Delphi, C# and Typescript. [source, comments]

TIL that for 24 years any ship travelling between Wellington and Nelson in New Zealand would be guided through the most dangerous section by a dolphin called Pelorus Jack. [source, comments]

TIL that while naming the Simpsons' grandpa, Matt Groening chose not to name him after his own grandfather, but allow the other writers to choose a name. The chose the name "Abraham", which, coincidentally, was the name of Groening's grandfather. [source, comments]

TIL Apple engineers code-named the Macintosh 7100 "Carl Sagan". Sagan sent Apple a cease-and-desist letter. In response, Apple changed the codename to "BHA" ("Butt-Head Astronomer"). Sagan then sued Apple for libel. After settling, the Mac 7100's final code-name was "LaW" ("Lawyers are Wimps"). [source, comments]

TIL: Actor Karl Malden (born Mladen Sekulovich) always regretted changing his name. Whenever possible, he would insert "Sekulovich" into his work as the name of side or background characters. [source, comments]

TIL Sony PlayStation 2 remains the best-selling video game console of all time, having sold 160.63 million units worldwide. It was first released in North America on 10/26/2000. [source, comments]