Today I Learned - Kbin chat

TIL from the school of OMG why didn’t I think of that

Alt milk tetra pack repurposed as drink tray.

TIL Haydn's "Surprise Symphony" was NOT written to wake up sleeping audience members; that was just a myth

Back in school I heard the story that Haydn wrote the "Surprise Symphony" because he was sick of people sleeping through his music, and wanted to startle them awake. It seems like this was a myth....

TIL The candlefish is so rich in oils that when supplied with a wick it can be burned like a candle"

https://www.uapress.com/product/

TIL in the Carboniferous Period, no fungus existed to decompose trees. They just grew on top of each other up and up.

The weight of the trees was so great that the ones on the bottom got squished and became coal. That’s where coal is from. Bonus fact: the whole time this was happening, sharks were hunting in the oceans. Sharks are older than trees and fungus!

TIL that credit card numbers are validated using Luhn's algorithm. If it doesn't work with Luhn's algorithm, it's not a valid card number.

You can read about Luhn's algorithm here

Dementia and cancer could be prevented by taking 2p pill as Dr Michael Mosley says he's taking it

TIL if The Bare Naked Ladies had $1m when the song was recorded, and parked it in S&P500, they'd be rich.

While $1m USD in 1988 is worth only $2.6m in 2024, if they just put it in the S&P 500 back then and left it there, it'd be worth over $44.6m today....