#todayilearned — Public Fediverse posts

@jimniels

So... yes!

> The term "smallpox" was first used in England in the 16th century to distinguish [it] from syphilis, which was then known as the "great pox".

Other names used historically include "speckled monster", and "red plague".

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Smallpox

#nowyouknow #wikipedia #didyouknow #todayilearned

#TodayILearned that the tradition of giving mooncakes in #China has given rise to a sort of economic cycle in which slips of paper stand in for mooncakes, and companies make profits without selling a single box of mooncakes.

#Mooncakes #MooncakeBackedSecurity

#TodayILearned that the tradition of giving mooncakes in #China has given rise to a sort of economic cycle in which slips of paper stand in for mooncakes, and companies make profits without selling a single box of mooncakes.

#Mooncakes #MooncakeBackedSecurity

#TodayILearned that the tradition of giving mooncakes in #China has given rise to a sort of economic cycle in which slips of paper stand in for mooncakes, and companies make profits without selling a single box of mooncakes.

#Mooncakes #MooncakeBackedSecurity

#TodayILearned that the tradition of giving mooncakes in #China has given rise to a sort of economic cycle in which slips of paper stand in for mooncakes, and companies make profits without selling a single box of mooncakes.

#Mooncakes #MooncakeBackedSecurity

#TodayILearned that the tradition of giving mooncakes in #China has given rise to a sort of economic cycle in which slips of paper stand in for mooncakes, and companies make profits without selling a single box of mooncakes.

#Mooncakes #MooncakeBackedSecurity

@fesshole "Menarche is the first menstrual cycle, or first menstrual bleeding in humans."
#TodayILearned #FessholeExplained #TIL #TodayILearnt

#TodayILearned about #Chornobyl / #Chernobyl:

The city's name is the same as one of the Ukrainian names for Artemisia vulgaris, mugwort or common wormwood: чорнобиль, chornóbyl' (or more commonly полин звичайний polýn zvycháynyy, 'common artemisia'). The name is inherited from Proto-Slavic *čьrnobylъ or Proto-Slavic *čьrnobyl, a compound of Proto-Slavic *čьrnъ 'black' + Proto-Slavic *bylь 'grass', the parts related to Ukrainian: чорний, romanized: chórnyy, lit. 'black' and било byló, 'stalk', so named in distinction to the lighter-stemmed wormwood A. absinthium.
— https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chernobyl#Etymology

Also:

In English, the Russian-derived spelling Chernobyl has been commonly used, but some style guides recommend the spelling Chornobyl, or the use of romanized Ukrainian names for Ukrainian places generally.

#TIL #TodayILearnt

#TodayILearned that there is another sort of prequel to Stephen King's #DarkTower series called "The Little Sisters of Eluria".
Guess I should set aside some time to dive back into the world of Gilead.

#StephenKing #FiXatoReads #TIL #TodayILearnt #TheLittleSistersOfEluria

TIL about an incredible bird called the Arctic Tern, every year it flies from one side of the planet to the other and back again:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arctic_tern

"Recent studies have shown average annual round-trip lengths of about 70,900 km (44,100 mi)"

A bird species that migrates 70,000 kilometres every year! 🤯

#TIL #TodayILearnt #TodayILearned #Birds #Birbs

Cocoa Pebbles & Fruity Pebbles were going to be named Flint Chips and Rubble Stones (which I prefer). "Pebbles" is the oldest (U.S.?) cereal brand still sold that's based on fictional characters.
#theyre #yabba #dabba #delicious #coca #fruity #pebbles #barney #was #mel #blanc #MelBlanc #fred #flintstone #cereal #commercial #cartoon #character #flint #chips #rubble #stones #sugar #rice #krinkles #TIL #TodayILearned #magic #pink #milk for #breakfast #today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebbles_(cereal)#Product_history

Cocoa Pebbles & Fruity Pebbles were going to be named Flint Chips and Rubble Stones (which I prefer). "Pebbles" is the oldest (U.S.?) cereal brand still sold that's based on fictional characters.
#theyre #yabba #dabba #delicious #coca #fruity #pebbles #barney #was #mel #blanc #MelBlanc #fred #flintstone #cereal #commercial #cartoon #character #flint #chips #rubble #stones #sugar #rice #krinkles #TIL #TodayILearned #magic #pink #milk for #breakfast #today https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pebbles_(cereal)#Product_history

#TodayILearned that the voice actor of #DaddyPig, #RichardRidings, also provides the voice of Sarge in #Quake III Arena, as well as the voice of the Mentor, i.e. the narrator, of #DungeonKeeper.
That just tickles my funny bone. 😂

#TIL #QuakeIIIArena #Sarge #voiceActing #voiceActors #TodayILearnt

Docker push with `--all-tags` argument

#TodayILearned #TodayILearnt #TIL

Word of the day: #Punnet

«A punnet is a small box or square basket for the gathering, transport and sale of fruit and vegetables, typically for small berries susceptible to bruising, spoiling and squashing that are therefore best kept in small rigid containers.»
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Punnet

#WordOfTheDay #TIL #TodayILearned #TodayILearnt

#TodayILearned - za kultowego #NASCARRacing z 1994 roku odpowiadaja Ci sami ludzie, ktorzy teraz pracuja nad... #iRacing 😲 #gry #giereczkowo #simracing

Wow, the production of traditional artisanal #Sumi ink for Japanese #calligraphy is way more involved than I'd thought: https://youtu.be/GSuFSYY-X9w (or https://youtube.com/shorts/K7cm-8FR_6k if you prefer it in Shorts form...)
From making the fine wicks, to lighting the candles, to collecting the soot, to preparing the animal glue, to kneading all ingredients together, to pressing them into blocks, to pre-drying them with oak ashes, to air-drying them for at least four years, all done by hand.
No wonder these #ink sticks are expensive!

#TodayILearned #TodayILearnt #TIL #Japanese #JapaneseCalligraphy #SumiInk #artisanal #art #artSupplies #InsiderBusiness

Recently I realised that 'bikkje', a #Norwegian word for a dog, is probably related to 'bitch'.
And yes, sure enough, #Wiktionary notes that while the word is currently used for any kind of dog, it used to be used just for female dogs, and is a cognate of #bitch.

#TheMoreYouKnow #TodayILearned #TodayILearnt #TIL #bikkje #norsk #etymology #linguistics #language

#TodayILearned that apparently #BilliePiper was not told that actual showers would go off in the lift of of the hospital facility of the #DoctorWho episode #NewEearth (#DrWho168S02E01), so her shocked expression when she is getting absolutely soaked as she is getting 'disinfected' is genuine!

Sources:

• Relevant #WhoCulture episode: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VXKmY-NgFzM
• Relevant #Fandom article snippet: > "Billie Piper didn't know she was going to be hit with water in the lift, Russell T Davies kept it in the final cut as he thought it was too funny to cut it."> https://tardis.fandom.com/wiki/New_Earth_(TV_story)

#DrWho #BehindTheScenes #SeriesFiXatoWatches #TIL #TodayILearnt

@dadegroot @piggo oh, and #TodayILearned: #potassium, the common #English word for #Kalium, is derived from #pearlAsh's unpurified form: #potAsh:

<<potassium (n.)
metallic element, 1807, coined by English chemist Sir Humphry Davy from Modern Latin potassa, Latinized form of potash (q.v.). Davy first isolated it from potash. The chemical symbol K is from Latin kalium "potash," from Arabic al-qaliy "the ashes, burnt ashes" (see alkali).>>
https://www.etymonline.com/word/potassium

Since I didn't get to watch #quill18's #livecoding stream for #LudumDare46 in full this weekend, I downloaded the full #VOD's and it looks like #Twitch hasn't muted any of the audio because of #ContentID yet, which means it makes for an excellent kind of #Podcast background audio. 👍

His #LudumDare streams tend to have some wonderful #80s and #90s #music while he codes, so it'll be great company. :)

Also, #TodayILearned / #TIL that #YoutubeDL supports Twitch VODs!