TIL: Today I Learned

[gay_Aleks]

I don't know. It'd make those EU maps we have in school where EU members are in yellow and non-EU members are in blue prettier. I mean, seriously, Norway. You're making the rest of Scandinavia look bad!

 

[SS-18 ICBM]

TIL that during the Troubles, the IRA shot down two British helicopters with improvised mortars. Two shots, both hits to the tails.

...how?!...

They can't even name the damn things properly, and you expect them to fly them properly?

 

[Snerk]

Clearly, it's a plot to drive Norway into the rapacious arms of unelected Eurocrats and all plucky resistance against the villains at Brussels will be over!

Well we already dance to the pipe of Brussels. The only difference is that we have no say in what said dance should be. Might as well join it IMO.

I don't know. It'd make those EU maps we have in school where EU members are in yellow and non-EU members are in blue prettier. I mean, seriously, Norway. You're making the rest of Scandinavia look bad!

Norway, making Sweden look like a knob since 1994.

 

[hobbsyoyo]

TIL Poland both has a space agency and made the Polandball their official logo for the agency:

https://polsa.gov.pl/en/

Old Logo:

 

[Birdjaguar]

TIL that the Queen of Denmark illustrated the LOTR.

http://mentalfloss.com/article/66764/time-queen-denmark-illustrated-lord-rings

There are a lot of high profile fans of The Lord of the Rings out there, from Stephen Colbert to Barack Obama. But one of Tolkien’s favorites was a Danish illustrator who went by the pseudonym Ingahild Grathmer.

Grathmer sent Tolkien her interpretations of scenes from The Lord of the Rings in the early ‘70s. The hard-to-impress author absolutely loved them, and was taken with how similar they were to his own sketches. Grathmer’s art ultimately appeared in a 1977 Danish edition of Lord of the Rings, but by this time, the illustrator was preoccupied with another job: being Queen of Denmark.

 

[Commodore]

TIL: At it's height, the Persian Empire ruled over approximately 44% of the entire human population on Earth at the time. Granted, there were a lot less humans back then than there are now, but controlling almost half of the world's population is a feat no other nation/empire has achieved since. Even the British Empire at its height only controlled approximately 20% of the entire human population.

 

[Takhisis]

Well, basically they controlled Egypt, the Levant, Anatolia and Mesopotamia… so yes, the numbers seem to add up.

 

[Arakhor]

Indeed, it's one of the impressive numbers of the Ancient World. Statistics are a funny thing though.

 

[Snerk]

Anybody who like statistics should definitely see one of Hans Rosling's presentations if they haven't already.

 

[Takhisis]

Well, this is a forum, so links or it didn't happen.

 

[Snerk]

Well, this is a forum, so links or it didn't happen.

Here's one of them.


Link to video.

 

[Birdjaguar]

That was a great video. Thanks.

 

[s0nny80y]

The official international civil aviation organization first letter code for every region of the globe.
via https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Civil_Aviation_Organization_airport_code



Left hand driving countries highlighted

Track chinas tiangong space station @
http://www.satflare.com/track.asp?q=37820#MAP

Track the iss @
http://www.isstracker.com

Real time breaking news
tmtp://www.breakingnews.com

And the first Spanish astronaut in space was Pedro duque, whose birthday was yesterday.

 

[Takhisis]

‘Don't panic’? Should I take a towel?

 

[gay_Aleks]

You leave your home without a towel?

For shame, Takhisis, for shame!

 

[Kaitzilla]

TIL Jared the Subway Guy is having a tough time in prison.
http://nypost.com/2016/03/16/jared-fogle-beaten-up-by-vigilante-in-prison/

...The report from the Jan. 29 attack says Fogle was left with “a bloody nose, scratches to his neck and redness and swelling to his face.”


...Fogle, a father of two whose claims that he lost 200 pounds by eating Subway foot-longs led to his hiring as the company’s spokesman, confessed to having sex with teenage prostitutes.

He has been stress-eating behind bars amid threats and taunts — fellow inmates have called him “Chomo,” short for child molester — and has gained about 30 pounds.

Fogle was recently slapped by an inmate who had called him a “dirty child rapist,” a recently released prisoner said.

Only 16 more years to go.

 

[Takhisis]

You leave your home without a towel?

For shame, Takhisis, for shame!

Get off your stilts, one-thirdling!

 

[warpus]

TIL Poland both has a space agency and made the Polandball their official logo for the agency:

Spoiler :

https://polsa.gov.pl/en/

Old Logo:

The new logo might have been inspired by Stanislaw Lem. A lot of his book covers used almost exactly the same art direction as the new logo. I can't confirm or deny this, but thought I should mention.

As for my TIL

TIL that today is Polish Hungarian friendship day!

On 12 March 2007, Hungary's parliament declared 23 March "Hungarian-Polish Friendship Day", with 324 votes in favor, none opposed, no abstentions. Four days later, the Polish parliament declared 23 March "Polish-Hungarian Friendship Day" by acclamation.[11]

Friendship Day is celebrated alternately in the two countries, first in Przemyśl, Poland. This day is commemorated in many ways throughout Poland and Hungary, with concerts, festivals, and exhibitions. The 2011 anniversary of the Polish-Hungarian Day of Friendship in Poznań was celebrated by Polish President Bronisław Komorowski and Hungarian President Pál Schmitt and attended by over five hundred people. Komorowski remarked that, “there are few cases in history where there exists such a long and peaceful co-existence between two nations,” while Schmitt, in turn, declared that “the Polish-Hungarian friendship is eternal.”

 

[Commodore]

TIL Jared the Subway Guy is having a tough time in prison.
http://nypost.com/2016/03/16/jared-fogle-beaten-up-by-vigilante-in-prison/



Only 16 more years to go.

I wouldn't be surprised if we see a story within the next year or so that Jared has killed himself in prison. I mean, the harassment he's getting isn't going to stop and it's probably just going to escalate until he snaps and kills himself. I also don't see the prison guards making any serious efforts to stop it either.

 

[Phrossack]

TIL that Luxembourg sent troops to fight in Korea and Afghanistan, and provided more troops to NATO during the Cold War than you'd expect.