TIL of "Psychogenic death" - when a person gives up on life mentally and dies usually within days. The phenomenon occurs when someone experiences a trauma they feel they cannot escape, and the person views death as their only option.

TIL that in the 1890s, X-Rays were used extensively as entertainment. People could even buy or build their own X-ray apparatus for use at home. Many who popularized the technology developed cancer, suffered amputations, or died.

TIL that American surgeon William Beaumont, the "Father of Gastric Physiology", researched human digestion by putting pieces of food on a string and poking them through an old gunshot wound in his handyman's stomach. He pulled it out on regular intervals to check on how well it had been digested.

TIL that home teams in basketball wear white uniforms because the home team had access to laundry facilities. By wearing grey or another dark color the visiting team was better able to conceal the stains that had accumulated on their uniforms over the course of the series.

TIL that Alexender Graham Bell tried to eliminate American sign language and deaf schools in the U.S because he was afraid of a deaf race emerging from it.

TIL in 1947 a woman with hives went to Johns Hopkins to cure her hives. She received an experimental drug Compund 1694 and not only her hives cleared up she reported that her trolly rides were free from nausea. Doctors immediately test the drug for motion sickness and Compund 1694 became Dramamine.

TIL Kurt Russell was a civilian pilot who reported a formation of lights over Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport, and yet didn't learn until years later that he had in fact witnessed one of the most famous UFO sightings in history, known as the Phoenix Lights

TIL that forest fires in Germany can detonate unexploded bombs left from WWII, putting firefighters at risk

TIL about the hunter-gatherer practice of "Insulting the Meat." To keep the best hunters from thinking themselves above the rest of the tribe, Ju/’hoan people insult the quality of the meat and lightheartedly mock the hunter who brought the animal down. The bigger the kill, the greater the insults.

TIL Before elevators, the 2nd floor of buildings were the most sought after because you didn't have to walk up a lot of stairs and you were above the street level, avoiding all the noises and smells. It's why a lot of older buildings have larger/nicer rooms on the second floor.

TIL that when a male fruit fly is sexually rejected by a female fruit fly, it will seek out more alcohol than those that have successfully mated.

TIL In 1965, a Ukrainian farmer dug up the lower jawbone of a mammoth. Further excavations revealed the presence of 4 huts made up of a total of 149 mammoth bones. These 'Mammoth Bone Huts' dating back some 15,000 years were determined to have been some of the oldest shelters ever built by humans

TIL As a teenager Patrick Stewart worked as a newspaper reporter and obituary writer. However after a year his employer gave him an ultimatum to choose acting or journalism. Stewart had been attending rehearsals during work time and then inventing the stories he reported.

TIL Bears in Yellowstone can eat up to 40,000 moths a day

TIL when Stephen Colbert was younger he wanted to be a marine biologist, but surgery left him deaf in one ear and without a right eardrum. The removal of his eardrum meant he could no longer scuba dive without complications, thus ending pursuit of his dream and allowing his career in comedy instead.

TIL that cicada's wings have an anti-bacterial surface that kills bacteria not by chemicals, but by using a nanopattern made of nano pillars that shreds the bacterial membrane.

TIL the reason the rainbow has indigo/violet and not just purple is because Sir Isaac Newton was obsessed with the number 7 for occult reasons, he had to have 7 colors

TIL the Pyramid of Giza was the world’s tallest building for over 3,800 years.

TIL: Outside the ring, Muhammad Ali attained success as a spoken word artist, where he received two Grammy nominations. He also featured as an actor and writer, releasing two autobiographies. Ali retired from boxing in 1981 and focused on religion, philanthropy and activism.

TIL That Japan has so many "ghost houses" that they are commonly given away at low/no-cost

TIL Marco Polo became Kublai Khan's diplomat at 21 years old. One of his journeys included 2-year voyage from China to the Persian Gulf where of 600 men, only 18 survived. Altogether, throughout his life he traveled almost 15,000 miles or 24,000 km.

TIL the US Navy conducted mock air attacks by aircraft carrier on Pearl Harbor in 1932 and 1938. In both exercises the attacks were successful, demonstrating the importance of air power over battleships. Both exercises were ignored by the US Navy but were studied carefully by the IJN.

TIL the animatronic gopher in the 1980 film Caddyshack cost around $500,000 and was built and filmed after the movie had been completed. The first cut was a cocaine fueled mess and it was suggested in post-production that the gopher should be part of an expanded storyline to tie everything together.

TIL Star Wars’ Porkins (William Hootkins) studied Astrophysics at Princeton, was fluent in Mandarin, was questioned by the FBI about JFK’s assassination, and went on to act in 50 films including Raiders of the Lost Arc, Flash Gordon, Batman, and Curse of the Pink Panther.

TIL in 2010 a Woman Was Evicted From Her £3,000,000 Castle in Scotland After Refusing to Pay a £230 Bill For a Bridal-wear Rental.

TIL that during the final months of World War II, Japan planned to use the Black Plague as a biological weapon against San Diego, California. It was scheduled for September 22, 1945, but Japan surrendered just five weeks before it could happen.

TIL almost all of the fruit, vegetables, and animals we eat are domesticated and ARE NOT found in nature. A few foods like some berries, nuts, and mushrooms are consumed in the same form they grow in the wild. Humans are "selectively breeding" species for more then 12,000 years.

TIL Jerry's apartment in 'Seinfeld' is a physically impossible structure. If someone attempted to build it in real life, the hallway would run directly through the kitchen.

TIL that self-proclaimed earthquake expert Ibn Browning predicted a massive earthquake would strike New Madrid, Missouri on December 3rd, 1990. Schools in multiple states closed, and media organizations flooded the town. Browning had no seismology background, and nothing happened.

TIL: Claiming his first belt at 20 years, four months, and 22 days old, Mike Tyson holds the record as the youngest boxer ever to win a heavyweight title.

TIL that Bakersfield and Fresno were built on top of a former lake, Lake Tulare, that was the largest freshwater lake west of the Missisipi. It was drained for Agriculture after the Civil War, and was completely gone by WW1.

TIL the Crusaders planned to finance the Fourth Crusade by stopping first in Constantinople, to assist in a coup. When they were not fairly compensated by the new Byzantine Emporer, they seized control of the city and surrounding territory. Establishing the short-lived Latin Empire (1204-1261).