What interesting things have you only recently learned about?
To be clear, this is about things which have been true for some time and you only recently learned about, not things that only happened recently. In particular, recent deaths of celebrities and other high-profile individuals should go in the General RIP Thread
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So, what interesting things have you guys...and gals...only recently learned about?
Edited by Twiddler on Apr 8th 2023 at 1:07:55 AM
Uniocular
The Library of Alexandria chart may be bullshit, but it's still a damn tragedy that it was burned down.
"It's so hard to be humble, knowing how great I am."
"Just as planned."
![[up]](https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/smiles/arrow_up.png "[up]"){kind=icon}
The actual date of its destruction though has been a matter of debate for some time - Caliph Ali is said to have been quite heartily disappointed when he saw it, because of how much he wanted to recover what he could to take it to Baghdad.
edited 14th Sep '14 1:33:19 AM by RatherRandomRachel
"Did you expect somebody else?"
Apparently, the people of Norway don't even get that Arendelle is a FICTICIOUS FANTASY kingdom, as Frozen got generally mixed to negative reviews there on the grounds that Arendelle "didn't look enough like Norway".........
Why can't we be amusingly ignorant like that? Instead of just offensively and oppressively ignorant? Getting upset at disney movies. That's harmless funny stuff.
Hey there! Having fun?
Napoleon's army was once defeated by a horde of rabbits, and the Australian Royal Army was once defeated in a war against emus.
"It's liberating, realizing you never need to be competent." — Ultimatepheer
The French were driven out of Haiti by the insects and diseases.
If there's anyone wondering why the animals in Pocohontas don't talk yet the TREES DO, in a movie that is supposed to have the theme of connecting with nature, animator Nik Ranieri shared this on Facebook: .... it was Jeffery Katzenberg again. Disney released Snow White in theaters again when Pocohontas was in production, and having just came back from a screening, he got really inspired and then demanded the entire production team to not have any animals talk in the movie, just like the forest animals didn't in Snow White! Up to that point, the pug would've been voiced by Stephen Fry, and there would've been a talking turkey named Redfeather, voiced by John Candy. Many tried to fight against him. But Jeffery's word was absolute. No animals talked in the movie, and the turkey was scrapped.
"Just as planned."
Given what those diseases are, I can hardly blame them.
edited 14th Sep '14 8:30:42 AM by RatherRandomRachel
"Did you expect somebody else?"
Hey there! Having fun?
Smart move. In a movie that's already not-very-fondly remembered, the turkey probably would have pushed it straight into the territory of "just plain bad".
The pug being voiced by Stephen Fry would have been MAGNIFICENT, though.
FABRICATI DIEM, PVNC!
I don't really like or dislike Pocahontas (like many Disney movies it has its moments but is mostly forgettable) but if Stephen Fry had been in it I'm almost certain the film would've been better for it, and his character would surely have been the funniest in it.
Quod gratis asseritur, gratis negatur.
Mad Scientist Wannabe
I know he'd probably make a lot of us hate Meeko a lot more, because stealing from a pug is bad enough, but stealing from a pug voiced by Stephen Fry!
Of course, don't you know anything about ALCHEMY?!- Twin clones of Ivan the Great
So, who's got a camera?
My friend and I watched Pocahontas recently for the lolz. It was awful. I'm glad my mom never let me watch it as a kid.
I have to return some videotapes. My Wall
The nose flute is a thing.
The Star Spangled Banner have two extra stanzas that almost never got sung. They, um, have a lot of blood in it.
I fought the Lore, and the Lore won.
The only part I remember liking about Pocahontas was the song Savages. I thought it was powerful, two groups dehumanizing the other and singing of going to war.... and then Pocahontas rears her head in the middle of song, and starts singing IMO offkey about wind and the like.
It was like she decided to show up just to ruin the best part.
Not dead, just feeling like it.
Well, I guess I just learned Pocahontas got mixed reception. I have no sense of quality myself, so this came as a surprise. I just see it as a Disney movie like any other.
Women through history do awesome shit.
edited 15th Sep '14 8:42:01 AM by kyun
Mweheheh
Wild Kratts can teach me something new (a crocodile's anatomy and behavior are more aquatic than those of an alligator).
Peace is the only battle worth waging.
It must be seen to be believed.
Making Unicorns Cool Again Since 2010
Pocahontas was cooler than Apocalypto.
I fought the Lore, and the Lore won.
'Scold' is apparently also a noun meaning, a woman who curses a lot. It also apparently comes from Norse 'Skald'.
Not dead, just feeling like it.
'80s TV Action Hero
Yep, as in a 'scold's bridle'. Google that. You won't belueve me otherwise.
'All he needs is for somebody to throw handgrenades at him for the rest of his life...'
"Just as planned."
And a 'common scold' was a woman who'd constantly argue with her neighbours in English and Welsh common law.
"Did you expect somebody else?"
Otto von Bismarck and President Ulysses S. Grant actually met.
Eating a Vanilluxe will give you frostbite.