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
The calligraphy fountain pen I've had for like 20 years has a name: Sheaffer No Nonsense.
I mean, I knew it was made by Sheaffer, but I didn't know anything about fountain pens and there wasn't anything else printed on it. And it was like $20 when I got it (in a kit with extra nibs & a bunch of ink cartridges), which is cheap for a fountain pen. Turns out Sheaffer has a reputation for good, reliable pens. Even the cheap ones. Better yet, it's compatible with some of their nicer nibs, in case I want to try swapping them out.
So that was a pleasant surprise.
There's somebody called "The Spiderman Rapist".
edited 12th Jan '17 6:42:03 AM by fredhot16
Trans rights are human rights. TV Tropes is not a place for bigotry, cruelty, or dickishness, no matter who or their position.The Dunwich Horror was adapted into Manga around 1960. Hilarious in Hindsight, since whoever knows the plot of the story can't help but snicker at the thought of where this is going.
edited 12th Jan '17 12:46:49 PM by Almohad
The Bloody Mary legend derives from a divination ritual, one of many folk rituals by which young women were supposed to be able to find out who they were going to marry. It's a permutation of an old ritual in which a young woman would walk backwards up a staircase in a darkened house (in some versions it had to be done at midnight, in others midnight on Halloween) holding a candle and looking in a small hand mirror; in the "Bloody Mary" version, the summoner had to say "Bloody Mary" three times and then Mary'd either show the woman the face of her future husband or appear as a skull or a corpse, if the young woman in question was fated to die before being married. There are apparently loads of these kinds of rituals, some of which survived as party/ sleepover games into the late 20th century.
In the modern, non-horror movie version of the legend, you say her name three times while looking in a mirror to summon her. She's supposed to either attack you or heap abuse on you and, if you can withstand it, (or, in some versions, if you settle her down by asking her about her baby) she's supposed to tell you your future.
edited 12th Jan '17 9:56:52 PM by Robbery
The composer Yuki Kajiura, who made the the soundtracks for Puella Magi Madoka Magica, Noir, .hack//Sign and much more also made the entire soundtrack for Xenosaga III and the music for the movie scenes in Xenosaga II.
EDIT: Also, I just learned that the correct Norwegian spelling is "valkyrje", not "valkyrie" (which is the Danish spelling). The word comes from the combination of the Old Norse "valr" (fallen warrior) and "kjósa" (choosing, and yes, the Modern English has the same origin as the Old Norse word: the Proto-Germanic "keus", which again has its roots in Proto-Indo-European "geus").
edited 13th Jan '17 5:44:34 AM by Lemurian
Join us in our quest to play all RPG video games! Moving on to disc 2 of Grandia!The Indian Ocean is larger than the Southern Ocean.
I know what the post was about, but I don't know if I'm allowed to say.
Georges Cuvier thought monotremes were related to xenarthrans.
Peace is the only battle worth waging.The hippopotamus is the only terrestrial artiodactyl with internal testes.
Peace is the only battle worth waging.

Meijer sells stroopwafel.