Best of TodayILearned, March 6 to March 12 - (LearnedThisWeek #2)
[***LearnedThisWeek #1*** *from Feb 27 - March 5 available [here](/r/todayilearned/comments/badcw/new_best_of_todayilearned_feb_27_to_march_5/).*]
->***LearnedThisWeek, #2:*** *The weekly Best of TodayILearned.*<-
Runners-up, top picks:
->\[[Asian honeybees raise their collective body temperature to 'roast' invading hornets](/r/todayilearned/comments/bc5iv/til_bees_will_raise_their_collective_body/)] \[[Vladimir Putin co-authored a book on Judo. He also holds a 6th dan black belt](/r/todayilearned/comments/bam8d/til_that_vladimir_putin_coauthored_a_book_on_judo/)] +[[MIT has course materials online, for the general public, for free](/r/todayilearned/comments/bajpg/til_that_mit_has_course_materials_online_its_for/)] +[[Kenny from South Park was based on a real childhood friend of creator Trey Parker](/r/todayilearned/comments/baeds/til_that_kenny_from_south_park_was_based_on_a/)] \[[Some registrars let you search for a domain and will register it themselves if you don't buy it immediately](/r/todayilearned/comments/bas0x/til_some_domain_name_registrars_let_you_search/)] +[[Hitting Ctrl+Backspace will delete whole words at a time versus a single letter!](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba9wa/til_that_hitting_ctrlbackspace_in_windows_and/)] \[[The Argentavis magnificens was the largest bird that ever lived](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba4n3/til_about_the_argentavis_magnificens_the_most/)] +[[There is a huge hole in the ground in Turkmenistan, burning uninterrupted since 1971](/r/todayilearned/comments/basn3/til_about_hells_door_a_huge_hole_in_the_ground/)] \[[At McDonalds you can get 12 nuggets for a cheaper price than 10 nuggets](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbcrq/til_that_at_mcdonalds_you_can_get_12_nuggets_for/)] \[[In the US, the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is 60 times higher in males who engage in homosexual sex](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba6te/til_that_in_the_us_the_prevalence_hivaids_is_60/)] \[[The TV edit of *Snakes on a Plane*'s famous line was funnier than the original](/r/todayilearned/comments/bai64/til_that_snakes_on_a_plane_was_aired_on_tv_and/)] +[[You can minimize a tab in Chrome by dragging and holding it all the way to the left of the tab bar](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcj8c/til_you_can_minimize_a_tab_in_chrome_by_dragging/)] \[[A common prank among kids in school in Japan is to stick fingers into other people's butts when they're not looking, called "Kancho"](/r/todayilearned/comments/bc7q6/today_i_learned_that_its_a_common_prank_among/)] +[[The US has 4% of the world's population and 25% of the world's (official) incarcerated population](/r/todayilearned/comments/bc98m/til_the_united_states_has_4_of_the_worlds/)] +[["In God We Trust" wasn't an official US national motto and part of the dollar bill until 1956](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbahc/til_that_in_god_we_trust_wasnt_us_national_motto/)] \[[The only common English word of Romanian origin is "pastrami"](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba642/til_the_only_english_word_of_romanian_origin/)] +[[A prime location for a lion to start eating its prey (for easy access to the meat) is the rectum](/r/todayilearned/comments/baxgg/til_the_prime_location_for_a_lion_to_start_eating/)] +[[There was no summer in 1816.](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbag4/til_that_there_was_no_summer_in_1816/)] \[[The Sears Tower was bought by a London insurance broker and renamed "the Willis Tower" last year](/r/todayilearned/comments/bb4bt/til_that_the_sears_tower_was_bought_by_a_london/)] \[[The most southern point of Canada extends as far south as Yreka, California](/r/todayilearned/comments/bay7q/til_that_canada_extends_as_far_south_as_yreka/)] +[[You should (probably) use the front brake on your bicycle most of the time and not the rear](/r/todayilearned/comments/bburw/til_that_you_should_use_the_front_brake_on_your/)] \[[The richest person in the world is a Mexican man you've probably never heard of](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbuc2/til_that_a_mexican_is_the_richest_man_in_the/)] +[[Sega was originally an American company, not Japanese](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcxp3/til_that_sega_was_originally_an_american_company/)] \[[Soldiers in the Austrian army in 1788 mistook each other for Ottomans and defeated themselves](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcfzb/til_that_in_1788_an_entire_austrian_army/)] +[[You can now walk into Bank of America and opt-out of overdraft fees](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcdgi/til_that_i_can_simply_walk_into_bank_of_america/)] \[[Meat-eating pitcher plants may actually be tree shrew toilets!](/r/todayilearned/comments/bceo1/til_pitcher_plants_are_actually_tree_shrew_toilets/)] \[[The Alamo was built in the 1700's, and Crockett may have survived only to be executed in Mexico](http://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/comments/ba46h/til_that_the_alamo_was_built_in_the_1700s_and/)]<-
---
---
Featured in no particular order:
---
[**TIL: The "Portuguese man o' war" is actually a colony of four separate zooids.**](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbdn9/til_the_portuguese_man_o_war_is_actually_a_colony/) - \[[*siphonophores.org*](http://www.siphonophores.org/SiphOrganization.php)]
>*"When I was a kid I used to have nightmares about those things."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbdn9/til_the_portuguese_man_o_war_is_actually_a_colony/c0lwq0f)whatevesbro
>*"There are far worse stings than the Man o' War. The Irukandji is known to have induced fatal cardiac arrest within only 20 minutes."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbdn9/til_the_portuguese_man_o_war_is_actually_a_colony/c0lwuwl)R-Guile
---
[**TIL that US's biggest trading partner isn't China, it's Canada**](/r/todayilearned/comments/baqcw/til_that_uss_biggest_trading_partner_isnt_china/) - \[[*en.wikipedia.org*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_largest_trading_partners_of_the_United_States)]
>*"It's also the top country for the US's oil imports. They get more than twice as much from Canada as they do from Saudi Arabia."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/baqcw/til_that_uss_biggest_trading_partner_isnt_china/c0lt8qg)kearneycation
>*"I knew this. I am Canadian."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/baqcw/til_that_uss_biggest_trading_partner_isnt_china/c0ltpyz)SquareWheel
---
[**TIL that Drew Barrymore had a insane childhood where she started smoking cigarettes at age nine, drinking alcohol by the time she was 11, smoking marijuana at 12, and snorting cocaine at 13**](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbve2/til_that_drew_barrymore_had_a_insane_childhood/) - \[[*en.wikipedia.org*](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Barrymore#Rebellious_era)]
>*"Lindsay Lohan should give her a call and ask for advice on making a comeback."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbve2/til_that_drew_barrymore_had_a_insane_childhood/)saiftk
>*"That's what happens when you're in a gigantic blockbuster at age 7 (E.T.)"* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbve2/til_that_drew_barrymore_had_a_insane_childhood/c0lz9m3)Enginerd
---
[**TIL ALT + PRINTSCREEN takes a snapshot of only the window you have focus on**](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcr4s/til_alt_printscreen_only_takes_a_snapshot_of_the/) - \[self post]
>*"What?! How can something so useful be so unknown. By unknown, I obviously mean by me."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcr4s/til_alt_printscreen_only_takes_a_snapshot_of_the/c0m3val)plob
>*"I seriously have always printscreened something and then pasted into mspaint to remove what I didn't want people to focus on. Amazing, thank you."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bcr4s/til_alt_printscreen_only_takes_a_snapshot_of_the/c0m4rq9)Cooey
---
[**TIL that Sine and Cosine can be seen as 2D orthogonal projections of the 3D unit helix.**](/r/todayilearned/comments/bb87k/til_that_sine_and_cosine_are_merely_2d_orthogonal/) - \[[*imgur.com*](http://i.imgur.com/f9KtF.jpg)]
>*"That one graphic made more sense than a year of high school math."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bb87k/til_that_sine_and_cosine_are_merely_2d_orthogonal/c0lw4ix)workbob
>*"What about tangent? Nobody ever cares about tangent..."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bb87k/til_that_sine_and_cosine_are_merely_2d_orthogonal/c0lwh3u)JKoss
---
[**TIL that the Earth is smoother than a billiard ball**](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba7gs/til_that_the_earth_is_smoother_than_a_billiard/) - \[[*blogs.discovermagazine.com*](http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/badastronomy/2008/09/08/ten-things-you-dont-know-about-the-earth/)]
>*"Mt. Everest and the Mariana trench were very tiny compared to how big the earth is. http://i.imgur.com/anzqB.jpg"* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba7gs/til_that_the_earth_is_smoother_than_a_billiard/c0lqg4y)mikm
>*"The billiard ball is probably rounder, though."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/ba7gs/til_that_the_earth_is_smoother_than_a_billiard/c0lqytn)zem
---
[**TIL that the word "goodbye" is a contraction of the phrase "god be with ye".**](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbapn/til_that_the_word_goodbye_is_a_contraction_of_the/) - [self post]
>*"TIL that a majority of redditors will no longer use this phrase."* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbapn/til_that_the_word_goodbye_is_a_contraction_of_the/c0lw954)honus
>*"How long before the, "PUT GOD BACK IN GOODBYE" movement?"* [--](/r/todayilearned/comments/bbapn/til_that_the_word_goodbye_is_a_contraction_of_the/c0lwqvf)libertyordeath1
---
---
Thank you to all our many readers, submitters, and commenters, and special shouts-out to *R-Guile, TopRamen713, saiftk, Contradicter, MercurialMadnessMan, shady8x, and scottcmu,* who were featured in this week's Top 7 stories.
---
The mods of TodayILearned are now working on this weekly list using [Google Wave](http://wave.google.com). - [Message us](http://www.reddit.com/message/compose?to=LearnedThisWeek) if you would like to join in on the process to pick out your favorite stories. (We have invites, so just ask.)
Have a great week!