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There’s an endless amount of curious and fascinating knowledge out there in the world, and discovering it is part of what makes life exciting. Sadly, we can’t learn it all, even if we devoted years and years to the task. What we can do, however, is take it in bite-sized pieces—something that’s both manageable and genuinely enjoyable.
A perfect place for that is the Today I Learned community on Reddit. There, as the name suggests, people share unexpected and memorable facts they’ve come across. Below, you’ll find a fresh collection of the most intriguing ones.
#1
TIL after singer George Michael passed it was revealed he had anonymously donated generous amounts of money to multiple charities large and small, and to needy individuals, and would secretly volunteer at a homeless shelters
Image source: fanau, WHAM!
#2
TIL that an AI company which raised $450M in investments from Microsoft and SoftBank, and was valued at $1.5B, turned out to be 700 Indians just manually coding with no AI whatsoever.
SistaChans: AI – actual indians
SixEightPee: Anonymous Indians.
JonatasA: All Indian.
Image source: cl0mby, Iftikhar Alam / freepik (not the actual photo)
#3
TIL David Bowie declined the honor to be knighted twice: “I seriously don’t know what it’s for. It’s not what I spent my life working for.”
Image source: GossipBottom, David Bowie
#4
TIL that in 2016, a monkey fell onto an electrical transformer, shorting it and causing the entire country of Kenya to have no electricity for 4 hours. The monkey survived.
Image source: zahrul3, filistimlyanin / freepik (not the actual photo)
#5
TIL Daniel Schorr, the journalist who read Nixon’s infamous enemies list on TV live, discovered his own name was in the list while reading it.
Image source: Thawne_23, CBS / Youtube
#6
TIL that a dude in England stumbled on a buried Roman treasure worth $6,000,000 out metal-detectoring for a lost hammer.
Image source: Zoetekauw, Mike Peel / Wikipedia
#7
TIL when Monty Python’s Life of Brian was released in 1979, its religious satire subject matter was highly controversial. It was banned by 11 local councils in the UK, nationwide in Norway and Ireland. The film was marketed in Sweden with the tag line “So funny it was banned in Norway.”
Image source: RPO777, HandMade Films Python (Monty) Pictures
#8
TIL that when President McKinley was [hit] in 1901, the best surgeon around was knee-deep in a complex operation. When told he was needed elsewhere, he replied that he could not leave, not even for the President. Even after he was told who his new patient was, he remained put and finished his work.
Image source: anon, National Cancer Insitute
#9
TIL scientists have been able to trace the start of HIV/AIDS to King Leopold’s Belgian Congo, originating as far back as 1909. The first person to be infected probably got the virus in the 1920s.
Image source: sonnysehra, DC Studio / freepik (not the actual photo)
#10
TIL Mariah Carey makes $2.7-3.3M per year from All I Want For Christmas Is You.
Image source: Disastrous_Award_789, Mariah Carey
#11
TIL the youngest mother in history, who gave birth at the age of 5, is still alive today at 92 years old.
Image source: Termylinia, CRÓNICA / Wikipedia
#12
TIL that during the filming of The Devil Wears Prada, most fashion industry designers and executives declined appearing as themselves in cameo roles due to fears of upsetting Vogue editor Anna Wintour, who is widely believed to have been the inspiration for the character Miranda Priestly.
Image source: WavesAndSaves, HBO / Youtube
#13
TIL that raccoon meat was once a staple at American Thanksgiving dinner tables and is still sold in places like St Louis. Raccoon reportedly tastes like “a combination of chicken and suckling pig” and is endorsed by Marvel actor Anthony Mackie who calls it “honestly the best meat you’ll ever have.”
Image source: smrad8, EyeEm / freepik (not the actual photo)
#14
TIL that the kangaroo rat can survive its entire life without drinking any water.
Image source: FearMyCock, Wikipedia
#15
TIL of a man who found $7.5 million in a “Storage Wars” unit he bought for $500. He had to negotiate with the original owners, who paid him $1.2 million to return their money.
Image source: SystematicApproach, auctionguydan
#16
TIL a 10-pound mini dachshund named Valerie survived alone for 529 days in the Australian bush after she ran away during a camping trip to Kangaroo Island (a remote island in southern Australia). She was eventually spotted and captured (after 2 months of trying) before being returned to her owners.
Image source: tyrion2024, Georgia Gardner
#17
TIL in 2013 a 9-yr-old boy got past 4 security check points at Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport “without so much as a wink of suspicion” before boarding a flight to Las Vegas to go see an online friend. He didn’t have an ID or a boarding pass & was alone with no parent or guardian with him
Image source: tyrion2024, Addictive Stock / freepik (not the actual photo)
#18
TIL Mithridatism is the practice of protecting oneself against a poison by gradually self-administering non-lethal amounts. The word is derived from Mithridates VI, the king of Pontus, who so feared being poisoned that he regularly ingested small doses, aiming to develop immunity.
Image source: gullydon, Wikipedia
#19
TIL 75% of the world’s tornados happen in the United States, approximately 1,200 annually.
Image source: Street_Exercise_4844, DigitalArtisan / freepik (not the actual photo)
#20
TIL of the Great Stink of 1858 London, caused by a combination of hot weather and untreated human waste, which led to the construction of a new sewer system that is still in use today.
Image source: justabill71, Punch Magazine
#21
TIL coffee was first introduced to India in the 17th century by a Muslim saint who, while returning from a pilgrimage to Mecca, smuggled seven coffee beans by hiding them in his beard.
Image source: Chai80085, jcomp / freepik (not the actual photo)
#22
TIL that in 1978, the actor who plays Darth Vader publicly spoiled the “I am your father” twist in Empire Strikes Back two years before the movie debuted.
Image source: ThisSchmitter, Twentieth Century-Fox
#23
TIL that in Japan during the Edo period, the gonin-gumi system held groups of five households collectively responsible for each other’s crimes, so people were punished for things their neighbors did.
Image source: yena, freepik (not the actual photo)
#24
TIL when Galileo discovered Saturn’s rings, he sent letters to his fellow Astronomers announcing this, but in code. One of the people who got this letter was Johannes Kepler, who misinterpreted it as saying there were two moons of Mars. The two moons of Mars would not be discovered until 1877.
Image source: JEBV, Villa Andrea Ponti / Wikipedia
#25
TIL The Netherlands has been closing prisons due to a significantly low prison population, which is a result of decreasing crime rates, shorter sentences, and a focus on rehabilitation. Around 19 prisons have been shut down since 2009.
Image source: balthazaronline2022, Max4e / freepik (not the actual photo)
#26
TIL Oscar voters now must watch every nominated film in a category before casting a vote, no more voting based on buzz or hype.
Image source: chabaz, EyeEm / freepik (not the actual photo)
#27
TIL that the non-profit that runs Wreaths Across America is owned by the same family that runs the Worcester Wreath Company, the for-profit supplier for Wreaths Across America, and the family’s non-profit use their donations to purchase wreaths from the family’s for-profit business.
Image source: Nutso_Bananas, Wreaths Across America
#28
TIL that there are no longer any people alive who were born in the 1800s. The final verified person from that century was Emma Morano of Italy, who passed away in 2017 at the age of 117.
Image source: No-Strawberry7, Emma Morano / Wikipedia
#29
TIL that most of Costco’s profits comes from membership fees and not products sales. In 2024, 65.5% of company profits comes from membership fees.
Image source: Old_General_6741, Mike Mozart / flickr (not the actual photo)
#30
TIL that a restaurant owner in Kentucky intentionally flooded his own restaurant with clean water to protect it from an incoming river flood.
jocax188723:
It’s like a positive pressure clean room.
Any water will be pushed out by the clean stuff and the mucky water has no way in.
All he has to worry about is water damage. No debris, no mud.
Really clever.
Image source: Emergency-Sand-7655, bilanol / freepik (not the actual photo)
#31
TIL that Daniel Fahrenheit (who invented the mercury thermometer) set 0°F to the coldest stable temperature he could maintain in his lab by dissolving salt in water.
Image source: ChiefStrongbones
#32
TIL that the biggest benefit of drinking pickle juice is its ability to quickly stop cramping. The drink has been found to stop cramping 40% faster than drinking water, which is why its favoured by athletes.
Image source: Dr_Neurol
#33
TIL about the “Maze Procedure,” in which heart surgeons literally scarify a maze into heart tissue so abnormal rhythms get trapped while normal ones can pass through. The procedure has an 80%-90% success rate in curing atrial fibrillation.
Image source: smrad8
#34
TIL China’s Last Emperor worked as a Street Sweeper and Gardener in Beijing after serving 10 years in a re-education camp.
Image source: Ok_Application_5402
#35
TIL that a 2,000-year-old Chinese woman, Lady Dai (Xin Zhui), was found so well-preserved that her skin was still soft and her blood type could be determined.
Image source: Glittering_Floor1667
#36
TIL that novelist Cormac McCarthy was very poor in his early career, despite wide critical acclaim. He and his girlfriend bathed in lakes, ate only beans, and refused offers of $2,000 ($16,700 today) to speak at universities about his work because “everything he had to say was there on the page.”
Image source: altrightobserver
#37
TIL in 2014 an Indian news anchor was fired after refering xi jinping as “eleven” jinping on tv
Image source: kbj9009
#38
TIL that in 2013, NBA player Brian Scalabrine, who only averaged 3 points per game in his entire career, challenged 4 volunteers who criticized him over his bench role and claimed that they would beat him 1-on-1 in an organized event. Scalabrine won every game with a combined score of 44–6
Image source: ModenaR
#39
TIL the phrase “well behaved women seldom make history” was coined by a historian who argued we should study the lives of normal people more.
Image source: bkrugby78
#40
TIL since 2023 there are more births in the US among women 40 and older than there are to teenage girls.
Image source: Disastrous_Award_789
#41
TIL that while tonka beans are prized for their flavor, it’s banned in the US since 1954. The beans have the taste of vanilla, licorice, caramel, and cloves. Restaurants in the US that have the ingredient have been subject to raids and chefs relied on smugglers for the beans.
Image source: Physical_Hamster_118
#42
TIL Anthony Olson endured 9 years of chemotherapy (2011-2020) for cancer that he eventually learned he never had. He was told that without treatment, he’d be [gone] by the end of the year. When a second biopsy came back negative, he was told to ignore it because it meant the treatment was working.
Image source: tyrion2024
#43
TIL that Egypt banned all of Marilyn Monroe’s films after she converted to Judaism in order to marry Arthur Miller — and later unbanned them once the couple divorced.
Image source: Mechashevet
#44
TIL The existence of planets outside our solar system wasn’t confirmed until 1992.
Image source: haddock420
#45
TIL Microsoft invested two years and about US$1 billion developing the Kin, a line of mobile phones that was briefly sold in 2010. After only 48 days on the market, Microsoft discontinued the Kin line in June 2010 due to poor sales, They blamed Verizon for not promoting the phones actively enough.
Image source: Away_Flounder3813
#46
TIL: In the US, performers don’t get paid when their music gets played on the radio, only songwriters. If a recording artist doesn’t have a writing credit on the song, they won’t get paid when it is played on the radio.
Image source: Uptons_BJs
#47
TIL that the CEOs of Microsoft, Procter & Gamble, Adobe and Cobra Beer all attended the same public school in Hyderabad.
Image source: Olshansk
#48
TIL of Nandy, a disabled Neanderthal skeleton found in Iraq who suffered blindness, major hearing loss, a missing arm, and other serious healed injuries that likely left him unable to care for himself. Despite this he lived into his 40s, suggesting he was supported and cared for by his community.
Image source: fatinternetcat
#49
TIL that the designer of the first shopping malls had envisioned them as mixed-use facilities with libraries, apartments, green spaces, post offices and medical services being placed alongside commercial stores.
Image source: wooodstockings
#50
TIL that the Nuremberg Charter’s definition of “crimes against humanity”, which was used in the Nuremberg Trials, includes only acts committed during a war of aggression. This was partly because the US was concerned that Jim Crow segregation would otherwise be considered a crime against humanity.
Image source: NateNate60
#51
TIL in 2002 Eminem settled a lawsuit by paying $100,000 (roughly £70,000) to a man named John Guerra after Em reportedly pulled out an unloaded gun and hit Guerra in the face in response to seeing Guerra kiss his then-wife in the parking lot of a nightclub in 2000.
Image source: tyrion2024
#52
TIL Some studies on drunk driving have found that a BAC of 0.01%-0.04% correlates with lower accident risk than being completely sober. This is called the Grand Rapids dip, and is a quirk of statistics.
Image source: Hrtzy
#53
TIL a 31-year-old Brazilian billionaire with no heirs allegedly left his entire $1 billion fortune to Neymar in a legally registered will because he admired the player’s humility and family values.
Image source: Emergency-Sand-7655
#54
TIL that at the end of the Cold War the ‘Last Supper’ was held at the Pentagon. Over dinner, the heads of major defence contractors were told of coming budget cuts and the need to consolidate. The number of prime defence contractors declined from 51 to 5 in the aftermath.
Image source: GlimmervoidG
#55
TIL Napoleon’s prowess in battle was so legendary, the Trachenberg Plan was drafted to specifically avoid facing Napoleon in battle while instead targeting his marshals and generals separately
Image source: astronautica
#56
TIL in 2008 Chicago sold off all of its city parking meters to private investors for 75 years, and the private investors already made their money back and turned a profit.
Image source: DrowningKrown
#57
TIL “Dry Cleaning” isn’t actually dry, it just washes with a solvent rather than water
Image source: OhhWhales
#58
TIL medieval alchemists associated the 7 known metals at the time (gold, silver, quicksilver, copper, iron, tin, and lead) with the 7 classical planets (the sun, the moon, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn, respectively). Because of this association, quicksilver is called “mercury” today.
Image source: wimpykidfan37
#59
TIL that the United States government still sends $4,500 worth of cloth to the Haudenosaunee (Iroquois) Confederacy every year, and has done so every November 11th for the past 230+ years in recognition of a still-standing treaty with them.
Image source: EssoEssex
#60
TIL at a 1991 meeting of the American Astronomical Society, Andrew Lyne retracted groundbreaking results that he had recently released, which detected the first planet orbiting another star. He received “thunderous applause” from his peers for his integrity & the courage to admit his error publicly.
Image source: tyrion2024
#61
TIL In 1653, Dutch sailor Hendrick Hamel and 35 crewmates shipwrecked off the coast of Joseon (modern-day Korea). Due to Joseon’s isolationist policy, they were not permitted to leave. After 13 years, Hamel and 7 others escaped by boat to Japan. He then wrote the first Western account of Korea.
Image source: Ill_Definition8074
#62
TIL that the most expensive video game ever made is Monopoly Go!, almost entirely due to its $1 billion marketing budget.
Image source: TBroomey
#63
TIL Lucy Lambert Hale, the fiancé of John Wilkes Booth, was considered one of the most beautiful socialites of her time. She began receiving poems from suitors when she was still a 12 year old child.
Image source: Stock_College_8108
#64
TIL: The difference between Intel Core i3 / i5 / i7 / i9 chips often comes down to how many of the tiny circuits on a wafer survive manufacturing without defects. This is called product binning.
Image source: wozzy93
#65
TIL that one inch of rain falling on 1 acre of ground is equal to about 27,154 gallons and weighs about 113 tons.
Image source: beardnurse
#66
TIL most heavyweight boxers clock in with a punching power of around 1200-1700 PSI, which is 10x stronger than an average person. Mike Tyson, renowned for his “ferocious knockout power”, recorded a punching PSI of 1800. (The character Ivan Drago in Rocky IV had a punching power of over 2100 PSI)
Image source: tyrion2024
#67
TIL Philip Pullman was accused of being “the most dangerous author in Britain” because he said “I’m trying to undermine the basis of Christian belief” and wrote the “His Dark Materials” books as a rebuttal to the heavy christian message of “The Chronicles of Narnia”.
Image source: Butwhatif77
#68
TIL that between 1697 and 1698, Tsar Peter the Great of Russia travelled incognito to Western Europe under the alias “Peter Mikhailov” to gain knowledge of their advances in learning. At 6’8″ he was likely the tallest man in Europe, and so his disguise was almost certainly laughably ineffective.
Image source: the_quivering_wenis
#69
TIL that Jackson Pollock abandoned titles and started numbering his works. His wife, Lee Krasner, said, “He used to give his pictures conventional titles, but now he simply numbers them. Numbers are neutral. They make people look at a picture for what it is, pure painting.”
Image source: FakeOkie
#70
TIL that Blizzard was tricked into making StarCraft a AAA game: it was to be a modest project but after an impressive demo of Dominion: Storm Over Gift 3 outshone it at E3 1996, it was decided to overhaul it completely. It later turned out that Dominion’s demo was a pre-animated fake.
Image source: ShabtaiBenOron
#71
TIL about Kotaku Wamura, who served as the mayor of the village of Fudai, Iwate between 1947 and 1987. During his tenure, he spent ¥3.56 billion on building a floodgate, which was derided as being a waste of funds. When the 2011 tsunami hit, the gate saved the village from the destruction.
Image source: Sebastianlim
#72
TIL that Victoria Beckham’s self-titled debut album cost £5 million to produce but only sold 54,000 copies in Britain.
Image source: TimelyConcern
#73
TIL: During the Fall of Saigon, Vietnamese pilot Major Buang-Ly escaped with his family of 5 by flying a Cessna to the USS Midway, dropping a paper note on the flight deck. Captain Chambers ordered helicopters to be pushed off the deck to make room for Buang, who landed safely.
Image source: hgrunt
#74
TIL 600 kilograms of highly enriched uranium (HEU)—almost pure U-235 was discovered in 1993 just sitting out in the open in Kazakhstan.
Image source: PDXAirman
#75
Today I learned that in the 2000’s, the people in charge of Sesame Street’s budget wanted the show to have 25 episodes per season, but the show’s staff insisted upon doing 26 episodes per season so that each letter of the alphabet would be the letter of the day for one episode.
Image source: wimpykidfan37
#76
TIL James Garfield is the only president of the United States to have made an original contribution to the field of mathematics. His proof of the Pythagorean theorem was published in the New England Journal of Education in 1876.
Image source: sepeliri
#77
TIL that after the Maersk Alabama pirate hijacking in 2009, the $30,000 cash the pirates stole from the ship and stowed in the lifeboat was never found. 2 SEAL team members were investigated but no charges brought
Image source: IWrestleSausages
#78
TIL that the A-10 ‘Warthog’ close-air-support plane, infamous for being “a gun with a plane”, has to return the spent shell casings from it’s massive forward mounted autocannon to the plane to maintain it’s center-of-gravity.
Image source: LotusCobra
#79
TIL that the hepatitis E virus was discovered by a Soviet physician when he ingested fecal samples from 22 soldiers during a presumed non-hepatitis A outbreak in Uzbekistan, developed hepatitis 36 days later and then had his stool examined under electron microscopy.
Image source: EasternPotential3952
#80
TIL Michael J. Fox’s middle name is Andrew.
Image source: Charming-Toe-4752
