Get Premium
Dark mode theme is available exclusively for premium users. Learn more about the benefits of subscribing.
No fees, cancel anytime.
Dark Mode 
No fees, cancel anytime 
then open in external browser
and click "Open in External Browser" 
How do you define 'interesting'? What is interesting? After writing a surplus of articles about interesting facts and mildly interesting stuff, we can tell you that it's all about gut feeling. Humans know humans, just like we know that we will never be tired of looking at previously unseen, fluffy animals from exotic corners of the Earth.
Today's r/interesting, then, is a rather normal cousin to 'Mildly Interesting'. Not bound by a specific timeline or subject matter, this community describes itself as "a place to share something interesting." And as you'll see on today's list, it sure does that, bringing bite-size infotainment like a cooler version of 'Encyclopedia Britannica' where people vote on what's hot and what's, well, less interesting. Buckle up, pandas, because it's going to get interesting!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
I Would Find This Interesting
Amanda Cruz Lmt 2 years ago
Found out recently that hunter and gathers jobs weren't based on sex, you could be a female hunter and a male gatherer. The only reason they thought otherwise was sexist idolatry of the time
Falcon on Dizzy 2 years ago
like my parents and how they were taught they'd never have a calculator in their pocket all the time
TomCat 2 years ago
I feel like the smart phone was developed solely as an Fu to all teachers who said that.
Load More Replies...
Katie Lutesinger 2 years ago
I was a huge dinosaur fan as a kid, and it was SO amazing going to a special exhibition on t-rexes and raptors thirty years later and finding out just how much we've learned since then. The little kid in me had an absolute blast.
Bobby 2 years ago
Then you learn that there are more than 3states of matter too. Like supercritical fluids that behave like gas and liquid at the same time
Load More Replies...
liam newton-harding 2 years ago
The Half-life of Facts. It's one of the reasons Doctors, and Surgeons have to keep learning. What they were taught, gets surpassed, or even disproven. My first job out of school, a guy, three times my age, that I worked with (a very interesting, smart guy) asked if I believed in this, "Tectonic Plate theory thing". He had simply never been taught about them. 20 years later, on a Photographic Expedition, I come to find out that there are a LOT more than the seven Tectonic Plates I was taught about, in my own school days.
Cat Chat 2 years ago
How I used to have to wait till I got to the library in order to research ANYTHING. Didn't have the world's entire knowledge in my pocket.... and survived.
Julius Zuke 2 years ago
To be fair about it, using only internet resources to research many topics is a huge mistake, Book publishers are always very careful to print accurate information. Getting a reputation for printing sketchy information would put them out of business. Furthermore, there is so much information in books pre-digital that the chance of all books being entered on the internet is exceedingly slim. Finally, a lot of information is regional or local, meaning 99.999999% of the world population has no interest in it, but that tiny fraction of the population who would treasure that information would never get to see it if the books all disappeared and it didn't make it to digital.
Load More Replies...
CelticElff 2 years ago
Yugoslavia, Czechoslovakia, East & West Germany immediately come to mind. Pluto. Altruism.
StrangeOne 2 years ago (edited)
Idk. Would the region you were taught also be counted in? I've been to various schools in a few different cities growing up. I wasn't taught the same curriculum. Each school in different school districts in the same city were a bit different in what was taught, too. Some times it came down to how much funding the schools had and how big the schools and the classes were, if they were broken up in French and English immersions and split/conjoined grades for some classes. We all got text books for the year. Not every chapter in the text books were covered. There were things we relearned or did have updated either in later grades or in the middle of the year. Such as when the toonie first came out and when Nunavut became a separate, new territory from Northwest Territories. I was also in school when there was a shift in how Canadian Indigenous history was taught.
Tyranamar Seuss 2 years ago
I think just major changes. Pluto not a planet. New classifications of plant, animal and whatever else there is now, nutrition, etc.
Load More Replies... A B C the Third 2 years ago (edited)
F*ck me, YES! PLEASE! I tend to be one of those "well actually, my [put any class here] teacher said...", simply because I'm convinced they knew what they were talking about (I'm a bit naïve sometimes, and it's been a couple of years). If you can teach me better !and have a source for it!, you're my knight in shining armor! (on another hand, if you happen to have any useless, but unforgettable fun facts, share them as well please!)
Mark Howell 2 years ago
When I was at school, the atlas had 'There be dragons' where USA is now. ;o)
Rachel Ainsworth 2 years ago
Should have had there be dragons here for Indonesia (komodo), China (water) and Australia (bearded).
Load More Replies...
Board Pan, duh. 2 years ago
Should also add location... and it would reveal how biased our history books were....
StrangeOne 2 years ago
It was interesting, baffling and downright frustrating explaining some of the things I was taught to my mom. She thinks her education in school was right. She was taught Louis Riel (Manitoba's first Metis politician leader, activist and Manitoba's founding father who was hanged) was a traitor to Canada. Meanwhile, since I was in school we were taught he was a big hero to the Metis and didn't deserve to be executed for fighting for their rights and status. It also depended on the teacher, too. My Grade 6 teacher taught us the Earth moves in an elliptical orbit around the sun that causes the seasons to change. I thought that was right for years until I learned that was wrong. Turns out it was just that teacher that said that and not anyone else's. I also had a Grade 12 English teacher tell the class Snow White is based on a Winnipeg waitress from the early 1900s. That is VERY wrong.
Load More Replies...
LandAhoy 2 years ago
Are you a time traveller from the future? Please tell us more!
Load More Replies... 
Michelle Smith 2 years ago
I would like one that compares old math to new math and shows how ridiculous the most current math program is. Another one that compares whole language, reading message compared to phonics.
Ex-teacher 2 years ago
Back in my day, you were sick because your 4 humors were out of balance. Bring on the leeches!
RoseAnne Hutchence 2 years ago
Fact: everything (even now) supposedly a scientific "fact" is theoretical. Scientists think everyone gets it, but they (those scientists) forget to use the word "theoretically" when forming statements. A fine example is cooling the planet. It can, theoretically, be done (but no one knows for sure).
Thomas Brink 2 years ago
Beloit College had an annual list of this sort of thing, but discontinued it a while back. You might want to Google it.
Salty Wild Hair 2 years ago
So basically, college and the first five years of post college adulthood condensed down into a website?
Margaret H 2 years ago
Lord, at my age, they'd need a supercomputer to fit all the information that has been proven wrong!
Kerry Watson 2 years ago
The bombing of a US ship in the Gulf of Ton Kin was a lie by the US government to bring us into the Vietnam War.
Bob Dobbes 2 years ago
easy. No matter what year you put in: police and priests are there to look out for and protect you
Riley Quinn 2 years ago
I keep my apps to a minimum, but this one! What an excellent idea. Find an app designer for this idea.
crowspectre (he/they) 2 years ago
Wait what happened to Pythagoras? The theorem is still accurate right??
Load More Replies...
Christof Irran 2 years ago
Geosynclinal Theory would come up for me. And the textbooks in Inorganic Chemistry that I had to use in school are obsolete because of my sister's publications.
Michael Largey 2 years ago
There aren't enough servers in the world to handle the answer if it was me requesting it.
Pedantic Panda 2 years ago (edited)
But you will always be an ignorant fool.
Load More Replies...In the early 1980s, at the dawn of the age of the personal computer, people were afraid of the darn machines. 'Computerphobia' was spreading like wildfire. And the idea that one day we'd all be chronically obsessed with computers, in as much with the internet, seemed as ridiculous as having all tomes of Encyclopedia Britannica and much more at the tip of your finger.
Today, however, we'd be pretty much lost without going online. According to one study, more than half of Americans admit to learning most of what they know thanks to the internet. When the pandemic happened and we were all collectively locked inside our homes, God knows how bad things could have gotten if not for the ability to have online classrooms.
RELATED:
#2
Kathey ❤ What An Effort 🙄
"You can learn anything on the internet, so why do I so often learn things I don’t want to know?" Daniel T. Willingham, author of 'Outsmart Your Brain,' ponders in his article. It's a valid question, particularly when we consider just how much information we are constantly bombarded with.
According to the latest estimates, 328.77 million terabytes of data are pumped into the web each day. Of course, it's not clear how much of it is new information unseen on the net before. But considering that it takes around 5-6 hours (or two Avengers films) to read a single, unfiltered terabyte of data - and two more hours to stop your addicted fingers from scrolling friends' feeds on Insta - we're kind of happy there's r/interesting to filter out the most curious bits of it.
#3
A 106-Year-Old From The Philippines Is Vogue's Oldest Ever Cover Model
#4
Ain’t Stupid If It Works
#5
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar And Coach John Wooden. ‘’never Forget Who Helped You’’
#6
Just Look The Précision
In order to understand what makes this subreddit so appealing not only to us, curious pandas, but to the rest of its 250,000 daily visitors, Bored Panda reached out to the folks who run r/interesting. "One of the main challenges faced by the mods is people not being civil," u/Yell0w_Submarine, who joined the community's moderating team this March in order to help it grow, explained via message.
#7
This Sundial Shows The Time Digitally
#8
American Firefighters Extinguishing The Fire In Mexico Without Crossing The Border
#9
Green House, Made From Recycled Church Stained Glass Windows
Another problem arises from users who engage in spamming activities, like sharing links to malicious websites or repeatedly posting the same content across various communities to accumulate internet points known as 'karma.' "Making sure every comment is read can be a long task," they said.
#10
Tibetan White Yak - The Snow White Yak Is The Rarest Color Phase Of Yak In The World. In China And Tibet They Figure Their Numbers To Be Around 3% Of The Population, With The Vast Majority Of Those Residing In Tianzhu Tibet, There Almost All Of Their Yaks Are White!
#11
A Snow Leopard In Its Natural Habitat At Spiti Valley, India Appears Flawlessly Camouflaged, Effortlessly Blending Into The Surrounding Environment
#12
This Bonsai Tree Was Planted In 1625 And Has Lived Through A Lot Of History In It's 400 Years Of Existence. It Survived The Atomic Blast In Hiroshima On August 6, 1945 Even Though It Was Only Two Miles Away At That Time
As you might have guessed, occasionally there's someone who throws in a random Skittle into the bowl of M&Ms that is r/interesting posts. "We do get a lot of mildly interesting and not interesting/off-topic submissions," u/Yell0w_Submarine noted. "While it is subjective, in my opinion, the posts that are mostly approved are original, create a feeling of amazement and are just sometimes really cool. 'Mildly' interesting posts, meanwhile, can be coincidences or just do not elicit a sense of amazement."
#13
British Coins Make A Shield When Put Together
#14
Flathead Lake, The Clearest Water On Earth
#15
A Melanistic & Albino Alligator
It appears, then, that nature is a shared interest among members of r/interesting and Bored Panda readers. "Nature is one of the most popular types of content posted on this sub," they said. While it's been found that spending at least 120 minutes, or 2 hours, a week in nature is associated with good health and well-being, dedicating a similar amount of time to immersing ourselves in the captivating world of wildlife on our screens can't be all that detrimental, right?
#16
Bloody Australian Dawn
that weirdo in ur closet 2 years ago (edited)
red sky in the morning sailor's/shepard's warning (and btw i just put sailor coz i thought it was the correct one - i learnt both)
#17
110-Million-Year-Old Dinosaur Very Well Preserved Discovered Accidentally By Miners In Canada
#18
There’s A Very Tiny Muscle In The Forearms That Contracts Only When Lifting The Pinky Finger. Michelangelo’s Moses Sculpture Is Lifting The Pinky, Therefore That Muscle Is Contracted. Incredible Attention To Detail
But what exactly drives us to seek information which may not be necessary or actively sought after? There's no one simple explanation, Daniel Willingham, a Professor of Psychology at the University of Virginia and the author of 'Outsmart Your Brain,' explained to Bored Panda.
"Curiosity is a desire to gain more information," he said. "We expect ourselves to be curious about things that are either a topic that's interesting or have some utility for us in the long term." Apparently, neither of that is 100% true. Instead, Willingham argues that "curiosity seems to be to have a very short time scale it cares about."
#19
The Duck Is The Mother Of Fishes
#20
The Third Grade Teacher Teaches Science In A Full Body Suit!
Jessica Cifelli 2 years ago
You know there's probably some Karen parent that would complain though
#21
Bic Using The Same Pen Design Since 1955
Let's say, for example, that you're an ardent stamp collector and stumble upon a conversation where someone claims to possess intriguing insights about the World War II postage stamps that graced France. Your initial reaction? Nonchalance. Why? "You would not feel any curiosity exactly because you feel like you already know pretty much everything, even though it's of great interest to you," Willingham argued.
Now, let's flip the script. Imagine a scenario where someone, unaware of your stamp-collecting prowess, suggests sharing the very knowledge you hold dear. They entice you with the prospect of uncovering a treasure trove of information, as you stand on the precipice of ignorance. Curious, right?
Well, not quite, it turns out. "You wouldn't feel any curiosity [in the subject] because the information wouldn't feel meaningful to you," he explained. "In order for information to feel meaningful, you have to have something to connect it to."
#22
An Afghan Citizen Offering A Cup Of Tea To An U.S. Soldier On The Duty
#23
Found A House That Looks Like The One From "Up" In Vancouver, Canada
#24
112 Year-Old Vaccine Cards. And It Didn't Cause Society To Crumble As You Can See
According to Willingham, one of the most important ingredients for the sake of our curiosity is being surrounded by new juicy information that we're not particularly interested in already. It's this very notion that subreddits like r/interesting thrive upon, constantly offering users a stream of captivating tidbits. However, this is why traditional educational institutions often struggle to evoke a sense of curiosity in students.
"It's so difficult for teachers to make children feel curious about school content because some of them already know it. A lot of them don't know anything at all about it, so they can't connect with anything." Unlike the boundless realm of the internet, where we have the freedom to indulge our curiosity by delving deep into topics that pique our interest, the educational system presents a different reality.
In school, we are bound to follow a structured curriculum that encompasses a wide range of subjects. We don't have the luxury of cherry-picking only the areas that intrigue us. Instead, we must navigate the entire breadth of the curriculum.
#25
The Camera Caught The Light Reflecting Off The Water Droplets Of The Steam At The Right Angle To Make Magical Corn
#26
A Female Falcon Was Equipped With A Satellite Tracking System In South Africa Before Migrating To Finland. Image Shows Tracker Data. In Just 42 Days, She Flew Over 10.000 Km, At An Incredible Average Of 230 Km Per Day And Nearly In A Straight Line
#27
Thousands Of Years Ago, The Inuit And Yupik People Of Alaska And Northern Canada Carved Narrow Slits Into Ivory, Antler, And Wood To Create The World's First Snow Goggles. This Diminished Exposure To Direct And Reflected Ultraviolet Rays—thereby Reducing Eye Strain And Preventing Snow Blindness
With the advent of Google and the ability to access an infinite pool of information at our fingertips, the landscape of curiosity has undergone a profound transformation. "The expectation [nowadays] is that we should feel curious sort of all the time," Willingham said, noting that this perpetual state of curiosity can be both exhilarating and draining.
Recent statistics show that 1-in-5 Americans admit to feeling overloaded by information - a phenomenon that runs counter to the very essence of curiosity. "There should always be something that we're eager to learn about or at least enjoy. And if we're not, we don't see why we should be bored, right?"
#28
The Lens Flare In This Photo Looks Like Eric Cartman
#29
Friend Rehabilitated An Injured Chicken And Adopted It As A Pet. Chicken Got To Attend Friend's Wedding
#30
Topography Of USA - Pretty Cool
mysterious(all pronouns) 2 years ago
It's crazy seeing how tall the western U.S. is. I've been to the tallest natural point in Wisconsin, Tim's Hill, and it doesn't even compare to being in the mountains.
#31
A Shoe Worn By Allied Spies During World War II Has An Inverted Heel To Mislead The Germans When They Track Their Trail And Direct Them In A Completely Wrong Direction
#32
A 7000-6000 Year Old Burial Of A Young Woman (Aged Around 20 When She Died) And Her Newborn Baby From Vedbaek, Denmark. By Her Head Were 200 Red Deer Teeth, And The Child Is Cradled In The Wing Of A Swan With A Flint Knife At Its Hip. It’s Thought The Pair Died Together In Childbirth
#33
This Table
#34
President Obama Sitting For The Very First Ever 3D Presidential Portrait
#35
Sloth Elephant Tunnel.these Tunnels Were Dug By A Giant Ground Sloth That Lived 10.000 Years Ago In Brazil
#36
First Lamb Grown In An Artificial Womb
#37
Taking Art To A New Level
#38
Meteora, Greece
#39
“Gee’s Golden Langur” Currently Very Endangered. Expressions Are So Human
#40
Weighing Over 400 Pounds, This Is The Heart Of A Blue Whale, The Largest Animal That Has Ever Lived
#41
Penguin Feathers
#42
Alexander The Great 330 Bc, Facial Reconstruction From His Marble Bust
Premislaus de Colo 2 years ago
Wow, they reconstructed heterochromy from a marble bust... Impressive, lol
#43
What The Pyramid Of Khafre Looked Like 4,500 Years Ago Compared To Today. The Pyramids Of Giza Were Originally Covered With Highly Polished White Limestones, With The Capstones At The Peak Being Covered In Gold
#44
Alpine Refuge From World War I Located At 2760 Meters, Monte Cristallo, Italy
#45
In The 1940s, Men Dressed In Short Shorts And Cowboy Boots Served Up Women At A Drive Through Across The Street From Love Field In Dallas, Tx
#46
Most People Just See The Man With A Giant Head On His Knee, And Cannot See The Baby
#47
"I See You Have Made 3 Spelling Mistakes". Last Words Of The Marquis De Favras After Reading His Death Sentence Before Being Hanged (1790)
#48
Garter Snakes Coming Out Of Hibernation And Into A Tens Of Thousands Strong Mating Ball In Southern Manitoba, Canada
#49
Disney Tried To Be Creative With Marketing Back In The Day
#50
This Dentist Has A Free Soda Machine, And Coffee In The Lobby
#51
World’s Largest Single Firework Shell
#52
Amazingly, Real Molecules Look Just Like High-School Textbook Drawings
#53
Tree Burning From Inside After Lightning Strikes
#54
This Very Old Penny My Mom Got As Change Today
#55
Scientists Have Successfully Reanimated Cells From A Woolly Mammoth 28,000 Years Old
#56
The Heritage Of Louisiana
#57
This Is Not Interesting But, My 10 Year Old Sent Me This Picture Of A Long Chip She Found While Eating Them
#58
A Tracked Motorcycle From 1939
#59
Head Coverings Worn By Muslim Women
Barbra E. Nyberg 2 years ago
Once saw 2 Muslim women get out of an suv at a gas station. One was in full burka. The other was wearing 2 inch heel black leather boots, black jeans, black leather jacket, and black hijab. Both were covered, but one had totally americanized her look.
#60
Talented Modeler Makes Miniature Dumpster
#61
Spider Infestation, In A Field Near My Home, England
#62
European Arizona Fruit Punch (Left) vs. Us Arizona Fruit Punch (Right)
#63
A Part Of The Human Population Can Voluntarily Control The Tensor Tympani
tensor tympani is a muscle within the ear. Contracting this muscle produces vibration and sound. The sound is usually described as a rumbling sound.
#64
My High School Was Designed By A Guy Who Designs Prisons
#65
Broken Ice Tray + Forgetting To Switch Ice Making Off = Wonderful Surprise
#66
My Great Great Great Grandfather’s Grocery Bill From 1909
#67
LED Infinity Mirror
#68
My Phone Was Stolen In London On October 30th. I Just Got A Message That It Was Phone Was Turned On. It's In Dubai Now
#69
The Woman Who Went Viral After Preaching Against Monster Energy Drinks Is Still Fighting The Good Fight!
Gaming Chicken 2 years ago
Monster energy is terrible. They keep pushing out lawsuits. They even tried to sue pokemon for using monster. And because of them gods and Monster had to change their name to immortal fynex rising.
#70
The Biggest Hotel In The World Is In Saudi Arabia. It Has 10,000 Rooms, 4 Helipads And It Can Accomodate 30,000 Guest!!!
#71
A Parasite Called Cymothoa Exigua. It Enters Through A Fish's Gills, Eat Their Tongue, And Then Replaces It
#72
The Cost Of A Home In The Bronx NY vs. The Cost Of A Home In Niagara Falls, NY
#73
Just Got This. Anybody Else In Ca Get This?
jacqueline 2 years ago
Oh you would love it in SA, we have daily loadshedding, where they switch the power off for up to 6 hours a day ...its great
#74
On October 12th, 1960, 17-Year-Old Otoya Yamaguchi Assassinated Socialist Politician Inejiro Asanuma With A Sword During A Speech In Tokyo
#75
Can Anyone Tell Me Why?
PandaGoPanda 2 years ago
Yes, the stairs were built first and then they needed to add a wheelchair ramp which reduced the space available for the stairs, and it was cheaper to just make the new handrail further along than remove the end portion of the steps.
#76
Here In Vietnam We Learn How To Assemble Aks In High School
Arthur Waite 2 years ago
I learned the Bren gun in high-school. Toronto, 1962. We had a group of .22-converted Enfield rifles for target practice and learning military exercises. No harm done.
#77
This Image Of A Us Map Appeared On The Cover Of The February 10, 1916, Cover Of Life Magazine, A Year Before The Us Declaration Of War
#78
I Got A 2017, $2 Bill In My Tips!
General Anaesthesia 2 years ago
A 2017 $2 bill is worth about $2.00. "The common misconception that the $2 note is no longer being produced also remains, though $2 notes have been printed since 1862, except for a 10-year hiatus between 1966 and 1976. The U.S. Treasury reports that $1,549,052,714 worth of $2 bills were in circulation worldwide as of April 30, 2007 - Wikipedia Note: 3 billion dollars worth of $2-bills in circulation in 2022 according to the Federal Reserve.
#79
My Brother Took A Picture At The Exact Same Place As This 100+ Year Old Painting, And Almost Nothing Changed Since Then
Add New Image
Explore more of these tags
What do you think ?
You May Like 60 Interesting Facts That Are Better Than Watching The News If You’re Hungry For New Knowledge, These 50 Facts Might Satisfy Your Appetite 46 People Share Mildly Disturbing Facts You May Have Never Heard Before
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Rugilė Žemaitytė
Ilona Baliūnaitė
Related on Bored Panda
