40 New ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Learn Something New
Knowledge is power, and we’re about to raise all of you Pandas’ power levels through the roof. It’s time for the freshest edition of ‘Today I Learned,’ featuring the tastiest, most intriguing facts about the world, science, and history from the super popular subreddit.
With over 27.8 million members and continually growing, the TIL community is a celebration of curiosity, intelligence, and the desire to learn something new every single day. Scroll down for the coolest, most interesting facts that stunned the internet, piping hot from the digital oven.
Pssst, if you’re still hungry for knowledge (or you’re secretly a Ravenclaw like some of us), you should definitely take a peek at Bored Panda’s most recent articles about the TIL community right here, here, and here. Got any cool trivia tidbits you’d love to share with the class? Pop by the comment section to share what you know.
Bored Panda got in touch with parenting blogger Samantha Scroggin, a mom of two and the founder of 'Walking Outside in Slippers,' and we had a chat about how parents can help maintain a sense of wonder and curiosity in their kids as they grow up. It's also no secret that kids aren't really interested in doing schoolwork on topics they find 'boring,' so we also talked about what parents can do in those cases. Scroll down for our full interview with Samantha.
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TIL the Masai Tribe in Africa donated 14 cows to the United States after 9/11
"I believe by staying curious and enthusiastic about the world ourselves, we will help our kids be openly curious and enthusiastic," blogger Samantha, from 'Walking Outside in Slippers,' told Bored Panda.
"When we visit museums as a family, for example, I always ask lots of questions and my children do the same. When we travel, my husband and I demonstrate excitement for the new sights, experiences and even food. This is an amazing world, and I want my children to always appreciate that," she said.
Bored Panda wanted to get Samantha's take on how some parents could approach their kids' disinterest in certain school subjects. "I figure my kids won't love every assignment at school. That's just how it goes. I still loathe math. But I try to help them power through school homework assignments they don't want to do," she shared with us.
TIL Scientists at the Parkes radio telescope in Australia spent 17 years trying to identify powerful but extremely short radio bursts that would appear at seemingly random intervals. In 2015 they finally identified the cause: a microwave oven at the facility being opened prematurely
TIL: Bats eat enough insects to save the US over $1 Billion a year in crop damage and pesticide
"I will sit with them and we go through it together in case they have questions. If they hate the task, there's a good chance that's because it doesn't come easy to them (like me with math!). And there will definitely be a special sweet treat of their choice at the end," she revealed some of the strategies that she uses.
The mom also opened up about the homework situation in her family. "My daughter who is 6 has much more regular homework than my son who is 10. Most of her homework is on a tablet, though, which makes it easier to knock out. I make sure she completes her assignments, but fortunately she has gotten pretty independent about doing the homework herself," she said.
"My son's teacher usually only assigned homework if there was something he didn't finish in school. Which I am grateful for because I hate homework!"
TIL in 1999, Danish physicist Lene Hau was able to slow down light to 38 mph (61 kmph), and was later able to stop it completely, manipulate it, even move it to a different location
TIL about Secessio Plebis which was a form of revolt first introduced in ancient Rome. When the ruling class of Rome would become too corrupt or unjust to the commoners, the commoners would band together, evacuate the entire city and leave the elites to fend for themselves
So what does a modern version of this look like? Asking for 330 million friends.
TIL that in the operatic song in The Fifth Element, composer Eric Sierra "purposely wrote un-singable things" so she’d sound like an alien. When opera singer Inva Muls came for the part, "she sang 85% of what [Eric] thought was technically impossible", the rest being assembled in the studio
The TIL community has been a powerhouse since its founding in late December of 2008. It has a very high bar on quality, and demands that people post verified information, backed up by sources. If it’s iffy, it’ll get weeded out by the moderators and the community. Reputable sources are king, as far as the ‘Today I Learned’ sub is involved.
However, underneath all the fact-checking lies something even more important—the desire to learn, no matter how young or old the person might be. TIL is all about sparking curiosity in people, helping educate them, and proving that the world is far more complex, bizarre, and interesting than we tend to give it credit for in our day-to-day lives.
Recently, Alan Castel, Ph.D., a UCLA psychology professor and the author of 'Better with Age: The Psychology of Successful Aging,' spoke to Bored Panda about people’s curiosity, cognition, and how to maintain the sharpness of our minds as we age.
"Our awareness of our own cognitive ability and knowledge is called metacognition. Often as we get older, we are more aware of what we know, what we don’t know, and also what we are most interested in. I think being selective can be important so that we can focus on remembering and being curious about what interests us," he told us.
TIL that 26 of the 36 missing children featured in the original music videos for Soul Asylum's Runaway Train have been found. Most recently, the remains of Aundria Bowman were identified in 2020, 31 years after she was reported missing
TIL A Canadian makeup developer helped Crayola create "Colors of the World" crayons that are meant to accurately reflect human skin tones. He pared down the 40 shades he had created for Cover FX to 24 distinct colors that kids can use to draw themselves
TIL to collect taxes, Christian IV of Denmark asked captains of ships crossing the Øresund to estimate the value of their cargo, which was applied as the tax base without further audit. But the king also claimed the right to buy the entire cargo at exactly that price
"Also, having some sense of awe is also associated with curiosity, happiness, and life satisfaction, while also making us care more about others and the world in general. I think metacognition and awe can make us more curious about the things that are important to us, especially as we get older," the professor shared with Bored Panda that a sense of awe can, in fact, make us happier.
"Research shows that physical exercise such as walking can improve brain function and memory, and being socially connected has widespread benefits for the brain," he noted that moving lots and having an active social life helps our minds.
"Thus, it is likely a combination of things that keep us sharp, such as being physically active, talking to people, reading, being connected, and remaining curious about things that are important."
TIL the iconic Einstein-sticking-his-tongue-out photo was his annoyed reaction to paparazzi goading him to smile on his 72nd birthday. It achieved cult status mostly because Einstein himself asked for a cropped version, ordered many prints and proceeded to send them to friends
TIL figure skating competitions in the 1800s involved the act of skating pictures into the ice. This required precision and wasn't as fast-paced as modern figure skating
TIL Joseph Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile after his son died of appendicitis when a blizzard prevented him from getting him to a hospital in time
TIL about Jean Boulet who in 1972 set the world record for the highest altitude reached in a helicopter, 40,280ft. During descent his engines failed, and he landed the helicopter without power, setting another record in the process for the highest unpowered helicopter landing
TIL that on the entire 4300 mile length of the Amazon river there are no bridges
TIL about unisexual mole salamanders which are an all-female complex of salamanders that 'steal' sperm from up to five different species of salamanders in the genus Ambystoma and recombine it to produce female hybrid offspring. This method of reproduction is called kleptogenesis
TIL that American ice cream company Häagen-Dazs sued American ice cream company Frusen Glädjé to stop them from using a "Scandinavian marketing theme". The court ruled against Häagen-Dazs as they had also marketed themselves as Scandinavian without having any real connection to the region
TIL the 7 year rule for dog aging is incorrect - compared to humans, dogs age faster when young and slower as they age
TIL after the TV show Teletubbies ended, the owner of the land used had to dig out the hill and flood the field it was filmed in, due to the amount of people trespassing to see Teletubbieland
TIL Florence Nightingale was not only a nurse but a statistician who created one of the first pie charts and authored 150 books, pamphlets and reports
TIL that a suicidal teen from the UK used several fake online personas to convince his best mate to kill him, he survived the attack but became the first person in UK history to be charged with inciting their own murder
TIL that the Feeling of "impending doom" is an official symptom of a Wrong blood type Transfusion. (ABO incompatibility)
TIL that a fire destroyed most of Harvard Library’s collection in 1764. Only a small number of books were spared, including 144 that were checked out at the time. One of these books was found and returned in 1997
TIL that the first commercial airliner shot down by hostile forces was refurbished, returned to service, and later became the third commercial airliner to be shot down by hostile forces
TIL The London Underground has its own subspecies of mosquito that lives exclusively in the stations and tunnels
TIL Mr. T's trademark gold neck chains and jewelry was the result of customers losing the items or leaving them after a fight at the nightclub where Mr T. worked as a bouncer. A banned customer could return to claim his property from Mr. T wearing it conspicuously right out front
TIL there's a gene that controls how long you sleep. "Short sleepers" function the same off of 4-6 hours of sleep as a typical individual getting 8
TIL the last king of Egypt, Faud II, is still alive and ascended to the throne when he was just 192 days old. He was deposed a year later after his father was exiled and Egypt declared a republic
TIL about Alexis St. Martin who, after not properly healing after being shot in the stomach, was used in experiments for 12 years as doctors could view his digestion in real time through his wound. He lived another 58 years
TIL Frank Dixon, author of the Hardy Boys books and Carolyn Keene author of the Nancy Drew Series don't exist. They are actually pseudonyms for a variety of writers who wrote those stories
And K.A.Applegate, author of the "Animorphs" series, was actually two people - Katherine Applegate and her husband Michael Grant. Grant went on to write the "Gone" series, which I cannot recommend enough.
Also around 12 ghostwriters, who wrote 26 of the books between 25 and 52 + the 2 alternamorphs based upon Katherine and Grant's outlines. May be in the middle of reading Animorphs after the announcement of early development of a film.
Load More Replies... I grew up reading Nancy drew, and you can tell by the style of writing from each book or set of books that they are not written by the same person.
I was thinking that this answers a lot of questions. I was obsessed with Nancy Drew when I was a preteen. I always wondered why the writing style changed so much.
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“And don’t forget about Tom Swift, Tom Swift Jr, the Bobbsey Twins, The Rover Boys, The Happy Hollisters and over 100 other series”, said Tom mindfully.
"I loved the Bobbsey twins!" replied Bambi. "I had completely forgotten about them. Does anyone else remember the Trixie Belden series? I used to scour flea markets and book exchanges for those. Although, my absolute favourites were the Willard Price Adventure series about Hal and Roger, going all over the world to collect animals for zoos and reserves."
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My late father would refer to the characters as "The Nancy Boys" and "Hardy Drew".
love nancy drew, knew carolyn keen wasn’t real, but i didn’t know that she was multiple people. my world is shook.
TIL that the Animals broke up because, while touring in Japan in 1968, their manager was kidnapped by the tour promoters, who were Yakuza, and put him up for ransom. After the manager escaped, the band was forced to flee the country or be killed by the Yakuza, leaving all of their tour gear behind
TIL amidst early concerns about leaded gas, the engineer who discovered tetraethyllead as an additive demonstrated its 'safety' by pouring it over his hands and inhaling its vapor, stating he could do this every day without issue. He later took a leave of absence due to lead poisoning
TIL About "Judas goats", which are trained to associate with herds and gain their trust so that other animals follow them - to a slaughter. The Judas goat is rewarded by not being killed, and used to lead other herds to the same fate
TIL that when deaf people experience stroke-related brain damage, they often lose the ability to sign in remarkably similar ways to the different forms of linguistic aphasia (difficulty speaking, forming words, sentences being nonsensical)
TIL Alexander Fleming's mold that produced the first antibiotic, penicillin, was kept frozen since 1945 and its genomes are used for regrowing nowadays
All modern commercial penicillin comes from a mould found on the skin of a cantaloupe in a market near a research facility in Peoria, Illinois in 1946, not from Fleming's mould.
TIL that a Wall Street restaurant, The Exchange Buffet, operated on the honour system, where customers would tally their own bills. It ran successfully from 1885 to 1963
TIL the energy released by turning just one kilogram of hydrogen into helium is the same as burning 20,000 metric tons of coal. The sun is doing this constantly through nuclear fusion
And to put the sun into perspective: The sun fuses 600 million tons of Hydrogen to 596 of Helium every second. The difference of 4mio tons is the radiation generated
TIL The national anthem of Italy mentiones Poland and the national anthem of Poland mentions Italy, both in a positive way
TIL about Kriegspiel, a chess variant where each player can see their own pieces, but not those of their opponent. Players attempt to move on their turns, and the umpire declares their attempts 'legal' or 'illegal'. If the move is illegal, the player tries again; if it is legal, that move stands
TIL Weird Al's biggest problem with services that illegally distributed his music was that they would misattribute songs to him. Al was especially annoyed by profane songs like, "Baby Got Jack” or “Ugly Girl”
TIL Bach wrote the Brandenburg Concertos in 1721 as part of a job application to the Margrave, which he never received a reply. The concertos were unpublished until 1850 and almost lost again during WWII
there is a new action movie being made about famous composers it will have Arnold Schwarzenegger Jean Claude Van Dam and Jason Statham when they met to discuss it Jason Statham said ill be Beethoven Van Dam said ill be Mozart and Arnie said ill be Bach
TIL Martha Gellhorn was the only woman to land on the Normandy beaches (alongside 150,000 men). She was a journalist but her request to come along had been denied, so she stowed away in a toilet and then disguised herself as a stretcher bearer
TIL When AIDS patient Steve Pieterson was interviewed by Tammy Faye Baker on her program House Party With Tammy Faye he had a prognosis of approximately 6 months to live having been diagnosed in 1982. He's still alive today
TIL that in 1970, a US Navy attack cargo ship accidentally hit the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel, putting the bridge out of commission. For the next three weeks while it was repaired, the Navy offered commuters a free shuttle service using helicopters and Landing Craft Units
TIL that when Abraham Lincoln took off his Stovepipe Hat to give his first Inaugural Address, he awkwardly looked around for a place to put it. The losing Presidential Candidate, Democrat Stephen A. Douglas, stepped forward, said “Permit me,” and took the hat to hold on his knee during the address
TIL the first McDonalds Drive Thru was made for soldiers, who were unable to leave their vehicle while in uniform
TIL about Sigurd Eysteinsson's unusual death. Sigurd had his enemies' heads strapped to his victorious men's saddles as trophies, but as Sigurd rode home, Máel Brigte's buck-tooth scratched his leg. The leg became inflamed and infected, and as a result Sigurd died
TIL that some male octopuses set up dens next to female octopus dens and have sex without leaving the den by extending the mating arm from one den to another. They copulate repeatedly
TIL a study with 30,899 participants found no link between vitamin supplements and longer lifespans
TIL that when Vincent Price agreed to do the voice work for Thriller he was given a choice between taking a percentage of the album proceeds or being paid a flat $20K. He chose the $20K
He explained why in an interview with Johnny Carson : he was a well established actor, and didn't really need the extra money.
TIL that on the atoll of Pinglelap, 10% of the population is affected by total colorblindness, with another 30% being unaffected carriers of the gene. This is due to a population bottleneck caused by a typhoon in 1775 that left 20 survivors on the atoll. One carried the colorblindness gene
TIL after he was fired from his job as embassador, tortured and banished to his farm estate, N.Machiavelli would return home at night, change the dirty clothes he wore for field work and put on his ambassador outfit, just to study in his office, alone, due to how much he missed his job
TIL that Harambe’s mother, only full brother, and two of his half siblings were killed when a tub of wet chlorine tablets was left by a space heater. The toxic fumes were blown into the gorilla enclosure and killed the four gorillas
TIL There are over 350 recognized pasta types in Italy today, but in the 13th century, there were 4 main types: spaghetti, ravioli, macaroni and gnocchi
TIL in 2013 John Malkovich assisted a man who had tripped and slit his throat on a piece of scaffolding. The man credits the pressure Malkovich applied on his neck with saving his life
TIL in France it is illegal to disinherit one’s children, meaning that a particular share of the deceased’s estate is legally required to be kept for their children
Yes and no. If you have something to leave to your children, you can't disinherit one in favor of the other or give everything to a separate entity. You can, however, decide to spend it all during your life. There are very famous cases of families trying to stop their patriarch/matriarch from spending it all and taking them to court over expenses.
TIL Spitfire planes were "crowdfunded" in some cases in World War II. Large scale contributors were allowed to give the plane a nickname which was printed on the side. For example, ‘Dorothy of Great Britain and Empire’ was named by a group of women, all with the name 'Dorothy'
That is type of kickstarter I would back for sure. And for sure I hope I will never have to.
TIL CCR's 'Have You Ever Seen the Rain?' is about the fact the band wildly exceeded all of their expectations, were rich, famous and hugely successful. Despite all this they were all miserable, angry, depressed and constantly fighting each other for control of the band. They broke up soon after
TIL the classic cartoon image of a beehive looks so different from the real thing because it's based on an ancient manmade hive called a skep
In some parts of the world skeps are still very much in use. In other places, skeps are used to contain and transport swarms.
TIL that in 1889 the US Congress created a committee with two members known as the "Committee on Disposition of Useless Executive Papers." Its job was to discard papers both members agreed weren't important and report why they weren't important. This later was replaced by the National Archives
TIL that when "Jaws" was filmed, Steven Spielberg initially wanted to build a giant mechanical shark for realism, but its constant malfunctioning proved to be a budgeting nightmare, so he came up with the cheaper solution of shooting from the shark's POV in the waters instead
TIL that Pop Rocks, Tang, and Cool Whip were all invented by one person, Dr. William A. Mitchell
TIL about the Epley maneuver, a simple and effective treatment for vertigo which involves a sequence of head movements. Doctor John Epley had a hard time convincing other doctors that it was effective despite the ease of application and proven efficacy
TIL that the official Hitler sent to coerce fascist Spain into joining the Axis in WWII was secretly opposed to Nazism. Unsurprisingly, he did not convince Spain to join the war. After the war, the Spanish government gave his widow a pension in gratitude
The non-participation and anti-communism of the fransquist government allowed it to continue with the support of the US government and indifference of other european countries until 1973.
TIL that in 2019, a man from Gujarat, India, bit a snake after the snake had bitten him. Both he and the snake died
TIL The American Civil War not only killed nearly 1 million soliders, it also had many addicted to morphine. Coca-Cola was introduced to try to help them overcome their addiction
TIL When Mozart stopped by Linz on his way back to Vienna, he found out the local count wanted him to contribute a symphony for an upcoming concert. Mozart was not expecting it and had no music with him, so he ended up having to write a symphony in merely 4 days
TIL about Cotard’s Syndrome, also known as “walking corpse syndrome,” a rare mental disorder in which one has delusional beliefs ranging from believing that they are dead, do not exist, or have lost their internal organs/blood/souls. Many even believe they’re immortal and can’t die a natural death
TIL that Potassium's main role in the body is to help maintain normal levels of fluid inside our cells. Sodium, its counterpart, maintains normal fluid levels outside of cells. Potassium also helps muscles to contract and supports normal blood pressure
TIL that ancient civilizations developed iron tools well before the Iron Age by finding meteorites made of iron and nickel that didn’t require smelting
All prehistoric iron objects on Greenland were made from meteoric iron.
TIL of the high % of NASA astronauts that were Boy Scouts. Of the 312 selected as astronauts, at least 207 have been active in scouting. Of the 24 to travel to the moon, 20 were scouts, including 11 of the 12 moonwalkers, and all three members of the crew of Apollo 13
I guess the answer lies in sociology. Most of them come from the same kind of social/economic/educationnal background where scouting is a common activity for boys.
TIL "the 8,000 nerve endings in the clitoris" came from a single study of cows, back in the 1970s
TIL in 1955, actor Ray Liotta was adopted from an orphanage at the age of six months. He hired a private detective to locate his biological mother in the 2000s, and learned that he had one biological sister, one biological half-brother, and five biological half-sisters
TIL of Folkracing, a form of rallycross racing originating in Finland. There is cost cap on the cars of €1,500, to make sure nobody gets an unfair advantage by spending more on their car, anyone can buy the car for €1,500. If the owner refuses to sell their competition license can be revoked
They should do that in auto racing today! (Adjusted slight upward though.)
TIL Candido Jacuzzi invented the Jacuzzi to help his son's Juvenile Rheumatoid Arthritis. His son contracted arthritis after strep throat, which caused continuous joint pain. He created the J-300 portable water pump for a bath at their house since the boy benefited from hydrotherapy
TIL that Flo Rida tests his upcoming songs at strip clubs first to check if girls are dancing to it before releasing them
TIL that possums don’t “play dead”, they actually pass out due to fear of predators. They go into shock and faint when confronted, involuntarily. They are in a catatonic state until they become conscious again
TIL Madagascar was settled by a small population of no more than 30 women. These 30 women are the ancestors of all native Malagasy today
TIL in 1967, hundreds of Singaporean men panicked that their penises were disappearing into their abdomen. They were actually fine but had succumbed to a culture-bound delusion disorder known as koro, which means turtle (as in a turtle’s head retracting into its shell)
TIL that Napster issued a cease and desist order to the band The Offspring to stop them selling bootleg merchandise imprinted with the Napster logo
TIL the North American Gray Squirrel is considered an invasive species in Britain as the squirrels carry a squirrel pox that is deadly for the Red Squirrels native to Britain. The Gray Squirrel also eats seven times as much food as the Red Squirrels, crowding out any who survive the squirrel pox
Recently found out way way back reds were considered vermin, and local authorities would pay people for the tails from dead reds. This caused a huge ecological issues and so grays were brought in in an attempt to reestablish a healthy wild population and reverse the effects of the mass culling of the reds.
TIL in 2007 a Tombstone with the inscription "you will always be remembered, never forgotten", was left behind by a passenger at Dublin airport, subsequently ending up in lost property
TIL in 2010, members of the Los Zetas cartel demanded 77-year old Alejo Garza Tamez ("Don Alejo") to hand over his ranch. When they arrived the next day, Alejo opened fire and had a gun battle for hours and was able to kill four and wound two others before dying
TIL that Julie Andrews was snubbed for the starring role in the film My Fair Lady, yet took home the Oscar for the same year for Mary Poppins, while Audrey Hepburn wasn’t nominated
Audrey Hepburn was dubbed by Marnie Nixon who was one of the nuns in the sound of music.
TIL For production of 'The Bellboy ' (1960) Jerry Lewis was actor and director, so he invented a system of multiple cameras and monitors enabling him to act, review the performance, and reshoot immediately. Lewis received the Golden Light Technical Achievement award for the invention
TIL After Apollo astronaut Al Worden left NASA, he moved to San Francisco, grew out his hair, and became a quasi-hippie. Worden was also a frequent guest on Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, telling children what it was like to be an astronaut
Tried really hard to find a photo of him with longer than standard male cut of the era. Couldn't
TIL actor Peter Sellers accidentally saw The Producers. He then demanded it get a wide release and took out full-page ads telling everybody to see it
TIL that in Haitian rural folklore, there are actually two kinds of zombies: the more widely known corporeal zombie, which is missing its spirit, and the "zombie astral," which is missing its body
TIL one of the original dwarves in Disney’s Snow White was named “Deafy” whose primary trait was misunderstanding others. This idea was later jettisoned in favor of “Sneezy”
TIL that the US army awarded 20 Medals of Honor, the highest and most prestigious military decoration, to soldiers for their actions at the Wounded Knee Massacre. Many of those killed by US troops during the massacre were unarmed women and children
TIL D-Day was originally supposed to happen on 5th June but meteorologist James Stagg persuaded Dwight Eisenhower to postpone by a day right at the last minute. The weather conditions had to be just right for the landings and planners took the tide, wind speed and even the moon cycle into account
By 'moon cycle' you mean the tides. So they took the tides into account for a beach landing. No feckin' sh@t Sherlock. Overly complicated language only impresses idiots.
TIL in Asia, honeybees smear their hive entrances with animal poop to ward off Murder Hornets. One of the few observable times insects have used tools
TIL an earthquake occurred during the construction of the Golden Gate Bridge with a dozen workers trapped on top of one of the towers swaying 16 feet back and forth, while coworkers were throwing up on the deck
TIL the convention of naming a dog "Fido" was popularized by Abraham Lincoln. "Fido" means "faithful" and it's use as a dog's name dates back to the ancient Romans
TIL that a 1982 Harvard study confirmed that Tibetan monks can raise their body temperature with their minds. Practitioners of "g-tummo" yoga demonstrated the ability to raise the temperature of different parts of their bodies through meditation alone
"The authors reported that three g-tummo meditators showed a dramatic increase of up to 8.3°C in peripheral body temperature (fingers and toes), more modest skin temperature increases of 1.9°C in the navel and lumbar regions, and no increase in rectal temperature.Mar 29, 2013"
TIL that in 1830, an attempt was made to steal the skull from the remains of American president George Washington, which resided in a tomb at Mount Vernon. However, the thief mistakenly stole the skull of Supreme Court Justice Bushrod Washington, who also happened to be the former Washingtons Nephew
TIL the fictional tequila Zafiro Añejo in Breaking Bad/BCS was created by the writers because they couldn’t get a real brand to do product placement due to a scene where several people die after drinking it
TIL Peter Laird, creator of TMNT, hated the 5th turtle Venus de Milo, from the short lived The Next Mutation, so much that she's not allowed to even be mentioned or joked about around him
TIL McDonald's character Grimace was originally introduced as "Evil Grimace", who had four arms and would steal milkshakes
TIL that Ray Liotta was not in fact Italian--he had been adopted as an infant by an Italian man and his wife, but when he met his birth mother, in his 40s, he discovered he was actually of Scottish origin
TIL: Hollywood legend Shirley MacLaine played baseball on an all-boys team (1940s), holding the record for most home runs, which earned her the nickname "Powerhouse"
TIL in 2000, an art exhibition in Denmark featured ten functional blenders containing live goldfish. Visitors were given the option of pressing the “on” button. At least one visitor did, killing two goldfish. This led to the museum director being charged with and, later, acquitted of animal cruelty
TIL about Bradford Bishop, who allegedly killed his wife, mother and three sons in 1976. Bishop was only removed from the FBI's Top Ten Most Wanted List in 2018, due to his advanced age, and is still being pursued by the FBI, as there have been sightings of Bishop across Europe for 40 years
He was a highly educated diplomat who spoke 5 languages. It would unfortunately, be very easy for him to assimilate into Europe
TIL After Neil Armstrong's death, his sons put hundreds of items they inherited from their parents on auction, pulling in $14.69 million. Neil Armstrong owned pieces of fabric from Wright Flyer, and Apollo 11 gold medal that sold for $2.04 million
TIL that baby formula dates back to 1865 and became more popular due to a decline in wet nursing and upon rising concerns with infant deaths due to dry nursing
TIL That Smedley Butler was one of the most decorated Marines with 2 Medals of Honor. He served 33 years & became an anti war advocate. He wrote "War is a Racket" about war profiteering. He said "the best he[Al Capone] could do was to operate his racket in 3 districts. I operated on 3 continents."
TIL Ted Kaczynski(the Unabomber) put his 8 life sentences as "awards of recognition" at his Harvard University 50 year reunion
TIL Stephen Spielberg acquired the rights to the Shrek! book in 1991, planning to make it into a 2D animated movie starring Dan Akroyd as Shrek and Chris Rock as Donkey. However, Dreamworks acquired the rights and created the Shrek movie we know
Stephen Spielberg co-founded dreamworks. https://dreamworks.fandom.com/wiki/Steven_Spielberg
TIL During Julius Caesar's siege of a Gallic fort, the Romans dug tunnels under the spring that served as the fort's water supply. The defenders, believing that the spring drying up was a sign from the gods, surrendered. Caesar spared their lives, but had their hands cut off
TIL in the 1800s, the country now known as Vietnam asked the Qing dynasty to change their name to "Nam Việt". The dynasty said no, and changed their name to "Việt Nam" instead
TIL Dr Seuss studied English at the University of Oxford, with a plan to eventually become a professor there but dropped out when he realized drawing was his only passion. He moved back to the US to become a cartoonist
TIL about Operation ABSCAM, which was a FBI sting operation carried out in 1980 to trap corrupt politicians. Which included a senator and six congressmen
TIL earthworms are unable to drown like a human would, and they can even survive several days fully submerged in water. They breathe through their skin and can handle water as easily as air
TIL that Captain Smith of the Titanic disaster (15 April 1912) was the Captain of the Olympic when she collided with a warship (20 Sep 1911). Olympic was the sister ship of Titanic and the repairs from the collision, back in Belfast, actually delayed Titanic’s maiden voyage from 20 March to 10 April
TIL a modern Formula 1 car costs over $20 Million to build, with almost 90% of the cost being the engine
TIL that during the Vietnam war, soldiers built "gun trucks" on their own to defend supply convoys. These 5-ton behemoths were heavily armored, DEADLY (.50 cal machine guns and mini guns!) and even had names like Brutus, Eve of Destruction, King Kong, Ace of Spades, and The Untouchable
TIL The largest structure in the universe is the Hercules–Corona Borealis Great Wall (10 billion light years) it would take light 72.4% of the time which has elapsed since the big bang to traverse this structure
TIL that Rod Stewart had such terrible stage fright during his first concert in America that he hid behind the amplifiers while singing. It took a shot of brandy to get him out. Decades later, he set the record for playing at the largest free rock concert in history, in front of 3.5 million people
I saw Rod on his first American tour. Showed no signs of stage fright, but the air in the small arena where he played was so thick, even the cops got stoned. I paid $3.50 to see him.
TIL a broken Tamil bell was used as a pot to boil potatoes by Māori for generations in pre-contact New Zealand. It is unknown how the bell got to New Zealand
TIL that Orcas can take down Blue Whales. The first time humans documented orcas, or killer whales, successfully hunting and eating an endangered blue whale, the largest animal that's ever lived, was in March 2019, when a large pod attacked, suffocated, killed an adult Blue Whale, caught on photo
TIL Ted Turner created his own alternative to the Olympics, the Goodwill Games, and Turner believed international sporting competitions would prevent future wars. The Games lasted from 1986 to 2001 and featured the first major international beach volleyball event
TIl Las Vegas grew 780,000 people since 2002 but water usage dropped by 24 billion gallons anually in 2020 and Nevada's allotment of water from Lake Mead is only 4% of the total inflow
TIL that when a bridge over the river Danube in Vienna collapsed in 1976 a bus fell into the river and the driver could rescue himself. The bus was salvaged, repaired, and continued to be in service until 1989. It's now on display at a local transport museum.
TIL Christopher Lee Rios, better known as rapper Big Pun, weighed nearly 700 lbs when he died at the age of 28
TIL The Harlem Globetrotters had one officially recognized loss in 1971 and other rumored losses in the 1950's that aren't recognized
TIL that in order to quickly identify the training of their mules in a herd, the US Army shaved bells into the tail. One bell meant the animal could pack, two meant it could pack & drive, and three meant it was also broke to ride
TIL because Pillsbury forced "The Great British Bake Off" to be called "The Great British Baking Show" in the US, a lot of creative editing had to be done to obscure the logo in the show, including using computer-assisted VFX to change the text on the trophy
TIL despite sharing more than 200 miles of border with Wisconsin and only sharing a bridge with Michigan, the Upper Peninsula is part of Michigan (not Wisconsin) because of a fight with Ohio
