People Are Sharing Uncommon Facts On ‘Today I Learned’, Here Are 40 Of The Most Interesting (New Pics)
You deserve to do something nice for yourselves today, pandas. That might include taking a long, hot bath, doing some relaxing yoga or even exercising your brain by learning something new. And if you don’t have time for a bath or a yoga mat on hand at the moment, why not take ten minutes to pick up some fascinating, fun facts?
We’ve taken another trip to one of our favorite places on the internet, the Today I Learned subreddit, to find out some information that you probably didn’t learn in school but you might still want to know! So enjoy finding out more about history, animals and even our own species, and be sure to upvote the facts that you won’t ever forget!
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TIL about a cat named Room 8 that lived in a public school for 16 years. During his time their he would disappear during the summer and return, like clockwork on the first day of school. He became so well known that poems and songs were sung about him.
In 1968, in a teary farewell, students at Elysian Heights Elementary School bade goodbye to their beloved furry feline friend -- named Room 8, for the room he entered by an open window in 1952. A fixture at the school for 16 years, the celebrity gray-and-white alley cat had posed for countless pictures, including one that was emblazoned on school T-shirts. Room 8, the unofficial school mascot, became the subject of a school mural; a sculpture and several poems etched into the sidewalk in front of the school; a TV documentary called "Big Cats, Little Cats"; and a 1966 illustrated children's book called "Room 8," written by the school principal, Beverly Mason, and teacher Virginia Finley. Royalties from book and T-shirt sales went to the library fund, and a trust fund was set up in Room 8's name at the Los Angeles Orthopaedic Hospital. Students who once decorated his newly dug grave with handpicked flowers have returned to the pet cemetery over the years to say their "hellos."
TIL elderly pedestrians in Singapore get more time to cross the road at traffic lights. By taping their concession card on the crosswalk button, the green man stays lit for up to 13 seconds longer.
TIL Ubisoft offered to share their detailed 3D model of Notre Dame from Assassin's Creed: Unity, some 5,000 hours of research, with the French government reconstruction effort after the fire in 2019.
They offered but it was declined, for a good reason : Notre Dame had already been scanned multiple times by specialists who have much more detailed and technical models of the cathedral. It’s a good gesture by Ubisoft but not really useful.
TIL the Kootenai Indian Tribe of Idaho and Montana harvests millions of dollars of sturgeon caviar a year, but put all the eggs back in the rivers. They are desperately try to save the shrinking white sturgeon population which they believe are “sacred messengers.”
TIL : about the game "Foldit", a puzzle game about protein folding. In 2011, its gamers helped decipher a protein of a HIV-like virus, solving a scientific problem that went unsolved for 15 years in as little as 10 days.
TIL Highway hypnosis, also known as white line fever, is an altered mental state in which a person can drive a car, truck, or other automobile great distances, responding to external events in the expected, safe, and correct manner with no recollection of having consciously done so.
I did not know that was a thing, Many years ago I drove from Munich to Hamburg and it felt as if the journey only took a few minutes, I have spent my entire life wondering about this.... Now I know that I was not just imagining it.
This happens to be all the time. I'll get on a stretch of highway and drive for several minutes and then not remember driving through an area. Always different areas, but it's annoying. Glad I know why now.
Makes sense. You also tie your laces without thinking about it. Sometimes you put things down without thinking about it, and when you want the thing, you can't remember where you put it. We've all had that experience of going into a room and thinking "hey why did I come here again?" I think therefore that the opposite is true. I think we are MOSTLY in that state and only get out of it when talking to someone or doing something intensive like chess. Even programming, I can tell you, I sometimes review code I did and go... "how did I do that?" - because it's correct.
That's because the brain tends to form lasting memories of only novel events, discarding much of the rest (like, the normal occurrences of driving). This is why I (now 70 years old) have always kept a journal, and why, when I occasionally re-read it, my memories often don't match what I wrote.
Or maybe your subconcious wrote it different to give yourself an altered state of reality.
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I have done this. It's a little unnerving when you come out of your "trance" state.
I actually did it winding up where I used to live about a week after I moved out. Ouch! It was like autopilot. Long day at work, drove home 15 miles, realized I didn't live there anymore after I parked the car and had to drive home the opposite direction the original 15 then anoyher 10 to my new place.
I've had something similar at the height of my insomnia battle, I would never remember the journey to and from work to my house and I still don't. It's just blank. Very weird.
100% this. I used to deliver food for a long time and one day it dawned on my how much driving I do without actually looking at the road. It is mainly done peripherally but somehow always correctly, especially in familiar areas. Your brain is trained to recognize the symbols... red lights, stop signs, crosswalks, etc subconsciously after while.
This happened to me once while driving home from work. I got home and remembered nothing of the commute, despite there being many traffic lights along the way.
We all do this. They have done studies that show your brain chooses to forget thoughts l things that are repetitive and meaningless in order to save storage space.
It happens to me even while walking... :D Is it called sidewalk hypnosis? Or maybe Im just drunk. :D
Before being diagnosed, in my late 30s, and started taking meds for ADHD, this happened to me frequently. It alway unnerved me. I was always afraid I would ended up in car crash and either kill myself or somebody else or both.
Conversely, Highway Penguinitis is when you have been driving in low light or darkness for too long without sleep and you hallucinate penguins toddling alongside the road. They seem to prefer thickly forested areas, as I recall. 🌔🚗🐧🌲🐧🌲🐧🌲🐧🌲 Saw a lot of them in the mountains of Oregon.
I recently drove from Edmonton to Victoria (11-12 hours I think?) and started to experience this near the end of the trip. I also had weird moments where I felt like my car wasn’t moving at all even though I was clearly driving 110+km/hr on the Coquihalla. 😬 freaked me out a little.
It happened to me as a passenger, not driver. I'm convinced it's some sort of awake epilepsy....
I always thought that 'white line fever' meant an addiction to cocaine. TIL.
it is the wires of the electric poles that made me feel this way, finished from the underground cabling
I have heard of this. For example back in the 1980s a group of four adults drove nonstop sharing the driving over a long distance, but there was a stretch of over 100 km that everyone claimed they hadn't driven.
This has actually happened to me several times over the past years. It was puzzling and mystifying at the same time. I don’t do it much anymore but when it happened in the past I scared myself!
this is so crazy! Just the other day, after my commute to work- once I parked, I suddenly snapped out of it- and was like, "how TF did I get here!!!?!?!" crazy and kinda of scary at the same time...
I have definitely done this. I was very startled and I’m glad that you say we still make good driving decisions when we are in the state.
I have done this. Got to work and said to myself " I don't remember driving through ' small town 1' or ' small town 2' ". It's kind of scary because you don't know if you were driving safely or not.
A person can also fall sleep at the wheel and cause a very serious accident.
Would this explain "lost time" and people thinking they'd had an alien encounter ?
My husband did that ALL the time. He never hit a deer, but three in one year hit HIM! Not a joke on 3 separate occasions a deer ran into the side of the car.
I first read about this back in 1963 when in elementary school. We were told how dangerous it was. However, in the 57 years I've been driving, I have experienced this many, many times and have never had an accident.
I had this happen 20+ years ago overnight. I could account for 10+ hours of driving but not the last 200 miles. I realized where I was when I was close to home. I pulled over and slept for a while despite being less than 20 minutes from home.
I still ride my bike asleep to my first job. Two local cop find it hilarious to drive behind me and honk horn. Too bad I'm deep sleeper
I feel like this is probably a safer way to drive. Less ego and over analysis, just response and reflex.
Isn't this related to any "flow" experience? (I once draw a picture for what I thought were 10 minutes, while it eventually took 1 hour.)
This happened to me moving from Alaska to the lower 48. Thank Thoth that my mom was ahead of me (driving all night) and saw me swerve a I came out of the hypnosis. We immediately pulled over and took a cat nap
TIL that sharks don’t make sounds. Across 400-500 species, no one has ever found an organ even capable of producing sound.
so they do not make that noise...? der-dunt.... der-dunt.... der-dunt.der-dunt.der-dunt..?
TIL that just before Laika went into space, one of the scientists using her for testing brought her home to play with his children. Knowing that she would not survive her journey.
Aww poor pup! They shouldn't have sent her in space, she died 5-7 hours after take off. She died alone and scared :(
TIL in 2001, Mattel made a vibrating Harry Potter broomstick that led to many questionable Amazon user reviews. They discontinued the toy after adult stores in Times Square started selling them for twice their original retail price.
TIL when Captain Francesco Schettino was asked why he abandoned the sinking Costa Concordia cruise ship in 2012 while the ship’s passengers were either dying or trying to escape, his excuse was that he accidentally fell into a lifeboat. He received 16 years in prison for his role in the incident.
TIL It has been scientifically proven that stroking a cat can lower one's blood pressure.
TIL that three years after winning gold at the 2004 Olympics, wrestler Rulon Gardner and two friends’ plane crashed into Lake Powell Utah. The three men swam an hour to the shore through 44F (7C) degree water to the shore and waited all night without shelter for rescue. All three men survived.
Meanwhile I’m shivering out of my skin because I’m drinking a milkshake with the fan on
TIL that there is a type of octopus, an argonaut, where the male fills its sex organ with sperm, then rips it off and presents it to a female.
TIL about the "Tanganyika-Laughter Epidemic". A student in 1962 in Tanzania started laughing in a school in Kashasha. The laughter quickly spread to hundreds of people, causing schools to close for months. Researchers believe it was caused by stress, social tensions. No official explanation was given.
Apparently these are pretty common. Documented cases from middle ages upto to the latest one that happened in Brazil this year (2023) https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_mass_hysteria_cases
TIL that, on 16 November, 1949, students in Ghent (Belgium) stormed the medieval castle, lowered the portcullis and threw fruit from the walls at the police to protest a new tax on beer. The event is still commemorated yearly by the city as the greatest student prank in its history.
TIL that when Johannes Rebmann, the first European to see Mount Kilimanjaro, published his discovery in 1849, it was dismissed as a malaria-induced hallucination because it was believed that snow at this latitude was impossible. It took 12 more years for scholars to accept the mountain's existence.
If the Earth were flat, cats would have knocked everything off by now.
TIL that not only are the mountains on Saturns moon Titan named after mountains and ranges from works J.R.R. Tolkien, but the plains are named after locations from the Dune Universe.
TIL the Black Death contributed greatly to the rise of the British Pub and pub culture. Thanks to the plague, scarcity of labor greatly improved the standard of living for peasants, who in turn spent their extra money on beer.
Ye (the) Olde Fighting C***s pub in the picture is in St Albans in the UK.
TIL. MSG isn’t bad for you and it’s bad reputation stemmed from what’s called the Chinese Restaurant Syndrome.
TIL: about Nebraska's "safe haven" law that didn't have an age limit to drop off unwanted babies. A wave of children, many teenagers with behavioral issues, were dropped off. It has since been amended.
That’s both sad and funny and is a pathetic commentary on many levels of our world!
TIL only a slim majority of Americans realize Puerto Ricans are American citizens.
TIL that when the Bible was first translated into Finnish, there was no word for lion since nobody had ever seen one. The translator instead used the word “jalopeura” which means “noble deer”.
TIL elephants are capable of recognizing themselves in a mirror, which is a sign of self-awareness. Elephants were shown a mirror and their reactions were observed. They went through a series of behaviors, including touching their own bodies and inspecting their mouths.
Many animals pass the mirror test. One of them is my cat! It's notoriously difficult to mirror test cats because they don't care for our scientific endeavours and often just ignore the mirror altogether. About a year ago I was doing some stuff in the kitchen and one of my cats accompanied me. He got a bit too annoying, so stuck a sticky paper to his back. Once he realised I put something on his back and that something wasn't easily coming off, no matter what he tried, he jumped to the open kitchen window and stared into the glass of the window which currently had the kitchen wall behind it, so he could see what was on his back. To do this he needs to know, that he can see himself when staring into a mirror and for this he needs to be aware of himself. I was a very proud cat dad that day
TIL birth rates in the U.S. have dropped more than 20% since 2007.
TIL that when Zlatan Ibrahimovic signed for MLS club LA Galaxy, LeBron James sent him one of his Lakers jerseys as a "welcome to LA" gift. Zlatan's response was to sign it and send it back.
I wouldn't expect anything less from Zlatan! A legend sure, yet unlike the others.
TIL of "Androgen Insensitivity Syndrome" where the body doesn't respond to testosterone so they have the genetic makeup of a man while showing the physical traits of a woman.
I have a relative with this. She's very petite and feminine and only found out when periods didn't start in teen years. Sadly this was in the 60's and she wasn't treated very well by doctors and her parents who made her feel like a freak. Years of mental illness followed as a result. Very sad.
TIL that there are at least 5 species of shark living in the Thames estuary (which runs through London), and that one of those species is venomous.
TIL that out of 400-500 species of shark, the Sand Tiger Shark is the only one known to fart.
TIL that the morning after the Titanic sank, a man on a nearby vessel who was unaware of the sinking photographed an iceberg with a red streak he suspected to be paint from a ship. For years the law firm for White Star Line, the Titanic’s owner, had the original displayed in their office.
TIL: In 1880, the average ages of consent in the US were set at 10 or 12 years old in most states, with the exception of Delaware where it was 7.
TIL that the crew of the sinking Daniel J. Morrell believed they were moments from being rescued, only to discover in horror that the lights were from the stern section of their own severed ship, still under power and barreling towards them.
TIL during its long history, Jerusalem has been destroyed twice, besieged 23 times, attacked 52 times, and captured and recaptured 44 times.
TIL Domino's Pizza was unsuccessful in its attempt to expand into Italy, they failed to win over the local Italians as they preferred their local pizzerias.
TIL that the most powerful earthquake ever recorded in the continental US occurred in New Madrid, MO, in 1812. It was so violent that the shaking was felt in New York, made church bells ring in South Carolina, and made part of the Mississippi River run backwards.
TIL that in 2002 members of a simulated Mars mission in Utah uncovered an actual dinosaur fossil when on a mock spacewalk.
TIL that Sweden has 267,570 islands, the most of any country in the world.
And it’s part of Scandinavia, which in my mind proves itself as amongst the most functional governments in the world! Dare we call it “socialism?!” God forbid! (Looking entirely at you, USA).
TIL: Castrati were singers who were castrated before puberty to develop a unique voice for singing. They were primarily in church choirs and operas. Italian operas without one would be doomed to fail. The Pope tried to ban them in 1748, but failed as it would drastically reduce church attendance.
"Better to castrate little boys than let women sing in church!" - Vatican logic. The regressive and backwards thinking of the Catholic Church is nothing if not consistent.
TIL Brontosaurus is a valid dinosaur again. As of 2015 it is no longer considered to be the same species as Apatosaurus.
TIL that lower class Germans are stereotyped as giving their children names that sound exotic in German, such as “Kevin.” Prejudice against people with such names is strong enough that the term “Kevinism” was coined to describe it.
TIL in 2012 in Cebu, Philippines, after a 6.9 earthquake struck the city, someone shouted while finding their daughter whose name is "Chona Mae". This was misheard as "Tsunami" and eventually caused a mass panic.
Note: this post originally had 111 images. It’s been shortened to the top 40 images based on user votes.
Interesting thanks. I'd prefer if people put more detail to substantiate their claims, e.g. the country, date, time, context, etc.
One thing a lot of people don't realize is that the frequently quoted "stone-age people only worked 20 hours a week to provide for their basic needs" was the conclusion of a VERY shady and lazy anthropology "experiment" in the UK many, many years ago, involving a professor, his students, and truckloads of food and supplies being shipped to their camping site every week.
I have a degree in anthropology and I've never heard that!
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Huh. I never realized we had the most island in the world. Can that really be true…?
Finally, a BP article with new facts that are actually interesting.
Interesting thanks. I'd prefer if people put more detail to substantiate their claims, e.g. the country, date, time, context, etc.
One thing a lot of people don't realize is that the frequently quoted "stone-age people only worked 20 hours a week to provide for their basic needs" was the conclusion of a VERY shady and lazy anthropology "experiment" in the UK many, many years ago, involving a professor, his students, and truckloads of food and supplies being shipped to their camping site every week.
I have a degree in anthropology and I've never heard that!
Load More Replies... Huh. I never realized we had the most island in the world. Can that really be true…?
Finally, a BP article with new facts that are actually interesting.
