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We go to school, study further, then learn new things in our chosen careers. But no matter how much knowledge we acquire, there always seems to be space in our brain for more.

Sometimes we gather new information by choice. Other times it comes at us unexpectedly. Like those midnight moments when we're casually scrolling through the socials and a fun fact stops us in our tracks. Next thing, we're going down a rabbit-hole that we never planned to visit, and boom! it's 2am.

There's an entire community dedicated to sharing the facts they just recently learned, so that you too can broaden your knowledge of the world we live in. Today I Learned reads like a virtual encyclopedia, and has more than 5 million curious visitors popping by every week.

Bored Panda has put together our favorite picks from the page, from celebrity tidbits to tech, science, environmental, current affairs and more. Let us know how many of them you only learned today and don't forget to upvote your favorites.

#1

Elderly woman wearing glasses and a yellow and purple scarf, seated indoors with a thoughtful expression. TIL that Nobel laureate Tu Youyou discovered the malaria drug artemisinin after reading a 1,600 year Chinese medical text and realizing the herb had to be extracted cold, not boiled, paving a treatment estimated to have saved tens of millions of lives. She then tested it on herself to prove it.

greenappletree , Bengt Nyman Report

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    #2

    Woman with blonde hair wearing yellow and white blouse speaking into microphone in a recording studio discussing Clint Eastwood children TIL Dolly Parton is one of the largest employers in her home region of Tennessee (via Dollywood). After the 2016 wildfires, she raised over $9M through her My People Fund, giving 900+ families $1,000/month for 6 months ($10K total each) to rebuild. She was also honored by the FBI for her leadership.

    Resume-Mentor , Dolly Parton Report

    Charlotte
    Community Member
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Love that she puts her money towards things she cares about

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    #3

    Clint Eastwood holding a young child indoors, highlighting family and children with multiple women. TIL that Eminem, in addition to his biological daughter Hailie Jade, has legally adopted and had custody of Alaina (his ex-sister-in-law's daughter) and Stevie (his ex-wife's child with another father) and he also raised his younger half-brother Nathan.

    luigdibar , EminemMusic Report

    YakFactory
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He sounds like a caring man. Well done.

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    #4

    Middle-aged man in a white polo shirt standing outdoors surrounded by green trees, representing Clint Eastwood family facts. TIL that a man in India named Jadav Payeng single handedly transformed a treeless sandbar into a 1,360-acre forest by planting trees over several decades.

    stoictrader03 , Jadav Payeng Report

    #5

    Portrait of a man with gray hair in a suit, representing facts about Clint Eastwood's children with six women. TIL when Nintendo's Wii U console flopped, the CEO cut his own salary in half for months instead of laying off employees.

    Jolly_Green_4255 , 文部科学省ホームページ Report

    Multa Nocte (she/her/8647)
    Community Member
    Premium
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Stop it! Integrity in a CEO? Don't let this get out or all the other CEOs will try to knock this guy off. Can you imagine a maggot like Jeff Bezos ever doing something like this at even the .000001 level? That guy is a cancer on society, this guy is a hero.

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    #6

    Person holding an open book while sitting outdoors, highlighting Clint Eastwood children with six women facts. TIL that Terry Pratchett once changed his German publisher because they inserted a soup commercial into his books, and when confronted about it refused to promise that they wouldn't do it again.

    Extreme-Attention641 , pissteria/reddit Report

    #7

    Snow-covered tree in a quiet winter landscape, highlighting nature's calm beauty in snowy conditions. TIL that the "hushed" feeling after a snowfall is due to snow being a great sound absorber. Fresh, fluffy snow absorbs roughly 60% of sound on average, making it comparable to the commercial foams and fibers used inside cars and buildings.

    ralphbernardo , nowfall/unsplash Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    13 hours ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    Good heavens! This Redditor seems kinda slow, as I loooved the sound-absorbing effects as a little kid, when the world seemed silent. And now, as a New Yorker, I hope like crazy all winter for snow because it absorbs the alarms, sirens, horns, assorted other klaxons, yelling, cars, and so forth. After snow sports, the peace is the next most wonderful thing snow gives us!

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    #8

    Young girl smirking in foreground with a house on fire and firefighters responding in the background. TIL Zoë Roth, known online as the Smiling Disaster Girl, sold the image of herself staring at the camera with a house fire behind her to a collector in 2021, earning US$486,716 from the transaction.

    ScienceTeacher1994 Report

    Ervin Conn
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The best caption I saw for that picture is still "They should have bought the cookies".

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    #9

    Jamaican flag waving on a white pole against a clear blue sky, symbolizing Jamaican culture and identity. TIL that Jamaica is the only country that has a flag without red, white or blue in it.

    Aggressive_Thing_614 , aboodi vesakaran/unsplash Report

    CA Hyde
    Community Member
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I love unusual party trivia like that!

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    #10

    TIL that most glass ever produced could still be reused today because glass can be recycled infinitely without losing quality.

    consulent-finanziar Report

    Forrest Hobbs
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Apparently, glass manufacturing requires some 'already made' glass to be mixed into the melt in order to ensure adequate quality, or so I recall reading some time ago. Essentially, recycling glass is necessary if you want decent quality.

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    #11

    Blue and white ceramic bowl with floral pattern on a white surface, illustrating Clint Eastwood family facts concept. TIL in 2021 an antiques enthusiast bought "an exceptionally rare" 15th century porcelain bowl made in China for $35 from a Connecticut yard sale. The small white bowl "adorned with cobalt blue paintings of flowers" turned out to be one of only 7 such bowls known to exist & sold for nearly $722,000.

    tyrion2024 , Wengang Zhai/unsplash Report

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    #12

    TIL Abba is the name of a well known Swedish fish-canning company that formed in 1838. When the Swedish pop group ABBA negotiated with the canners for the rights to the name, the factory gave their permission, saying "O.K., as long as you don't make us feel ashamed for what you're doing."

    KarlWhale:

    Just to give a bit of context. ABBA are initials of the band members.
    But they still had to ask the fish canning company for permission.

    Away_Flounder3813 Report

    fly on the wall
    Community Member
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well they certainly held up their end of the bargain

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    #13

    Two soldiers in camouflage uniforms, focusing intently during a serious military operation scene. TIL Pierce Brosnan saved Halle Berry from choking on a fig by performing the Heimlich maneuver after she began choking on the fruit while they were in the middle of filming a love scene on the set of Die Another Day (2002).

    tyrion2024 , 20th century studios Report

    Francois
    Community Member
    7 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    James Bond said: "No not today. Die another day"

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    #14

    TIL Mana Ashida, the Japanese young girl who played young Mako Mori in the 2013 film Pacific Rim, was allowed by director Guillermo del Toro to call him "Totoro-san" after the character in the animated film "My Neighbour Totoro", due to her being unable to pronounce his surname.

    Away_Flounder3813 Report

    #15

    TIL a girl named Breelyn was born healthy but when she was two days old, she was kissed on the mouth by a person who had a cold sore. The girl's immune system wasn't developed at the time and she got HSV encephalitis, which led to seizures and brain damage.

    Forward-Answer-4407 Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    And this is why there are so many threads about baby kissing conflict.

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    #16

    Blonde woman wearing a pink top posing against a wood-paneled wall, highlighting Clint Eastwood's family life facts. TIL that Madonna once leaked her own album on file sharing services but every track was a loop of her swearing at the downloaders. Hackers then took over her official site and posted the actual album.

    ThisSchmitter , Madonna Report

    #17

    TIL in 2008, while Red Hot Chili Peppers went on hiatus, bassist Flea - 45 at the time - enrolled as a freshman at the University of Southern California's music program to widen his appreciation and understanding of music.

    Away_Flounder3813 Report

    Sentina in the swamp
    Community Member
    9 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Met Flea once and he is the kindest most down to earth man. Was waiting at the backdoor to the club they were performing a 2 night show at bc they were both sold out and I did not have tickets so was hoping to at least see them walk to their bus. He immediately asked my name and put me on the guest list for the following night. As a teenager, this made my life. Love you, Flea!

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    #18

    Close-up of insect exoskeleton fragments showing detailed legs and body parts on a white background. TIL that scientists discovered a new carnivorous caterpillar in Hawaii that scavenges trapped insects in spider webs and wears their body parts as camouflage.

    yena , Rubinoff lab, Entomology Section, University of Hawaii Report

    Gordon
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It's like a decorator crab...But different.

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    #19

    TIL legendary talk show host Merv Griffin's tombstone reads: "I will not be right back after this message."

    ralphbernardo Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Like Spike Milligan 'I told you I was ill'...

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    #20

    TIL that Dolly Parton secretly coproduced Buffy the Vampire Slayer through her company, Sandollar Entertainment. As an easter egg, she and Buffy share the same birthday, which are on January 19.

    immanuellalala Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Another reason to love The Parton!

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    #21

    Close-up of a man with light eyes and light facial hair wearing a suit, representing Clint Eastwood family facts. TIL that Leonardo DiCaprio and the crew on his boat helped rescue a man who had been treading water for about 11 hours after falling overboard in the Caribbean Sea.

    SwordfishEither2516 , Colin Chou Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He also didn't have a door to cling to.

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    #22

    Close-up 3D rendering of DNA strands symbolizing genetic connections in Clint Eastwood's family history. TIL scientists renamed 27 human genes in 2020 because Microsoft Excel kept auto-converting their names into dates, causing widespread errors in published genetic research.

    Gene symbols like SEPT1 and MARCH1 were automatically turned into dates (e.g., “Sep-01,” “Mar-01”) when opened in Excel. These mistakes showed up in supplementary data and even peer-reviewed papers. To stop the damage, the HUGO Gene Nomenclature Committee officially renamed the affected genes (e.g., SEPT1 to SEPTIN1, MARCH1 to MARCHF1).

    A prior study found that around 20% of genomics papers with Excel files contained gene name errors, largely due to this issue.

    SystematicApproach , Warren Umoh/unsplash Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I don’t understand. You’re able to select a column and dictate the format of the cells in the column (right?). So before you even enter any data, you’ve already indicated that that column is text (so not dates), right? Or has my memory eroded so much that I’m remembering functions that don’t exist? This seems like *such* an easy thing to fix … unless my memory is already hopelessly munged. 😕

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    #23

    Person coding on a laptop, focusing on programming code related to Clint Eastwood has at least 8 children. TIL that in 2024, bots made up a bigger proportion of global internet traffic than humans for the first time.

    NONIGARON , Getty Images/unsplash Report

    Panda Pops
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Dead Internet theory, no longer a theory

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    #24

    Airplane taking off under clear sky, featuring Alitalia logo and sleek white fuselage in mid-flight. TIL in 2006 Alitalia Airlines accidentally listed the fare for a business-class ticket from Toronto to Cyprus for $39 instead of $3,900. Within hours, over 2,000 people bought tickets. Alitalia honored the fare, costing the airline $7.2M. One of many mistakes on its descent into eventual bankruptcy.

    tyrion2024 Report

    Gordon
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Kudos to them for owning their mistake !

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    #25

    Brown bear standing in river water catching a fish with its mouth, illustrating nature and wildlife themes. TIL in 2024 Bear 32, also known as Chunk, was observed eating 45 sockeye salmon in 10.5 hours from Brooks River in Katmai National Park & Preserve. At an estimated average of 3,000 calories per fish, Chunk consumed around 135,000 calories in that one sitting.

    tyrion2024 , Getty Images/unsplash Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He was fattening up for hibernation. The parks service runs a fattest bear competition annually.

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    #26

    TIL that during the final 24 hours of George Washington's life, his physicians withdrew approximately 80 ounces (2.3 liters) of blood in an attempt to treat his throat infection. This amount represented about 40% of his total blood volume.

    Independent_Flan_890 Report

    Sally Moen
    Community Member
    14 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Ah, blood-letting! Why aren't the anti-vaxxers promoting that as a cure-all?

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    #27

    TIL Mel Gibson was supposed to direct Good Will Hunting after making Braveheart. He developed the movie for months but wanted more time. Damon and Affleck got impatient and said they were aging out of the characters. So they convinced Mel to leave the project and let Gus Van Sant direct it.

    blacksystembbq Report

    #28

    TIL of Titanic's "Missing Survivors": 30 passengers (2 from 1st Class, 3 from 2nd, 11 from 3rd, and 14 crew members) who survived the disaster but whose lives following the sinking have proved impossible for historians and genealogists to trace, with investigations into their lives still active.

    NeverEnoughMuppets Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Maybe they took it as a chance to chance to wipe the slate clean and start over.

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    #29

    Laboratory technician working with testing machines in a spacious lab, unrelated to Clint Eastwood's children or family facts. TIL after smallpox was declared eradicated, the sole (official) remaining specimens of the virus were preserved in two designated laboratories globally, one at the CDC in Atlanta and the other at VECTOR in Koltsovo.

    Forsaken-Peak8496 , National Cancer Institute/unsplash Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The fact that the Russians still have it is disconcerting.

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    #30

    Bronze statue of a bearded man holding a tool, surrounded by green trees, representing historical or cultural significance. TIL A man named Cincinnatus was given absolute power to save Rome from an invasion; he did so in just 16 days, then immediately resigned and went back to his farm.

    TianRB , Chris Light Report

    Forrest Hobbs
    Community Member
    13 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This all happened in the 5th century BCE - so, it's just a legend. He supposedly had two stints as dictator, both short and successful. Back then, all well-off Roman citizens had farms in the country. He'd retired from public life by the time he got asked to be dictator. Wikipedia says 'it is usually accepted that Cincinnatus was a historical figure who served as suffect consul in 460 BC and as dictator in 458 BC and (possibly) again in 439 BC.' also: 'Cincinnatus was also an opponent of the rights of the plebeians (the common citizens). His son, Caeso Quinctius, caused the plebeians to fall into poverty when he violently opposed their desire to have a written code of equally enforced laws.' - back then, the plebians weren't allowed to see or even know the laws that the patricians enforced on them. Properly *ancient* ancient Rome was run entirely by the rich for the rich.

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    #31

    Blue jeans drying on a rack indoors, related to Clint Eastwood family and children SEO keywords. TIL that Levi's recommends that jeans be worn 10 times between washes.

    Actual-Journalist-67 , Marc Pell/unsplash Report

    DB
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    After 10 times they walk themselves to the laundry room.

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    #32

    iPhone placed on its box with a sunset wallpaper displayed, illustrating technology and lifestyle concept. TIL that in 2017, a Chinese woman received a refund for her new iPhone X after it was discovered that her coworker was consistently able to unlock her phone using the Facial Recognition feature. A replacement iPhone X proved to have the same issue.

    eStuffeBay , Todd Jiang/unsplash Report

    Bec
    Community Member
    12 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My husband's son was able to unlock his android with facial recognition - definitely can't deny the boy is his!

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    #33

    Vintage Dr Pepper holiday ad featuring steaming hot drinks by a fireplace, highlighting a unique festive beverage idea TIL that in the 1960s, Dr Pepper launched a huge campaign to convince people to drink their soda boiling hot. To combat low sales during the winter, they marketed "Hot Dr Pepper" which was to be heated in a saucepan until steaming and poured over a fresh slice of lemon. It was popular until the 80s.

    Kiffln , mistermajik2000/reddit Report

    #34

    TIL about the Sandy Hook teacher Victoria Leigh Soto, a teacher at Sandy Hook who hid her students and attempted to redirect Adam Lanza away from her classroom. She was posthumously awarded the Presidential Citizen’s Medal, and Paul Simon performed at her funeral.

    Positive_Spirit_1585 Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I hate it that school shootings are a thing and that there are victims and heroes. I really wish there were a hell so those two morons who started the whole thing could roast there while pineapples are being shoved up and pulled from their assses for eternity.🤬😰

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    #35

    TIL in 1985, as a deliberate snub, the University of Oxford voted to refuse Margaret Thatcher an honorary degree in protest against her cuts in funding for higher education. This award had previously been given to all prime ministers who had been educated at Oxford.

    WouldbeWanderer Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Fair. She was horrible person who ruined the lives of millions, the power hungry old bag.

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    #36

    Young woman with braided hair and pink ribbons looking directly at the camera, related to Clint Eastwood family facts. TIL in Britney's debut song, "...Baby One More Time", Swedish songwriters Max Martin and Rami, mistook hit for an American slang meaning call (like "hit me up"). So Britney's actually begging for her ex to phone her one more time.

    immanuellalala , Britney Spears Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I assumed that rather than her asking for a battering.

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    #37

    TIL that in rare instances, the sound of tinnitus is detectable by someone other than the patient by using a stethoscope, in which case it is known as "objective tinnitus."

    bnrshrnkr Report

    Nikki Sevven
    Community Member
    12 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    My two ears are currently harmonizing in major thirds.

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    #38

    Baby wearing a brown sweater drinking from a red cup, highlighting Clint Eastwood's children with six women. TIL in 2024 a 2-year-old girl's blood test revealed that the toddler had a blood alcohol content of .12 after a California restaurant mistakenly served her cooking wine that had been mislabeled as apple juice. The parents took their daughter to the ER after they noticed she had signs of intoxication.

    tyrion2024 , Kateryna Hliznitsova/unsplash Report

    #39

    TIL that it's required to speak English to be a commercial airline pilot or air traffic controller.

    Illustrious_Bag_7323 Report

    #40

    TIL Harrison Odjegba Okene became a commercial diver who works for the same company that rescued him after he unexpectedly survived 60 hours underwater in a sunken ship.

    Gecko99 Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    12 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Was this the man who was stuck in a boat underwater in a dark kitchen filled with water? It’s things like that they make me wish I had one of those teeth filled with some kinda instadeath substance like we see in some movies (most recently in “Tenet”). There are some things that terrify me something awful (e.g., Nutty Putty Cave) and I wouldn’t wanna survive and wish someone would make us something we could have on us 24/7 in case something happens that if we survive it will render us so damaged that death woulda been waaay better. I’m glad he found something else to do, but I worry about how messed up he is day to day, too.

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    #41

    Two men panning for gold at a riverbank near mining tunnels, illustrating early gold rush prospecting methods. TIL the first gold rush in the U.S. started in North Carolina, when a 12 year old boy found a 17lb nugget on his farm. Not knowing what it was, the boy's father sold it years later to a jeweler for only $3.50. Its true value at the time was $3500.

    Kwpthrowaway2 , Emil Sarlin Report

    PrettyJoyBird
    Community Member
    11 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Google says for year 1850 this would be worth $145,000 today. (123,000 euros or 107,000 pounds)

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    See Also on Bored Panda
    #42

    TIL Defibrillators don't start hearts, they stop them (to force a hopefully good restart).

    Darthskull Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    12 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I really wish TV shows would learn that when you stick a needle into a vein either to draw blood or to inject medications that you DON’T go in at a 90° angle 😱 nor do you shove it in so far it comes out the elbow 😱! Just typing about it makes all my delicate parts squinch shut in horror! I get dizzy watching that. It didn’t usta happen; it’s a fairly new development (the last decade or so?). The other one that makes me crazy is when a patient is spazzing out and they give him an intramuscular shot of something to calm him down, and he instantly goes limp. The meds don’t go instantly from your body fat to your brain; in my experience, it takes about 45 minutes (sooner or later for smaller or bigger people), but you can’t calm someine down instantly. You can calm ‘em down a LOT quicker if you inject it into a vein, though ideally, not at a 90° angle and shoved in as far as it’ll go. 😕

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    #43

    TIL that Ice T is currently the longest-running male actor in US primetime TV history for his role as Odafin Tutuola on Law and Order: Special Victims Unit, a role he has played since 2000.

    anon Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    12 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I seem to remember he left for a couple seasons, though, didn’t he? I kinda remember it coincided with Richard Belzer’s firing, but I could be totally wrong. I totally didn’t know “SUV” is still on the air, though! Wow!

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    #44

    TIL Orson Welles was only 25 years old when he wrote, directed, and starred in Citizen Kane. Today considered one of the greatest films of all time.

    rxblows Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Wasn't considered all that at the time. Critics lauded it years later. Over rated, IMHO.

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    #45

    TIL when Simone Biles executed the Yurchenko double pike on vault during the 2023 World Championships, she willingly took a half-point deduction for having her coach stand on the landing mat, ready to step in & redirect her into a safe position if it looked as if she was headed for a "scary landing."

    tyrion2024 Report

    Charlotte
    Community Member
    10 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sad that a point deduction is required just for having a safety person in place

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    #46

    Man in a black suit and tie at a formal event, looking serious with a neutral background and logo behind him. TIL Usain Bolt was defrauded of over $12 million dollars in 2023, which he has yet to recover.

    fistular , Barcex Report

    #47

    TIL that in 1953, Isaac Asimov wrote a story where he predicted that climbing Mount Everest was impossible and that the first human to reach its summit would have to be parachuted. Everest was first successfully climbed one month after he wrote it and 7 months before it was published.

    ShabtaiBenOron Report

    Sally Moen
    Community Member
    10 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    One of his few failures. He wrote hundreds of books and stories, a lot of them are math and science. I had this enormous book that was a favorite, Asimov's Explanation of the Bible (sorry if if I have the title wrong). It goes through all the chapters of the Bible explaining who was who and what wA going on in history around them, because the Bible mostly tells the story of the person or group without the context of the story. Like WHY did the Amelkites attack? Anyway his book on the Bible is actually 2 volumes, they're both really thick books. If you're a history nut, I highly recommend this

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    #48

    TIL that a special kind of microphone is often attached to the walls of hockey rinks to pick up the sound of players being body checked, which is then mixed into broadcasts of the games.

    abellyirked Report

    Cosmos in your eyes
    Community Member
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I disliked watching a hockey game. It felt very exploitative.

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    #49

    TIL over 3,000 attempts are made each year to complete the Appalachian Trail and only about 25% succeed.

    tyrion2024 Report

    Forrest Hobbs
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The Appalachian Trail is about 2,200 miles (3,540 km). It's not a trivial hike.

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    #50

    TIL most missing children are runaways, and 99% of abducted children are taken by relatives, typically a noncustodial father. In response to these statistics, the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has reversed their campaign focusing on "stranger danger."

    thatshygirl06 Report

    Mari
    Community Member
    7 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Maybe they should focus on: where to search for help and how to report abúse.

    #51

    TIL The USA donated cement and funds to Laos for the construction of an airport for US jets, but instead Laos built a monument.

    Jolly_Green_4255 Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    12 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This made me laugh, though it’d help a great deal to know what the monument was of, or for. Might make me laugh harder or maybe cry, if it was to commemorate someone/something heart-breaking. (See what I mean about TILs not learning me much?)

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    See Also on Bored Panda
    #52

    TIL Gig Young was originally the actor cast as the Waco Kid in the film “Blazing Saddles”, but Gig Young was an alcoholic and collapsed on set during the first day of filming due to alcohol withdrawal. Director Mel Brooks fired him and replaced him with Gene Wilder.

    CatPooedInMyShoe Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Sad end for him but made Gene Wilder.

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    #53

    TIL that Hawaii was internationally recognized as an independent country - the Kingdom of Hawaiʻi - from 1795 to 1893, and later a republic until it was annexed by the United States under President William McKinley in 1898.

    Nice-Confusion-4781 Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Yep, like Greenland is about to be, thanks to El Presidente Sh1tpants....

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    #54

    TIL Clint Eastwood has at least eight children with six women. Eastwood has refused to confirm how many offspring he has, and some sources say the number is considerably higher.

    CaptainApathy419 Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    12 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Perhaps he’s “refused to confirm” because he himself doesn’t know how many there are. I’m pretty sure I remember Sandra Locke revealing that he wasn’t a very nice man, and I’m understating things there.)

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    #55

    TIL in 2020, the owners of a Civil War-era mansion turned bed and breakfast had a Norwegian flag removed that was hung outside its main entrance for two years because too many people have mistaken it for the Confederate flag and confronted them about it.

    Velgax Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Faux outrage by the ill informed spoiling for an unnecessary fight. The sort who gives people with legitimate grievances difficulties being taken seriously.

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    #56

    Young man with long hair in red lighting, wearing a dark shirt and necklace, performing on stage with a microphone. TIL that Jonny Greenwood pretended to play keyboards when he joined Radiohead, miming on a powered-off instrument and learning chords after studio sessions. During recording, Thom Yorke, would tell him: “I can’t quite hear what you’re doing, but I think you’re adding a really interesting texture.”

    NoahApples:

    Jonny Greenwood is the lead guitarist of Radiohead. He is and was an extremely good guitarist. He just didn’t also play keys at the time he joined the band, which was an aspect Thom Yorke was looking for.

    altrightobserver , Raph_PH/flickr Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That’s funny! Yorke was looking for a guitarist who also played keyboards, and didn’t initially get what he specified. But he sure added an interesting texture! 😆

    #57

    TIL Lego's patent to their brick design ended in 1978, which allowed multiple companies, such as Mega Bloks, to start producing their own 'clones.'

    Forsaken-Peak8496 Report

    Toothless Feline
    Community Member
    11 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The key difference is that the “clones” are rarely made to the same exacting tolerances as the genuine LEGO bricks. I don’t know the actual numbers, but LEGO rejects bricks that are out of spec by an insanely small measurement, ensuring that every brick in every set fits perfectly. Competitors cut the cost by allowing slightly greater variation (fewer rejected bricks means less spent on materials and molding), so their bricks are sometimes a little loose or a little tight, and the resulting models are less structurally sound.

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    #58

    Busy city street crosswalk with diverse pedestrians, capturing urban life and movement in a bustling environment. TIL researchers found that Americans spent nearly 90 minutes less per day, on average, outside of their homes in 2023 than they did in 2003.

    tyrion2024 , Christopher Burns/unsplash Report

    G A
    Community Member
    14 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    More WFH, more online shopping, less disposable income...

    #59

    TIL: The term Kung Fu (gongfu) doesn’t actually mean “martial art.” It refers to any skill achieved through time, effort, and discipline. The Chinese martial arts people usually call “kung fu” are more accurately called Wushu.

    greenappletree Report

    Joe Publique
    Community Member
    20 minutes ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    This is only half right. Kung fu literally means skill gained through long-term effort, so it can describe mastery in any discipline, not just martial arts. Wushu historically meant Chinese martial arts in general, but today it usually refers to modern sport wushu. During the Cultural Revolution, many traditional martial arts were suppressed and lineages disrupted, while state-supported wushu became more prominent. Modern wushu retained movements from older styles but largely de-emphasised combat, focusing instead on aesthetics and athleticism—making it closer to gymnastics than traditional martial arts.

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    #60

    US Air Force cargo plane on foggy ground with equipment nearby, related to Clint Eastwood family facts. Every week, U.S. aircraft drop more than 14.7 million sterile flies over the Panamanian rainforest to curb the screwworm, a key operation to protect the U.S. livestock economy.

    RGBchocolate , American Aviation Historical Society/unsplash Report

    Binky Melnik
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    That’s the best plan they can come up with? There’s not a more permanent (and effective) solution?

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    #61

    TIL only a single Kmart store currently exists in the continental United States. During its peak in the 1980s, almost 2100 stores were operating in the US and Canada.

    strangelove4564 Report

    Huddo's sister
    Community Member
    7 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Come to Australia for your Kmart fix, we have plenty!

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    See Also on Bored Panda
    #62

    TIL the Japanese online flea market, Mercari, had to ban ultrasound photos and positive pregnancy tests from its marketplace app because people were allegedly using them to fake pregnancies in order to extort money or blackmail their partners.

    delano1998 Report

    Lukas (he/him, it/its)
    Community Member
    Premium
    8 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    As someone who uses Mercari often (It's a great place to get secondhand merch from the show I like, both from US sellers and Japanese sellers) this is absolutely hilarious- apparently it just happened recently, on September 1st of 2025

    #63

    TIL in 2002, a player managed to answers correctly all questions on the Thai version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire thanks to an error: The cable feeding her the answers on the computer screen was supposed to be hooked up to the host's computer. She "won" the grand prize then later got revoked.

    Away_Flounder3813 Report

    #64

    TIL that Terence Crawford, a former professional boxer, was never knocked down during the entirety of his 17-year career. Furthermore, not a single judge ever scored a fight in favor of his opponent.

    crat77 Report

    #65

    TIL Fish do not breathe the oxygen that’s bonded to hydrogen in H₂O. Fish are breathing O₂, from the air, that is dissolved into the water.

    FreakyFergg Report

    #66

    TIL Freddie Mercury was born Farrokh Bulsara to Indian parents in the Parsi community and spent his formative years in India. He never discussed his ethnicity w/ journalists; the closest he came was referring to himself as “a Persian popinjay.”

    MrTerrificPants Report

    DB
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    He was born in Zanzibar, which is Africa, not India.

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    #67

    TIL: Franklin D. Roosevelt—the four-term U.S. president—had a long-term secret affair with Lucy Mercer, the former secretary of his wife Eleanor.

    TNSasquatch77 Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Eleanor was reputedly gay and had her own lover though...

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    #68

    TIL that rabies virus has a genome coding for only 5 genes, but has an almost 100% fatality rate once symptoms appear.

    Forsaken-Peak8496 Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Horrible disease. Very frightening odds. And a painful regimen to try and cure, too.

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    #69

    TIL that in October 2013, Banksy secretly set up a street stall in NYC and sold his authentic "spray art" for $60 each against an estimated value of $20K at the time. The first customer was even able to successfully negotiate a 2-for-1 deal.

    ansyhrrian Report

    David Paterson
    Community Member
    4 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    The street stall sold unsigned artwork of Che Guevara and other very popular graffiti subjects. It was only revealed that the artist was Banksy after the stall had closed.

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    #70

    TIL that Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama hated the live-action movie “Dragon Ball: Evolution” so much that it brought him out of retirement and made him write “The Battle of the Gods,” widely considered a highlight of the series.

    altrightobserver Report

    #71

    TIL after Francis Ford Coppola put up over $100 million of his own money to fund his movie Megalopolis, it ended up making just $14.4 million at the box-office.

    tyrion2024 Report

    Panda McPandaface
    Community Member
    3 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    It was his money - he can spend it how he wants. At least he employed people and completed his passion project.

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    See Also on Bored Panda
    #72

    TIL the sun isn't "strong enough" in northern latitudes to produce vitamin D during the winter, no matter how much sunlight you get.

    999forever Report

    Forrest Hobbs
    Community Member
    13 hours ago (edited) Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Different researchers come to different conclusions about this one. One group concluded 'only regions between 70 and 90 degrees latitude had a complete vitamin D winter.' Another suggested that at the 'far north latitude of 68 degrees vitamin D production begins in late February.' Here in the UK, it's easy enough to get sunburn as early as April (when the sunlight is as strong as in August) - which is why the (in)famous 1988 study suggesting no vitamin D production in Edmonton for 6 months of the year seems suspect, since Edmonton is only about as far north as Manchester and Sheffield (I thought it was further south than that - apparently not). There's a lot out there on this subject. One link follows.

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    #73

    TIL of 1940s radio show 'The Lonesome Gal'. Actress Jean King pretended to have a one-on-one conversation with the listener in a seductive voice, with a mic that “pick[ed] up each whisp of her breath." She amassed thousands of fans in over 50 cities and wore a mask in photos to protect herself.

    uqde Report

    sofacushionfort
    Community Member
    12 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Similar to 1952’s The Continental (parodied by Christopher Walken on SNL)

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    #74

    TIL that Christopher Columbus refused to accept he had discovered a new continent and insisted it was India until his [last breath]. He was initially denied funding by Portugal and Castile because scholars had correctly calculated that India was far farther away than his calculations.

    Worried_Chicken_8446 Report

    #75

    TIL Eminem came up with the hook for his hit "My Name Is" within the first few minutes of the first studio session that he and Dr. Dre ever had together

    tyrion2024 Report

    #76

    TIL That the Bank of England vaults hold 400,000 bars of gold, worth over £200 billion.

    11MARISA Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    I thought Gordon Brown sold off the gold reserves at famously stupidly low prices?

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    #77

    TIL that the Witness Protection Program claims 100% success rate to subjects who followed the guidelines.

    PlethoraOfPinatass Report

    G A
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Well, they would, wouldn't they? And you couldn't ask for proof...

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    #78

    TIL that nursing is the most common job for women in the US.

    Elementary and middle school teachers are the second most common job on the list. All of the other grades of teaching are also represented up there. If education wasn't split up like that, it would be more common than nursing, but I understand why they split it up.

    Yurekuu Report

    Smeghead Tribble Down Under
    Community Member
    2 hours ago

    This comment is hidden. Click here to view.

    And apparently you can get into either vocation even if you're as dumb as a brick.

    #79

    TIL the main reason scientists oppose relocating polar bears to Antarctica is that they’d eat too many emperor penguins.

    croato87 Report

    Forrest Hobbs
    Community Member
    13 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Nah. The main reason is that it's a crazy idea and everyone knows that introduced species tend to muck up ecosystems. OP's not totally wrong, though: the secondary reason is that once you look at the details, what'd happen would be that the polar bears would be presented with an all-you-can-eat penguin buffet, eat the penguins to extinction, and then die out themselves, so it'd be an utterly futile exercise in ecosystem destruction.

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    #80

    TIL that in the entire history of recorded history only 3 female Giant Stick Bugs have been seen in the wild.

    CocosAdventure Report

    David Paterson
    Community Member
    4 hours ago Created by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

    Are we talking about the Lord Howe Island stick insect here? There are now thousands of them in captivity. They were once believed to be extinct. Many were seen in the wild before they went extinct on the mainland in 1920. The total wild population was estimated to be 24 individuals after it was rediscovered in the year 2001.

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