50 New ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove It’s Never Too Late To Learn Something New

And a better best human being!

well, his helmet says "waiseman"

No surprise it was a Canadian. Very few people would have thought to do something so thoughtful.

Nellie Bly is fairly well-known, she was one of the first and most effective muckraking reporters, and is an important figure in the history of American journalism as well as a pioneering feminist. I remember reading about her in my high school history class, but for her muckraking and social reform activism, not her travels.

The caption goes on : "Not only did she complete it with eight days to spare...".

She also went uncover in an insane asylum, (Ten Days in a Mad-House) which is now Roosevelt Island in NYC.

i learned about her in school. i'm not sure why you think nobody has heard of her

I heard she could really stir the s**t up when she needed to!

Never learned about her, but then again, my US history and World history teacher was the same person, and he was probably a disgrace to the other history teachers in the school. Never actually taught us. Gave us outdated history books that were clearly racist and sexist. He didn’t care.

You need to read the whole caption before you comment. Also Nellie Bly is quite well known, not just for this but for going undercover in an "Insane Asylum" to expose the terrible treatment of patients there. Pretty amazing woman all round.

I heard of it. It was actually a part of the "Value of Fairness: The Story of Nellie Bly" book they did a long time ago. Though that book did omit her stopping off to meet Verne before completing the trip quicker.

Sure. The simple proof being that EVERYONE has heard about the man who recreated Verne's novel by going around the world in 80 days. Oh, wait, I never heard of such a man. Maybe the reason why few have heard of her has nothing to do with her being a woman, and everything to do with this being the sort of amusing little factoid that people say "huh, cool" and then forget about.

It's quite well known, actually. Movies have been made about her exploits.

Everybody I knew has heard of Nellie Bly - they even named a Coney Island amusement park after her.

She both attempted and succeeded. Sensitive much?

I actually learned about Nellie Bly because of that kids show: Xavier Riddle and the Secret Museum! It's a great show, even for not-kids, and I've learned about so many awesome people, like Nellie Bly!

Where did you come up with that? I learned about her in school a few times over thirty years ago...

I play Megalovania while reading these to cleanse the misogyny from them.

Yep, she attempted, like many did, but she succeeded, as very few did. I heard of her attempt when I was very young.

I don't think it was taught in U.S. schools either. I never heard of it.

They did a CUE card for her.

nor in most schools in the USA

I went to school in England in the 1950s and 60s and I learned about her.

Wasn't taught in schools INSIDE the USA

Nope, only attempted. She failed to do it in EIGHTY days, as per the parameters of the book title

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What??? Who HASN'T heard of Nellie Bly. srsly

10 Days in a Madhouse. It was such a risky assignment: i'm surprised they got her out of there that quickly

That was seriously my father. Once he even followed a bus rather than ask. Guess where we ended up? Yup, the bus depot. No, I've no idea what he was thinking either!!

Hahaha that's so true!

I love her for all those reasons. Also, her character in the show is really cute/awesome. I saw an episode where she was singing and playing an instrument (beautifully), and I love how it showed how enraptured all her crew-mates were with her performance. Another factoid I learned was that, since Lt. Uhura was supposed to be of Swahili descent, there was one episode where she was supposed to have had her mind wiped and 'reverted' to speaking Swahili. Nichelle Nichols didn't know how to speak Swahili, but she insisted on accuracy for the show. The director told her to just speak english, but she refused. Roddenberry sided with her, and they brought in an expert to teach her what she'd need to know for those lines. Love the character and the actress.

The NASA bit needs to be explained more. She was a major recruiter of minority astronauts for the US space program throughout the late 70s and 80s. She did it on her own for several years, finding candidates like Sally Ride (first woman) and Guion Bluford (first African-American). She then essentially blackmailed NASA by telling them if they didn't accept some of her candidates she'd go public. Not only did they acquiesce, they hired her as a recruiter. She helped kick down the door so the role models were now real people instead of just a fictional one.

On the animated series there was an episode where she had to take command.

She was a badd ass!!

She kissed Captain Kirk in Bread and Circuses.

First televised in the USA, but there were earlier instances in the UK and Netherlands.

yes you should. im a trekkie

And even for space, it appears.

I also heard he demanded pay equity for Nichelle Nichols when he heard she wasn't being paid as much as her male coworkers.