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Most of us have a small Ravenclaw inside of us, and we adore learning new things about the world, especially if they’re random facts that completely blow our minds. A lot of us are still spending loads of time working and studying from home, which leaves plenty of time for random browsing—so we’re picking up semi-useless but fun new facts about the world every day.

Like the fact the American Gothic painting shows a farmer and his daughter, not his wife. Or how Gandalf carries his pipe in his staff.

You’re probably aware of the ‘I was today years old’ jokes that people post online when they want to share something weird that they just learned with everyone. Well, these jokes have made a resurgence during the coronavirus lockdown, and there are plenty of new ones to make our jaws drop. 

Bored Panda has collected some of the best ‘I was today years old’ moments for you to enjoy (and to have random cool facts to drop during your next Zoom cocktail party), so scroll down for some truly weird facts that are true and don’t forget to upvote your faves.

#2

todayyearsoldig tweets about KFC, and picture of KFC owner with person on his back

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kitty.boom
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read about it years ago, but didn't know they sent him a painting. That's cool and sweet too!

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#4

_youhadonejob1 tweets about screwdriver handles and picture of person using screwdriver

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Hans
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This typically is not the best idea, though. Rather use a socket wrench with bits and operate it really carefully. Using special oils to loosen a screw firstbor to de-rust it can also help. Merr mere force likely destroy the screw!

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#5

soapachu tweets about aubergines and picture of aubergines

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glowworm2
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I didn't know that because I'm more familiar with the purple kind in the stores. I didn't know that that's how they grow. BTW, this is the white version. The purple version starts out purple from the beginning.

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New Fact For Dog Lovers

So, since we’re talking about random facts today, let’s share some other cool ones, shall we? For instance, did you know that one study found that dogs prefer to align themselves “along the North-South axis under calm magnetic field conditions” when they have to go number two? Researchers studied 70 dogs over two years, and this was the first time that magnetic sensitivity was proven in dogs. Science is weird and wonderful.

#7

sassycrass tweets about measles completely erases body's immunological memory

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Ani Archeron
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Measles targets memory cells?? Thanks to every scientist who ever put an ounce of thought into creating that life-saving vaccine.

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Old Weird Fact That Is True

Another brain-melting fact is that there were fewer than 1.5k people living in Central Europe for significant periods of time during the Stone Age. Yeah, that sounds unbelievable. IFL Science made a great analogy about how you could fit all those people on a modern mid-sized cruise ship.

#11

Shxperienced tweets about buttload and picture of wine barrels

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Hans
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The English are unchallenged in having absurd units of measurement.

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#12

bakbakbakkerr tweets about turtles and picture of turtle inside

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Not-so-MadMax
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh god, they really should talk to the people making cartoons. I have been gravely misinformed in my youth...

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A Modern, But Random, Cool Fact

Speaking of modern times, if you’ve ever complained about TV ads being too long, just wait until you realize that Old Spice made a 14-hour promo. Their ad ran on December 18, 2018, in São Paulo, Brazil, and won the Guinness World Record for the longest TV ad ever. You can find the abridged version right here (don’t worry, it’s just over 3 minutes, not 3 hours long).

#17

ThatEricAlper tweets about American Gothic and portrait of farmer and his daughter

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chi-wei shen
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The painter's sister Nan who modelled as the woman in the paintintg, perhaps embarrassed about being depicted as the wife of a man twice her age (modelled by a dentist), started telling people that Wood had envisioned the couple as father and daughter, not husband and wife. The painter Grant Wood himself remained vague on this point.

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A Source for More Daily Fun Facts

The internet continually proves that there are still things for us to learn. Luckily, someone took the ‘I was today years old’ concept and created a whole project around it. This initiative regularly shares new facts on social media, mainly Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), and their dedicated website.

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However, you can always check out Reddit for a daily dose of ‘I was today years old’ moments. Two groups, r/IWasTodayYearsOld and r/TodayYearsOld, are full of weird but true facts you might want to know about.

#22

gracebeverley tweets about loofahs and picture of loofahs

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NMN
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3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Sponges are animals from the ocean (phylum Porifera), but not all of sponges can be used btw, most have too much silica. That's probably what made you confused, between sponges and loofahs

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SARITA yadav
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Actually it's a vegetable. It is quite common in India. In rural India loofas are used from very long time. I come from a village when I showed people that our useless vegetable is being sold online they where are astonished and laughing too.

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Jace
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Fruit. Every “vegetable” we eat that is a reproductive organ (has seeds) is a fruit. A vegetable is when the parts of the plant we eat are the body of the plant.

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Pseudo Puppy
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

My dad had an entire vine of these in his garden when I was a kid. I loved it, because they attracted lady-bugs. <3

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stripper dream
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They kind of absorb the liquid you cook them and since they tend to be bland, salt, pepper, some garlic would go a long way in giving them flavor. They're kinda spongy before cooking. We call them "patola".

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Katie and Jared Coates
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We moved to the beach for a few years once. The landlord had what I thought were squash growing on the fence. THEY WERE LOOFAHS

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NQ L
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

We cook the young one in soup or stir fried. They're really yummy.

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SARITA yadav
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Oh my God. In India village people have been using this for long time. Its a tendril and hangs down from trees. It's free and we used to just throw it away. Even now nobody's cares about it. It is used as a vegetable very healthy vegetable.

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Shelley Russell
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow...I'm sure i'm not the only one who thought until today that they were sponges!

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Ms Phit
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I grew some in my garden a few years ago! They make a ridiculous amount of seeds

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Karen Gavaletz
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I thought they were vegetables...either way, they are edible...

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Jolee Hang
Community Member
3 years ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I go to a very small high school, about one hundred students (25 students per grade level, because I constantly have to clarify this. We do have a very tiny school, no real lunch room, a very tiny cafeteria, and 6 classrooms, a library that's smaller than most bedrooms, (terrible) with an extra room for our school's equivalent of lockers, which are desks. Apparently, the whole building is about the size of my mom's cafeteria in her k-12 high school, and I think she had about 20,000 students at her school... or 2,000. We don't direct most of our money towards the building, as we're a STEM school, and instead spend most of it on technology, which we usually are the first to get the most recently made computers, and on classes.) Anyways, one of my classes was horticulture, which involved a lot of greenhouse work, and we were supposed to get the plant that made loofahs, and have some experiments with them, but something went wrong while we were getting them, and didn't get to do it :(. I didn't realize that they were a fruit, or that they were called loofahs.

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Yeah, you heard
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Huh, and I've avoided them all these years thinking they were dead animals, like sponges are. Seriously, stop rubbing dead animals around your body in the name of cleanliness.

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Simon Deschamps
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was today years old when I learned what a loofah was….Mind you I am French so that might explain why lol

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Jimmy Wright
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yep, Chinese cucumber and man do they grow like wild flower? Spread like a a watermelon plant

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LittleMissLotus
Community Member
3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Dude what? I had literally no idea this was a thing, I'm going straight to amazon to buy some loofah seeds lol

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#24

TechConnectify tweets about word footage

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David Jeu
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

This all make sense now. Btw love technology connections channel.:)

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#25

Sarahmcgphoto tweets about warning against going to sleep with a concussion and picture of woman holding her head

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Flisey
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was told "bumped his head in the middle of the bed" was really "his wife killed him'. My grandmother was one dark woman

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Got Your Own Fact to Share?

Here at Bored Panda, we are always eager to learn. Have you ever had an 'I was today years old' moment? Share it with other Panda users and us. Whether it’s funny, cool, or downright strange, if you find it interesting, share it in the comments below!

#26

todayyearsoldig tweets about Bikini Bottom houses and picture of Bikini Bottom house and car mufflers

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Untitled_Goose_Man
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How old were you when you realized Bikini Bottom is under Bikini Atoll, where the US tested hundreds of nuclear weapons? Spongebob is a nuclear mutation

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#27

RavenElyseTV tweets about pasta spoon and picture of pasta with spoon

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Foxxy (The Original)
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I have known this for ages but forget to do it and always ended up cooking more pasta than needed.

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#28

BitchItsSpice tweets about yellow watermelon and picture of yellow and red watermelons

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Troux
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3 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They taste identical, so don't bother going out of your way for it.

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#30

kevinddaly tweets about stock photo for the Mamma Mia! and picture of stock photo for Mamma Mia! and poster for Mamma Mia!

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