r/todayilearned • u/HBombBrohan • 4h ago

TIL that Ring was on Shark Tank and walked away without a deal. Ring later sold to Amazon for $1 billion.

youtube.com

r/todayilearned • u/corey_m_snow • 9h ago

TIL that a Christian sect called "Millerites" believed that Christ would return by Oct. 22, 1844. When that didn't happen, the "Great Disappointment" caused them to fall into confusion and disband, with some former Millerites reinterpreting their doctrine and forming the Seventh Day Adventists.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Hambgex • 14h ago

TIL that at an Allied checkpoint during the Battle of the Bulge, US General Omar Bradley was detained as a possible spy when he correctly identified Springfield as the capital of Illinois. The American military police officer who questioned him mistakenly believed the capital was Chicago

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/zerocool64 • 9h ago

TIL Michael Keaton's real name is Michael Douglas, but he was forced to use Keaton because the other actor was already using his name. As a result, he often inadvertently plays tricks on people expecting Michael Douglas - only to get Michael Keaton.

cinemablend.com

r/todayilearned • u/wearekindtosnails • 6h ago

TIL that the first character on screen in Super Mario 64 is Lakitu, Mario's camera operator. Because the 1996 game was the first in the series to have 3D gameplay, the developers needed to teach players that they were controlling both Mario AND the camera.

games.avclub.com

r/todayilearned • u/gasballbutsmol • 11h ago

TIL about the Qallupilluk – marine creatures that steal children through cracks in the ice. They hum & knock on the ice. Some say they’re lonely, or hungry. An inuit legend used to scare lone children away from approaching cracking, drifting ice.

inuitmyths.com

r/todayilearned • u/BrokenEye3 • 5h ago

TIL that during the sinking of the RMS Titanic, many passengers refused to evacuate, insisting they were safer on the ship than in the tiny lifeboats. Chief baker Charles Joughin eventually took it upon himself to forcibly drag reluctant passengers onto the deck and hurl them into the lifeboats

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/nickburrows8398 • 18h ago

TIL that the lyrics in Le Freak by CHIC originally contained the words “fuck off” rather then “freak out”. They got the idea after being denied entry to a club and the bouncer told them to “fuck off”. The lyrics were changed since they couldn’t say fuck on the radio.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Russian_Bagel • 17h ago

TIL that during the American Civil War, several divisions of the confederate army had a large snowball fight. It started when a couple of hundred men from Texas plotted a friendly fight with men from Arkansas, which spiralled into a brawl involving 9,000 soldiers of the Army of Northern Virginia.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/_Mehdi_haned • 4h ago

TIL that the Italian island of sicily was occupied by Muslims between from 831 to 1091 AD. Under Muslim rule, the island became increasingly prosperous and cosmopolitan. Trade and agriculture flourished, and Palermo, its capital, became one of the largest and wealthiest cities in Europe.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/alpengeist19 • 7h ago

TIL about Roar [1981], a movie filmed with 150 untrained lions and tigers with no safety precautions, leading to several injuries. The animals were given co-writing credits because they couldn't use the real script all that often since the actors were just terrified and running for their lives.

youtu.be

r/todayilearned • u/Ainsley-Sorsby • 10h ago

TIL of Garum, a type of fish sauce which the romans adored. It smelled so bad that Garum factories could only be found outside the city walls, but it was still the ancient world's favorite topping, which accompanied most of their foods

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/NewAccountEachYear • 1d ago

TIL the first country to recognize Greek independence was not any of the western powers, but Haiti, who alledgedly sent 25ton of Coffee beans to finance their rebellion

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/The__Big__Red1 • 3h ago

TIL that the Antarctic research station at the south pole has to *heat* their cafeteria freezers.

earthobservatory.nasa.gov

r/todayilearned • u/Thomas_Catthew • 13h ago

TIL Josh Brolin attempted 'perineum sunning', an alternative therapy that involves exposing the bare anus and perineum to sunlight. “I don’t know who the f–k thought of this stupid s–t but f–k you nonetheless. Seriously" is what he had to say about the experience.

health.com

r/todayilearned • u/blueberrisorbet • 2h ago

TIL Japanese Gen. Kuribayashi knew he was facing unsurmountable odds during the invasion of Iwo Jima. He forbade standard Japanese banzai charges, leading an American general to say he was "one smart bastard." At the end, he inflicted 26k American casualties while fighting with "emaciated men."

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/ContributorX_PJ64 • 4h ago

TIL that Richard Donner received hate mail and death threats for making Superman (1978), which draws parallels between Superman and Jesus, with one letter telling him his "blood would run in the streets".

screenrant.com

r/todayilearned • u/jk-phill • 6h ago

TIL that the Tang Dynasty (618-906 A.D.) of China was considered the golden age and they invented gun powder, made the first gas cylinder, had air conditioning, and a way to print books.

thetangdynasty.org

r/todayilearned • u/BellsSnowpaws • 5h ago

TIL in ancient times some inuit people did not have access to enough wood for their sleds and often used frozen fish wrapped in skins in place of runners. They used blocks of ice to reduce drag.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/DystopianAdvocate • 6h ago

TIL That the DEA found an increase from about 4% THC in 1995 to about 12% in 2014 in marijuana. By 2017, another study showed, the potency of illicit drug samples had gone up to 17.1% THC, an increase of more than 300% from 1995 to about 2017.

npr.org

r/todayilearned • u/beerbellybegone • 1d ago

TIL the world's first implantable pacemaker patient, Arne Larsson, went on to receive 26 different pacemakers during his lifetime. He died in 2001, at the age of 86, outliving the inventor as well as the surgeon.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/cheloniagal • 5h ago

TIL that octopus cannot see colour - yet they can camouflage seamlessly with their surroundings and communicate with other octopus by flashing colourful patterns on their skin

interaliamag.org

r/todayilearned • u/RainStarNC • 1d ago

TIL cats commonly have white bellies and paws because when pigment develops in the womb, it starts along what will become the spine and works its way around to the front. Sometimes pigmentation doesn’t make it all the way around, resulting in color on top and white on the bottom.

reuters.com

r/todayilearned • u/kaloonzu • 37m ago

TIL that a bevy of attorneys turned up dead, were fired, or forced to resign while pursuing criminal charges against needle manufacturers and purchasers who had contributed to the worldwide spread of HIV and hepatitis

en.wikipedia.org