“True education is a kind of never-ending story – a matter of continual beginnings, of habitual fresh starts, of persistent newness,” said J.R.R. Tolkien. And it’s true: there’s no age cutoff for continually learning new things about the world. We can discover something new and interesting every single day.
This process has never been easier thanks to the Internet. We can learn new fun facts or interesting things from any field: history, languages, math – you name it. The Today I Learned subreddit is a wonderful place to share such not-so-common tidbits of knowledge with others. So check out our new selection of fascinating facts, pandas, and upvote those you find the most interesting.
Bored Panda reached out to two podcasts that are about interesting facts. The first creator is Steve Silverman, author of the Useless Information podcast. Steve shares interesting, lesser-known stories from history. The second trio that was kind enough to share their expertise was the creators of the I Should Have Known podcast – Tanner, Andi and Sups. You can find short interviews with them below!
More info: Useless Information Facebook | Useless Information X | I Should Have Known Instagram | I Should Have Known Youtube | I Should Have Known Patreon
#1
TIL that instead of using his Make-A-Wish for something for himself, 13-Year-old Abraham Olagbegi used his wish to feed the homeless in his neighborhood for a year.
Image source: RealTheAsh , Goodable
#2
TIL a sheepdog named Casper fought for over 30 minutes against 11 coyotes who were threatening his flock, killed 8 of them, and survived with a severe neck wound and a missing tail.
Image source: algrinder
#3
TIL: A woman born with birth defects caused by Chernobyl including 6 toes, webbed fingers, no thumbs, leg 15cm shorter than the other, and missing some organs, won a gold medal in the paralympics for cross-country skiiing.
Image source: CapitalManufacturer7, Yakudza
#4
TIL in 1963, a 16-year-old sent a 4-question survey to 150 well-known authors (75 of which replied) in order to prove to his English tutor that writers don’t intentionally add symbolic content to their books.
Image source: Calendar8, theparisreview
#5
TIL During the 1800s, Hawai‘i became one of the most literate nations in the world with over 90% of the population able to read and write. Even King Kamehameha III proudly declared, “He aupuni palapala ko‘u” (“I have a kingdom of education”)
Image source: colapepsikinnie
#6
TIL that Amsterdam’s Rijksmuseum awarded its 10th million visitor with the chance to spend one night in the museum alone. The winner slept underneath Rembrandt’s “The Night Watch”.
Image source: Specialist_Check
#7
TIL Aretha Franklin required that she be paid in cash before any performance. The cash went into her handbag and the handbag either stayed with her security team or would rest on the piano during her onstage performance.
Image source: trifletruffles, 49metal
#8
TIL Michelin started reviewing restaurants so people would travel farther and wear out their tires, increasing their sales.
Image source: julyninetyone, Yente Van Eynde
#9
TIL A hiker was lost on a mountain for 24 hours and ignored calls, texts, and voicemail messages from rescuer teams because he didn’t recognize the phone number.
Image source: Algrinder, Oziel Gómez
#10
TIL Michael Schumacher donated $10 million to the victims of the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami. It was the highest individual donation made in the disaster that killed more than 220,000 people. Schumacher’s bodyguard Burkhard Cramer, and Cramer’s two sons, were killed in the tsunami.
Image source: trifletruffles
#11
TIL: In 1956, France banned the serving of alcohol to children under the age of 14 in the school canteens. Prior to that, school children had the right to drink half a litre of wine, cider or beer with their meals. In 1981 France implemented a total alcohol ban in the country’s schools.
Image source: diacewrb, Yan Krukau
#12
TIL Ernie Hudson, who played Winston Zeddemore in the Ghostbusters movies, was rejected from a role in the Ghostbusters cartoons because they thought he didn’t sound like Winston Zeddemore.
Image source: Cyrus-114, sonypictures
#13
TIL that in his final years as US president, Woodrow Wilson was too sick to govern. His wife Edith kept his sickness secret, taking over so many duties she was essentially president. She hid Wilson’s paralysis by covering his left side with a blanket.
Image source: RollingNightSky, loc
#14
TIL: Author Roald Dahl helped invent a new brain shunt that saved thousands of children after his own baby son suffered a brain injury.
Image source: KewpieCutie97
#15
TIL Rockstar hired real-life gang members and ex-convicts in GTA V to voice some of the characters. They also gave them the freedom to improvise the script and say what they would say in real life, to make the dialogue more realistic and authentic.
Image source: Algrinder, rockstargames
#16
TIL Winston Churchill had a doctor’s note to drink “unlimited” alcohol in prohibition America (1932).
Image source: CheesyDogPizza, BiblioArchives
#17
TIL A breakthrough in kidney stone treatment will allow them to be expelled without invasive surgery, using a handheld device. NASA has been funding the technology for 10 years, and it’s one of the last significant issues in greenlighting human travel to Mars.
Image source: Influence_X, RDNE Stock project
#18
TIL that an unplugged microwave carries enough residual current to kill you, even if it’s been unplugged for months. So never try to repair a broken microwave unless you know how to discharge the capacitor
Image source: mario_van_pooples
#19
TIL real doctors from USC Medical Center were recruited to play the doctors who try to save E.T. because Spielberg felt that actors talking about technical medical matters didn’t seem natural.
Image source: SingLikeTinaTurner
#20
TIL that John F. Kennedy’s patrol boat was rammed by a Japanese destroyer. After a 3-mile swim to an island, he and his crew survived on coconuts for 2 days. Rescued by two islanders, their message etched on a coconut shell became a paperweight on JFK’s desk.
Image source: NebulaNomad640
#21
TIL a man found a winning lottery ticket worth $24 million in an old shirt just two days before it expires.
Jimmie Smith, a 68-year old New Jersey man who discovered a winning New York Lotto ticket in an old shirt hanging in his closet.
The ticket was purchased on May 25, 2016 and the winner had one year to claim the prize.
Smith checked his tickets in May 2017, after seeing a news story about the unclaimed jackpot.
He claimed his prize just two days before the deadline, on May 23, 2017.
Image source: Algrinder
#22
TIL average onset of menstruation for girls in 1840 was age 17. In 2000 it was 12 years old.
Image source: u/jumpedoutoftheboat , Sora Shimazaki
#23
TIL calories in food are measured by exploding a dehydrated food in an oxygen filled canister surrounded by water. The explosion of the food item gives off energy that heats the surrounding water. The increase in temperature of the water is how we calculate calories.
Image source: jellypalmbear, Marta Dzedyshko
#24
TIL: North Korea shot down a US spy plane in April 1969, an enraged Nixon allegedly ordered a tactical nuclear strike and told the joint chiefs to recommend targets. Henry Kissinger spoke to military commanders on the phone and agreed not to do anything until Nixon sobered up in the morning.
Image source: u/diacewrb
#25
TIL that women are traditionally prohibited from entering a sumo ring. This tradition is so strictly enforced that in 2018 two women were asked to leave the ring even though they were preforming CPR on a man who collapsed in one.
Image source: nickburrows8398, Jed Scattergood
#26
TIL An otter squeezed through gates into a classical Chinese garden at night in downtown Vancouver and ate 11 prized koi fish. Traps baited with raw chicken and salmon were set up but otter was never caught.
Image source: ubcstaffer123
#27
TIL that 80% of animals found in Madagascar exist nowhere else on earth.
Image source: mikeyv683
#28
TIL in the 1980s, NASA had a 1-900 number which charged $2 for the first minute and $.45 for each additional minute. It allowed callers to listen in on a mission status report and mid-flight press conferences, and thousands of them heard the Challenger explosion in real-time.
Image source: Forward-Answer-4407 , Alena Shekhovtcova
#29
TIL that Skoda test their car horns 150,000 times for the European car market. For the Indian market the horns are tested 500,000 times due to the increased use of car horns in India. One study carried out at major intersections in Indian cities found that a horn sounds every three seconds.
Image source: u/EssexGuyUpNorth, Carcomparing.eu
#30
TIL that, to avoid predators, when the glass frogs are asleep, they remove nearly 90% of their circulating blood cells, storing what is essentially their entire circulatory system in one organ and resulting almost transparent
Image source: giuliomagnifico
#31
TIL that when Roger Bannister became the first person to run a mile in under 4 minutes, he was working as a doctor in the NHS. On the day he broke the record, he had already worked a morning shift at St Mary’s hospital in London, and then caught the train to Oxford where he ran the race.
Image source: EssexGuyUpNorth
#32
TIL Terry Pratchett had all his unfinished works destroyed by steamroller after his death.
Image source: briskt
#33
TIL you can die eating a diet of rabbits without another source of fat because they are so lean. It’s called protein poisoning, aka Rabbit Starvation.
Image source: Dongalor
#34
TIL that the majority of men in Germany sit down to urinate.
Image source: Poopfinger
#35
TIL The bronze doors of the Pantheon are the original doors from 2000 years ago.
Image source: BOQOR
#36
TIL that the Guinness World Records no longer recognize the fattest animal as a record in order to prevent compulsive overeating.
Image source: WyenaTheGirl
#37
TIL that philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre once took mescaline and imagined himself attacked by sea creatures. For years afterward, he suffered from intrusive thoughts about crabs and persistently thought crabs were following him around.
Image source: dancingdivadrink
#38
TIL the sun loses over 4 million tons of mass every second as energy.
Image source: Travellingjake, Sachin C Nair
#39
TIL there is a town in Alaska called Whittier where nearly the entire population lives in one building along with all of the town’s public facilities.
Image source: ComfortableShirt93
#40
TIL one of the co-creators of Keurig machines was diagnosed with caffeine poisoning due to his daily 30 to 40 cup coffee habit.
Image source: radarthreat, Joseph Francis
#41
TIL that Cassowary meat is so tough that people were told to cook it with a stone in the pot. “When the stone is ready to eat, so is the Cassowary.”
Image source: ohnoyoufoundthis
#42
TIL that 61% of US troops killed in Vietnam were under the age of 21. The overall average age was 23.
Image source: [deleted]
#43
TIL Tina Fey got her chin scar at age 5 when a stranger randomly entered her yard while she was playing and slashed her face.
Image source: SAT0725, David Shankbone
#44
TIL that it is impossible to copy, scan, or Photoshop currency on most modern equipment. Modern copiers and scanners, as well as image processing programs, can identify patterns on the notes and will cease processing the image.
Image source: 99titan, John Guccione
#45
TIL in the small town of Norwood Ontario in 1957, some teenagers opened several fire hydrants simultaneously as a prank and caused the towns can-shaped water tower to be crushed inward like a tin can. It remained in use for 35 years and the town became infamous for its crushed water tower.
Image source: Dapper_Most3460
#46
TIL Michael Jackson’s pet chimpanzee Bubbles is still alive, and lives in the Center for Great Apes sanctuary in Florida, where his care is paid for by Jackson’s estate.
Image source: kiljaeden
#47
TIL in WW2, when Germans captured a British bomber tail gunner who claimed that he had jumped out of his plane at 5500m without a parachute, they investigated and confirmed his claim and gave him a certificate to confirm his story.
Image source: fwouewei
#48
TIL Louis Braille invented the braille system between ages 12-15 after having been blind 7 years due to an accidental self-inflicted injury at age 5 that resulted in his own blindness.
Image source: outoftownMD
#49
TIL that the man who authored the NIST manual on passwords and recommended password changes every 90 days regrets doing so. Mandatory password changes on a scheduled interval are no longer recommended by NIST.
Image source: gixk
#50
TIL of Natalia Grace, a 9-year-old orphan whose adopted parents claimed she was actually a 22-year-old sociopath.
Image source: Sebastianlim, FOX 11 Los Angeles
#51
TIL any person who succesfuly parachutes out of a failing aircraft is eligible to join the caterpillar club. You get a certificate as well as a caterpillar shaped pin and get to join their annual gatherings. People who escaped a failing aircraft with no parachute are denied entry.
Image source: Ainsley-Sorsby
#52
TIL that when casting Walter White for Breaking Bad, the role was originally offered to John Cusack and Matthew Broderick. It wasn’t until after they turned it down that the executives saw Bryan Cranston’s X-Files episode and cast him for the role.
Image source: LawBobLawLoblaw
#53
TIL Queen Elizabeth II and her husband were third cousins, both descended from Queen Victoria.
Image source: toafobark, Government of Alberta
#54
TIL Walt Disney used shell companies and fake names to acquire the land in Orlando that would become Disney World in 1971.
Image source: Proper_Contest_4035, TheWorldofTrailers
#55
TIL that the famous “I’ll have what she’s having” line from the film “When Harry Met Sally” wasn’t in the original script. Billy Crystal suggested it after he and Meg Ryan improvised the entire orgasm scene. The two were originally supposed to discuss “faking it” without an actual demonstration.
Image source: waitingforthesun92
#56
TIL the FBI is recommending adblockers as necessary.
Image source: nakakapagpabagabag, Leif Eliasson
#57
TIL when Rita Hayworth learned the atomic bomb that was scheduled to be tested at Bikini atoll would feature her likeness, she was offended. Her husband Orson Welles later recalled she was the angriest she had ever been thinking it was a publicity stunt orchestrated by the head of Columbia Pictures.
Image source: trifletruffles
#58
TIL that in 2009, hundreds of brightly-colored bird specimens were stolen from the Natural History Museum London. It was later found that a student had sold them online to be used for fly-fishing lures.
Image source: Hybrid351
#59
TIL: Crab Rangoons aren’t related to Chinese cuisine, and were instead invented in an American Tiki bar by someone trying to give a new appatizer a suitably Asian sounding name, and then re-appropriated by Chinese-American restaurateurs as a staple appetizer.
Image source: Rusty_Porksword
#60
TIL when Conan O’Brien reached a settlement with NBC over the Tonight Show drama, he was awarded $45 million, $12 million of which was for his staff who had moved with Conan to Los Angeles from New York when he left Late Night.
Image source: BoosherCacow
#61
TIL the USS Kidd is the only US Navy ship permitted to fly the Jolly Roger.
Image source: u/bostonian277
#62
TIL that both Al Pacino and Robert De Niro are two of the oldest fathers on record, fathering children at the ages of 83 and 79 respectively.
Image source: greatmanyarrows, millennium-media
#63
TIL the CG director of Silent Hill, Takayoshi Sako, created all the game’s cutscenes by himself. He used the office’s 150 computers to render the scenes after all the other employees left for the night. He also slept under his desk and lived at the office for the 3 years it took him to finish.
Image source: SaltyPeter3434, Konami
#64
TIL Ninjas did not wear black on missions, because they would not blend in with the enviroment.
Image source: No_Version2156
#65
TIL when Cleopatra and Julius Caesar met and subsequently became lovers, she was 21 and he was 52.
Image source: TheHabro
#66
TIL in 2005, Sothebys & Christies had to play Rock-Paper-Scissors over an art collection. Sothebys assumed it was random chance, so had no strategy. But Christies studied the game & asked two 11yo twin girls, who picked scissors: “Rock is way too obvious, and scissors beats paper.” Christies won.
Image source: Pfeffer_Prinz
#67
TIL that gooning is a form of legal kidnapping in the US where a parent can hire someone to kidnap a kid they think is troubled at night to bring them to boarding school or behavior modification facility.
Image source: InterestingPickle, Pixabay
#68
TIL pilot callsigns are assigned to you by your “buddies”, inspired from something stupid you did/say, your name, or your physical appearance. e.g. “Rat” for someone short and ugly; “Alphabet” if your name is too long; “Caveman” if you enjoyed survival training too much.
Image source: EconomicRegret
#69
TIL Argentina forced Mcdonald’s in their country to sell the Big Mac at an artificially low price to improve their country’s performance on the Big Mac index; effectively hiding their country’s inflation.
Image source: DeVolkaan
#70
TIL When Jimmy Carter left the White House, his secretary had transcribed over 5,000 pages from his personal journal. Carter waited a long time to publish his diary since it contains his unguarded impressions. “White House Diary”, released in 2010, contains a quarter of everything he wrote.
Image source: ubcstaffer123
#71
TIL In 2012 Jimmy Zhong uncovered a coding error on the now defunct crypto market Silk Road that allowed him to withdraw more funds than he deposited. He stole 51,680 BTC ($3.4 Billion) and stayed anonymous for ten years before finally getting caught and arrested in ’21 and was sentenced to 1 year.
Image source: Bluest_waters
#72
TIL the Goodyear Airdock is so large it has its own climate. Temperature fluctuations create clouds and rain inside the structure.
Image source: Qonold
#73
TIL in 2011, the Kellogg’s brand decided to add Vitamin D to all of its cereals in the UK due to the fact that 1 in 5 people in the UK were deficient in Vitamin D. A study in 2021 showed that 1 in 6 adults in the UK have low levels of vitamin D in their blood
Image source: Genesistrd
#74
TIL In 2014, Swiss Air Force could not intercept a hijacked airplane because the incident happened outside their working hours.
Image source: 010x
#75
TIL In the 1970s, Irish banks went on strike — so people made their own currency, and the pubs kept the country from falling into ruin.
Image source: tomtermite
#76
TIL that Apple code-named the PowerMac 7100 “Carl Sagan.” Sagan sent a C&D letter, Apple complied, renaming it “BHA” for “Butthead Astronomer.” Settling out of court, the final name became “LAW” for “Lawyers are Wimps.”
Image source: Mpm_277
#77
TIL that the last television ever manufactured in the U.S. made its way off the assembly line in July 2005 at the former Magnavox production headquarters in Greeneville, Tennessee. The TV remains on public display in a history museum in the town.
Image source: appalachianengineer
#78
TIL that as the USS Franklin was returning to Pearl Harbor for repairs after surviving multiple kamikaze hits, the captain refused to allow the harbor pilot to dock the aircraft carrier, wanting to do it himself. He proceeded to immediately crash the ship into the dock.
Image source: CreeperIan02
#79
TIL that Starbucks incurred massive losses and failed miserably trying to expand into Australia.
Image source: Rd28T
#80
TIL that the production team of “Elf” (2003) approached Macy’s to use their store for the film, but Macy’s declined as they didn’t like the idea that there was a fake Santa working in the store. Instead, the department store scenes were shot in the cafeteria of a mental hospital in Vancouver.
Image source: waitingforthesun92
#81
TIL in 2018 multiple Virginia towns banned trick or treating for anyone over the age of 12. For example, according to the Chesapeake, Virginia city code in 2018, violators could face a fine and up to 6 months in jail.
Image source: Sandstorm400, Charles Parker
#82
TIL due to being a Scientologist, Kirstie Alley decided not to reprise her role as Rebecca Howe on the Cheers spinoff Frasier, because Frasier is a psychiatrist.
Image source: fap_fap_fap_fapper
#83
TIL Ariana Grande gets less than 10% of the royalties for her 2019 single “7 Rings”. Most of it goes to the estate of Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II, the songwriters of “My Favourite Things”.
Image source: Specialist_Check
#84
TIL it took 15 years and 5,127 prototypes before James Dyson shipped his first vacuum cleaner.
Image source: JOWWLLL
#85
TIL Roald Dahl wrote “The Twits” because of his profound disgust for beards.
Image source: Thomas_Catthew
#86
TIL: This year Belgian Customs destroyed 2,352 cans of Miller High Life because it had the word Champagne on them.
Image source: jadraxx
#87
TIL the former CEO of Nissan fled Japan in 2019 by hiding in an audio equipment box.
Image source: Specialist_Check
#88
TIL 4000 luxury cars, including Audi, Porsche, Lamborghini and Bentley models, are at the bottom of the ocean after the ship Felicity Ace sank
Image source: Illbb
#89
TIL the exercise paradox: hunter-gatherers who trek miles daily (or climb up trees) burn the same calories as much-less-active office workers and machine operators.
Image source: jnpha
#90
TIL about the “Rabbit Test,” a human pregnancy test developed in 1931, in which urine from a female human would be injected into a female rabbit. The rabbit would be dissected and if its ovaries were enlarged then the human was likely pregnant (~98% certainty). The test was used into the 1970s
Image source: nondescriptun
#91
TIL one of the reasons LBJ didn’t pursue another presidential term 1969-1973 was because an actuarial committee (accurately) predicted he would die at age 64, when he would still be in office. He died 2 days after the 1973 inauguration.
Image source: pussibilities
#92
TIL the ahead of the U.S. invasion of Grenada 40 years ago, the Pentagon “knew so little about the country, it had to plan the invasion using maps normally sold to tourists.”
Image source: DavidCarraway
#93
TIL it is virtually impossible to die from sinking to the bottom and suffocating if you get trapped in quicksand.
Image source: 0nlyinVegas
#94
TIL that the U.S. Army disposed of banned chemical weapons and munitions through a program called CHASE (Cut Holes And Sink ‘Em) where the chemicals were loaded on a ship that was then purposely sank in the ocean.
Image source: hootch42
#95
TIL that until 1773, Harvard University graduates were ranked not by academic merit but according to their birth status or rank of their parents.
Image source: SnarkySheep
#96
TIL there are 80,000 Americans living in Saudi Arabia, housing compounds with luxurious amenities, such as swimming pools and tennis courts. They are walled off and provide “some security and privacy from the country’s strict Islamic code on matters of dress and social mixing.”
Image source: bulovawatch
#97
TIL the original draft of the film “Being John Malkovich” had nothing to do with the actor himself. Upon being pitched the film, New Line Cinema founder Robert Shaye asked “Why the f**k can’t it be called ‘Being Tom Cruise?”, a question that John Malkovich also asked.
Image source: dogrio345
#98
TIL in 2006, Quiznos sent mystery shoppers to franchise stores and sued owners for not putting enough meat in a prime rib sandwich. The owners won a lawsuit against Quiznos, with the judge calling Quizno’s meat-weighing exercise a “charade” to bolster its national ad campaign against Subway.
Image source: WouldbeWanderer
#99
TIL, the average thru hiker on the Appalachian Trail spends $10,000 during their 5-month hike.
Image source: Hilaria_adderall
#100
TIL, In the movie 300, a Persian emissary is thrown down a well by Leonidas. In reality, Sparta sent two volunteers back to Persia to be executed, in atonement for the deaths of the Persians.
Image source: ZealousidealLuck6303
#101
TIL There are filial laws in the USA (state by state) that require adult children to support sick or indigent parents.
Image source: LisaLisa1962
#102
TIL that the largest battle of the American Revolutionary War took place in Europe. America’s Spanish and French allies besieged Gibraltar, at one point attacking with 60,000 men, but were defeated by the 5,000 British defenders.
Image source: [deleted]
#103
TIL of the 2020 Nigeria Hostage Rescue, where a 27 year old American was kidnapped. The US responded by sending 30 Navy SEALs, 3 AC-130J Ghostriders, 8 CV-22B Ospreys, 6 C-17A Globemaster IIIs 5 KC-135R Stratotankers 8 MC-130J Commando IIs 1 P-8A Poseidons, and 1 Gulfstream V to rescue him
Image source: BeevyD
#104
TIL Although surveys indicate people think running is bad for one’s knees, research shows it’s not, and is likely good for knees/joints.
Image source: somepeoplewait
#105
TIL Action Comics #1 is so valuable that even a copy graded as low as 1.5/10 by the CGC still sold for $175,000.
Image source: godumbledorkk
#106
TIL in 2022, BMW offered subscriptions for customers in the U.K. that would enable them to use their car’s heated front seats (£15 per month) or heated steering wheel (£10 per month).
Image source: Forward-Answer-4407
#107
TIL in the 1950s Temple University and the City of Philadelphia disinterred an entire cemetery to expand Temple’s campus and dumped 28,000 headstones into the river.
Image source: diatriose, RDNE Stock project
#108
TIL that in 2018 Utah became the first state in the Michelin Guides’ 118-year history to receive three stars as a tourist destination. It’s described as “essential, exceptional, worth a journey in itself.”
Image source: tyrion2024
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