If you’re a fan of learning something new every day, you are probably well familiar with the ‘Today I Learned’ community, or TIL, for short. If you’re not, let us introduce you to one of the biggest treasure chests of interesting facts you can find online.
Created back in 2008, the community on Reddit now has over 40 million members, seeking to learn something new every day. So, if you’re eager to do the same, check out a sneak peek of what you can expect from the community on the list below. Or, browse our category of interesting facts for more similar content that can help you scratch that curious brain of yours.
On the list below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with Professor of Educational Psychology at the University of Connecticut, Dr. James C. Kaufman, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions.
#1
TIL that in 1978, a 30 people hostage situation in Melbourne was resolved when the perpetrators mother stormed the place, hit him over the head with her handbag and told him to “stop being so stupid”.
Image source: Sfinx_the_Pirate, AJ Colores
#2
TIL Beastie Boys won a lawsuit for company using their songs “Girls” without permission, then donated all to a charity that is STEM programs for females.
Image source: StormPuppies, beastieboys
#3
TIL a 2018 study found that male gorillas who participated the most in babysitting duties sired more than five times the offspring as male gorillas who avoided child care. Male gorillas are “often quite snuggly, letting infant and juvenile gorillas cuddle, play and just hang out in their nests.”
Image source: tyrion2024, Edwin-Butter
#4
TIL that while filming John Wick 4, Keanu Reeves gifted stunt performers customized T-shirts showing how many times they “died” in the film, with some dying over 20 times. His personal team of stuntmen also received custom Rolex Submariner watches after filming, as a token of appreciation.
Image source: Icy_Smoke_733, Lionsgate
#5
TIL Anthony Bourdain called “Ratatouille” “simply the best food movie ever made.” This was due to details like the burns on cooks’ arms, accurate to working in restaurants. He said they got it “right” and understood movie making. He got a Thank You credit in the film for notes he provided early on.
Image source: Giff95, Fast Company
#6
TIL Titanic survivors who said the ship split in half before sinking were not believed for 73 years, with one survivor saying people would ‘argue’ with her about what she really saw, until the Titanic’s wreckage was found in half in 1985.
Image source: sanandrios, uwants
#7
TIL: Ancient Athens had a system called ostracism, where citizens could vote to exile someone for 10 years without a trial, often used against powerful or controversial figures to protect democracy.
Image source: Flashy_Ad_6322, Getty Images
#8
TIL there is a Titanic monument in DC, funded by women, to honor the men of the Titanic who died so that women and children could live. Only 20% of men survived, while over 70% of women and children made it.
Image source: fu-depaul, New York Times
#9
TIL a judge in Brazil ordered identical twin brothers to pay maintenance to a child whose paternity proved inconclusive after a DNA test and their refusal to say who had fathered the child. The judge said the two men were taking away from the young girl’s right to know who her biological father was.
Image source: tyrion2024, Camylla Battani
#10
TIL Yale psychologists compared ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ to ‘Sesame Street’ and found that children who watched ‘Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood’ tended to remember more of the story lines and also demonstrated a much higher “tolerance of delay”, meaning they were more patient.
Image source: tyrion2024, PBS KIDS
#11
TIL that Benjamin Franklin never patented any of his many inventions, writing that “as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”
Image source: ICanStopTheRain, wikimedia.commons
#12
TIL Simón Bolívar, born into Venezuela’s wealthy elite, voluntarily gave up his fortune and freed his own slaves to lead independence wars against colonial powers, becoming an enduring icon revered by leftist militias across South America today
Image source: _bolo_, Palacio Legislativo, La Paz
#13
TIL 9-yr-old Jodie Foster was mauled by a lion on the set of Napoleon and Samantha, leaving her with scars on her back & stomach. While being held sideways in its mouth & shook “like a doll”, she saw the crew running off. The lion did drop her when told to, but it left her with lifelong ailurophobia
Image source: tyrion2024, CBS Sunday Morning
#14
TIL Divorce papers in the roman empire had to include a culpable party, which had potential legal complications. To avoid this, couples who wanted to divorce amicably, would officially put the blame on “an evil demon” that got between them and forced them to split up, thus avoiding culpability
Image source: Ainsley-Sorsby, Daniel Klaffke
#15
TIL Jamestown governor John Ratcliffe, the villain in Disney’s Pocahontas, died horrifically in real life. After being tricked, ambushed & captured, women removed his skin with mussel shells and tossed the pieces into a fire as he watched. They skinned his face last, and burned him at the stake.
Image source: jillisonflook
#16
TIL: In 1355, Portuguese King Afonso IV had his son Pedro’s mistress, Inês de Castro, decapitated in front of her children to end their romance. When Pedro became king, he had her k**lers’ hearts publicly ripped out—saying they had pulverized his own.
Image source: TriviaDuchess, The Portuguese Genealogy
#17
TIL in 2012 as a man was cleaning out his great-aunt’s home after she died, he found 345 well-preserved comic books in a closet, including Detective Comics No. 27 (first appearance of Batman), Action Comics No. 1 (first appearance of Superman) & Batman No. 1. In total. the collection sold for $3.5m.
Image source: tyrion2024
#18
TIL that during the Habsburg monarchy, belief in vampires was so widespread that Empress Maria Theresa sent her personal physician Gerard van Swieten to officially investigate. He concluded that vampires did not exist, leading her to specifically outlaw all forms of “anti-vampire” corpse desecration.
Image source: ZootAllures9111, Berlin-George
#19
TIL When the fork was first introduced as an eating implement it was normal for people to have their own knife and fork made which would be kept in a special box called a cadena. Whenever someone threw a dinner party or a feast all the guests would bring their own cadenas to eat with.
Image source: UndyingCorn, hermaion
#20
TIL that in 2018, Saudi Arabia lifted a 35-year ban on cinema. The first film to screen publicly in the country after the ban was lifted was “Black Panther”
Image source: ModenaR, Jake Hills
#21
TIL that Domino’s Pizza used to have a mascot called The Noid. In 1989, a man named Kenneth Noid held two Domino’s employees hostage, believing the mascot was designed to mock him. The employees escaped while he ate pizza. Noid was later diagnosed with schizophrenia and acquitted due to insanity.
Image source: ICanStopTheRain
#22
TIL: James Carter received a $20,000 royalty check for a song in “O Brother, Where Art Thou?” that he had sung 40 years earlier but didn’t remember.
Image source: EagleOfMay
#23
TIL Mikhail Kalashnikov, creator of the AK-47, regretted its deadly legacy and feared he was responsible for millions of deaths.
Image source: ansyhrrian, Kindel Media
#24
TIL the 1944 Nobel Prize went to male German physicist Otto Hahn solo for the discovery of nuclear fission, despite the fact he had done the work in collaboration with Lise Meitner, a German Jewish woman forced into exile who had in fact even been the first to use the term ‘fission’ and explain it
Image source: bobstonite
#25
TIL that of all the world’s existing companies that are 200 years +old, over half are Japanese.
Image source: bland_dad, 撮影者 不明
#26
TIL Pink Floyd’s Shine On You Crazy Diamond was a tribute to Syd Barrett who left the band in 1968 due to his d**g use and declining mental health which impaired his ability to integrate with the band. The band felt guilty about removing him but were concerned about his severe mental health decline
Image source: ProudReaction2204, pinkfloyd
#27
TIL that a group of artists secretly built and lived in a hidden apartment inside a Rhode Island mall for four years before being discovered.
Image source: SantaCruzPirate, pinkfloyd
#28
TIL in 2012, Spain’s King Juan Carlos I went elephant hunting in Botswana. The trip was meant to be secret, but he was badly injured and needed a medical flight home. A scandal erupted over the cost—and since he was an honorary president of the World Wildlife Fund at the time.
Image source: TriviaDuchess
#29
TIL that in 2017 Microsoft announced that it would replace Paint, its longstanding Windows drawing software, with Paint 3D. After “an incredible outpouring of support and nostalgia” from users, the company offered both to users. Microsoft later removed Paint 3D, but Paint is still available.
#30
TIL the 1997 death of unknown “Baby Garnet” remained unsolved until 2022, when a woman took an at-home DNA test which revealed her grandmother did it.
Image source: sanandrios, Gus Random Reviews
#31
TIL Oscar winners are forbidden from selling or disposing of their trophies without first offering it to the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences for $1.
Image source: TirelessGuardian, Samuel Ramos
#32
TIL Thomas Jefferson wanted the official motto of the US to be “Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God.” When it was rejected he appropriated it for his own seal.
Image source: transparent-aluminum
#33
TIL in 2006 a jury awarded $5.6m to the family of a man who had the shaft of a screwdriver implanted into his spine by a surgeon after the two titanium rods he planned to use were discovered missing during the surgery. The screwdriver snapped & after 3 more back surgeries, the man died 2 years later
Image source: tyrion2024
#34
TIL In 1919 Britain’s most remote colony, Tristan da Cunha, learned that World War One had started and ended after not being resupplied for 10 years.
Image source: Forgotthebloodypassw, NASA
#35
TIL in 2017, five bald men were k**led in Mozambique because their k**lers believed that the heads of bald men contain gold.
Image source: nuttybudd
#36
TIL about YInMn Blue, a near perfect blue colour, which was discovered accidentally in an Oregon State University lab and is noteworthy for its vibrance and unusually high near infrared reflectance.
Image source: NotPlato
#37
TIL warships used to demonstrate peaceful intent by firing their cannons harmlessly out to sea, temporarily disarming them. This tradition eventually evolved into the 21-gun salute.
Image source: ICanStopTheRain
#38
TIL Nissan spent $500 million in 1981 to rebrand their cars from Datsun to Nissan because Nissan executives were annoyed that Honda and Toyota had become household names.
Image source: nuttybudd, Bull-Doser
#39
TIL that many countries used to take ships that were no longer seaworthy, anchor them near shore, and use them as prisons. During the American Revolution, more Americans died as POWs on these ships than in combat.
Image source: ICanStopTheRain, Wikimedia commons
#40
TIL ancient Roman tourists would visit Egyptian tombs and write negative reviews in graffiti, like not enjoying anything but the sarcophagus and being unhappy they couldn’t read the hieroglyphs. These would ironically end up becoming valuable historical records themselves.
Image source: jmdeamer
#41
TIL Looney Tunes’ Porky Pig’s original voice actor, Joe Dougherty, had a stutter he couldn’t control. It caused production costs to became too high as his recording sessions took hours. Mel Blanc replaced him, allowing the stutter to be controlled and used comedically
Image source: TirelessGuardian, Warner Bros. Classics
#42
TIL George Clooney hung a photo of himself as Batman in his office as a reminder of what can happen when you make movies solely for commercial reasons.
Image source: Giff95
#43
TIL: Elderly Americans lost over $3bn to scams in 2023
Image source: [deleted]
#44
TIL that Michael Keaton only had 17 minutes of screen time even though the movie was called “Beetlejuice.”
Image source: Morganbanefort
#45
TIL that Dr Harold Shipman is believed to have murdered so many of his patients that his trial, where he was charged with the murder of 15 people, investigated only 5% of his speculated victims.
Image source: MrVernonDursley
#46
TIL that in 2024 a construction company built an entire family home on the wrong lot in Hawaii after miscounting the number of telephone poles on the land. They then sold the home without the landowner knowing.
Image source: mrinternetman24, Brett Jordan
#47
TIL Rhode Island Hospital was fined $50,000 and reprimanded by the state Department of Health after brain surgery was performed on the wrong side of a patient’s head three times in 2007. The state also ordered the hospital to develop a neurosurgery checklist that includes the location of the surgery
Image source: tyrion2024
#48
TIL that in the first edition of “The Hobbit,” Gollum willingly gave the ring to Bilbo for winning a riddle game, and the two parted amicably. After Tolkien began working on “The Lord of the Rings,” he edited the story for future printings.
Image source: ICanStopTheRain
#49
TIL that George Boole, founder of Boolean logic, died after walking three miles in cold rain to give a lecture in wet clothes. He developed pneumonia and was treated by his wife with cold water, which worsened his condition and led to his death.
Image source: Thispersonthisperson
#50
TIL Salvator Mundi is a painting by Leonardo de Vinci, in 2017 it was sold for 450 million dollars.It is the most expensive painting ever sold at auction. The painting was bought by a Saudi Prince, who has not put it on display.
Image source: Cultural_Magician105
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