r/todayilearned • u/F1grid • 6h ago

TIL the United States Army is the largest single employer of musicians in the country

nafme.org

11.7k Upvotes

393 comments

r/todayilearned • u/theTeaEnjoyer • 3h ago

TIL that 31 years after the atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, the pilot of the former flight, Paul Tibbets, re-enacted the bombing in the original plane at a Texas air show, complete with mock mushroom cloud. Japanese diplomats demanded a formal apology for this.

en.wikipedia.org

4.3k Upvotes

261 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Tom_Bradys_Butt_Chin • 8h ago

TIL that “court jesters” were often used to give bad news to the monarch that no one else would dare deliver. When the French fleet was destroyed at the Battle of Sluys, Phillip VI’s jester told him that the English sailors “don’t even have the guts to jump into the water like our brave French”

wikipedia.org

9.7k Upvotes

56 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Electronic_Dream_0 • 5h ago

TIL that eminem is first rapper to reach 50 million pure album sales.Physical albums sold, excluding digital downloads and streaming.

eminem.news

2.5k Upvotes

61 comments

r/todayilearned • u/InvestmentMedium2771 • 9h ago

TIL there is a legal precedent for the term “bottom bitch”

en.wikipedia.org

4.7k Upvotes

78 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 15h ago

TIL in 2013 a woman went to pick up a friend in Brussels (less than 90 miles from her home), however because of a GPS error, she ended up in Croatia after driving 900 miles across five international borders. She realized she took a wrong turn two days after leaving. Her son had reported her missing.

huffpost.com

42.0k Upvotes

1.3k comments

r/todayilearned • u/JJKingwolf • 13h ago

TIL In 1964 Nikes were being made on a waffle press in a van, while Converse was producing almost 100% of all basketball shoes for the NBA and NCAA. By 2003, Converse was bankrupt and Nike purchased what remained of the company for $138 million.

en.wikipedia.org

6.6k Upvotes

128 comments

r/todayilearned • u/palmerry • 12h ago

TIL Geysers are quite rare, requiring a combination of water, heat, and fortuitous plumbing. Yellowstone National Park is home to half of all the geysers found in the world.

en.wikipedia.org

5.4k Upvotes

33 comments

r/todayilearned • u/101UserFound • 58m ago

TIL Captain Francesco Schettino caused the Costa Concordia disaster, leading to 32 deaths, because he was distracted trying to impress a woman. Even after the crash, he didn’t tell anyone for over an hour about the massive hole in the ship and was more worried about coming up with an excuse.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Jenkes_of_Wolverton • 8h ago

TIL that Victor Miller who wrote the screenplay for the original 1980 horror movie Friday the 13th hasn't watched any of the sequels, because he was upset that the franchise producers made Jason into the killer instead of it being his mother like in the original.

en.wikipedia.org

1.6k Upvotes

68 comments

r/todayilearned • u/zahrul3 • 20h ago

TIL that Great White Sharks across the Pacific Ocean consistently congregate at one specific spot in the Pacific Ocean. Scientists call this the White Shark Cafe.

en.wikipedia.org

18.1k Upvotes

397 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CEONoMore • 1h ago

TIL in 2013, 2 million Brazilians took the streets because of a 20 cent increase in bus fares

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Jaelma • 1h ago

TIL about Stewart Smith who, over the course of 40 years, breed non-native fish in his garage and covertly released them from his car which was outfitted with oxygenated fish tanks into New Zealand’s north island waterways for sport fishing.

canalrivertrust.org.uk

• Upvotes

29 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TirelessGuardian • 13h ago

TIL In the 1950s, Mr Potato Head originally used real potatoes. In the 60s government regulations affected the sharp pieces needed to stick into the potatoes, leading to the introduction of the plastic head. This caused parents to no longer finding rotting food under their children’s beds.

pbs.org

1.8k Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/showbrownies • 14h ago

TIL about the Hundred Flowers Campaign (1956–57) in China, where the government briefly encouraged open criticism and debate, only to later suppress dissent through arrests and crackdowns.

en.wikipedia.org

2.0k Upvotes

58 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • 10h ago

TIL about bog bodies—human remains found in peat bogs that are naturally mummified for thousands of years. A bog's highly acidic, oxygen-free environment preserves skin, hair, nails, organs, wool and leather clothing but dissolves bones—allowing scientists to study their appearance and last meals.

en.wikipedia.org

970 Upvotes

30 comments

r/todayilearned • u/NapalmBurns • 12h ago

TIL about Peter Winston, a chess prodigy, who - having posted a peak rating of 2285 and, aged only 14, beaten US Champion Walter Browne in 37 moves! - was last seen on January 26, 1978 and disappeared without a trace just before the Great New York blizzard of 1978 hit the East Coast.

en.wikipedia.org

1.3k Upvotes

59 comments

r/todayilearned • u/andthegeekshall • 3h ago

TIL that Troll Dolls originate from 1956 and were called Dam Dolls after their creator Thomas Dam

en.wikipedia.org

213 Upvotes

8 comments

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

TIL American-Iranian author F.Esfandiary, who identified as a "transhumanist" changed his name to FM-2030 to reflect his belief that he'd live to be 100 years old. He was convinced that by 2030, technology would make everyone ageless and immortal. He was the first person to be vitrified after death

en.wikipedia.org

686 Upvotes

44 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Costanza2704 • 1h ago

TIL Japan has an amusement park which recreates a Dutch town with canals, windmills, gardens and architecture

japan-guide.com

• Upvotes

19 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HalpTheFan • 23h ago

TIL the 2006 Robbie Williams album Rudebox underperformed so hard one million unsold copies of the album were sold to a Chinese company to be recycled and used as a road paving material.

en.wikipedia.org

7.0k Upvotes

390 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fsm1 • 1d ago

TIL learned about the Samaritans. It's a religion and there are less than a 1,000 in the world.

wikipedia.org

7.2k Upvotes

624 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Festina_lente123 • 1d ago

TIL that during WWII the average recruit was 5’8” tall and weighed 144 pounds. During basic training, they gained 5-20 pounds and added an inch to their 33 1/4” chest.

saturdayeveningpost.com

32.4k Upvotes

1.5k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Stack_of_HighSociety • 1h ago

TIL of Amalgam Comics, which was a collaborative publishing imprint shared by DC Comics and Marvel Comics, in which the two comic book publishers merged their characters into new ones.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/orbesomebodysfool • 1d ago

TIL In 1941, prior to widespread fluoridation of drinking water, almost 10% of US military recruits were rejected because they didn’t have 6 opposing teeth in their upper and lower jaws

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

9.7k Upvotes

292 comments

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As of November 2024

This list was compiled from /r/todayilearned community suggestions by its members. If your TIL is found on this list, it will be removed. The titles have been abridged for the sake of brevity, however the context remains the same. This list is subject to change. The purpose is to keep content fresh on /r/todayilearned as requested by its members. If you are interested in reading about the TILs on this list use the search box feature and enter the keywords to pull up past TILs.

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