30 New Amazing Facts, As Shared By "Today I Learned" Online Community

In the vast landscape of the internet, where information flows endlessly, there exists a corner that’s dedicated to the curious minds, the trivia enthusiasts, and the perpetual learners. It’s known as the “Today I Learned” or ‘TIL’ community.

This digital hub, primarily found on platforms like Reddit, is a treasure trove of intriguing, obscure, and sometimes mind-boggling facts that can leave you astounded. Scroll below to see some of their new fascinating facts.

More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: SteO153, wikipedia

TIL that the British sitcom Mr. Bean only consists of 15 episodes over a span of 6 years

#2

Image source: xenglandx, Maksim

TIL about the Coastline Paradox which explains that’s its impossible to accurately measure the length of a country’s coastline and the more precise the measurement the greater the length becomes – to the point of infinity

#3

Image source: 9oRo, cartstanza

TIL that in the 2022 World Cup, Qatar became the first host nation to lose its opening match, the first host nation to lose all three of its matches, the first host nation to be eliminated from the tournament in two matches and the first host nation to have 0 points at the end of the group stage

#4

Image source: EntrepreneurOk1856, U.S. National Archives and Records Administration

Today I learned that President Glover Cleveland had a secret surgery removing a tumor in his mouth on a yacht because he worried that news of him having cancer would effect the stock market.

#5

Image source: sanandrios, Pixabay

TIL in 2005, a sheep jumped off a cliff in Turkey and 1500 sheep followed one by one. 450 sheep died and the rest survived by landing on the soft big pile of sheep.

#6

Image source: AerotyneInternationa, CNN

TIL that the Japanese have a word “Busshu-suru” which translates as “To do the Bush thing” meaning “to vomit” referring to the time when George H.W. Bush’ vomited in Japan’s prime minister’s lap.

#7

Image source: Berisha11, Claude Truong-Ngoc / Wikimedia Commons

TIL a sheep farmer in France became a national hero, wrote a best seller book and ran for president after he took his tractor and drove it through a mcdonalds as a protest because he hated what the fast food restaurant was doing to farmers.

#8

Image source: –throwaway, Mx. Granger

TIL that in 1947 Canada raised the price of chocolate bars from 5¢ to 8¢ without much notice. Children protested against this 62.5% increase throughout the country, and approximately 200 stormed the legislature building of British Columbia.

#9

Image source: External-Zebra-3250, Rosana Prada

TIL that it took Erno Rubik, inventor of the Rubiks Cube, one month to solve his own invention.

#10

Image source: Flares117, Simon Wedege

TIL: A comedian formed the Union of Conscientiously Work-Shy Elements in Denmark as a joke, but he was unexpected elected with 23k votes and won a seat. His promises were better Christmas presents, the right to impotency, more renaissance furniture at IKEA, more bread for ducks, and better weather.

#11

Image source: Jake52212, mali maeder

TIL that the myth of carrots improving your eyesight and helping you see in the dark was WWII propaganda

#12

Image source: Rafaeliki, Sumit Mathur

TIL that, over the course of their lifetime, 1 in 10 Icelanders will publish a book.

#13

Image source: Json1134, Sarah Bernhardt

TIL of Triboulet: a Royal jester for King Francis of France who was sentenced to death for mocking the King and Queen. King Francis allowed him to choose his method of death, to which Triboulet responded “… I ask to die from old age.” He was spared and instead banished.

#14

Image source: frituurgarnituur, Wremmerswaal

TIL people didn’t know TNT was explosive for 28 years and used it as yellow dye instead

#15

Image source: el_chupa_nibra, Giovanni Jean Brindesi

TIL that court dwarfs were strategically positioned next to the king or queen during public appearances and ceremonies, which, due to their small stature, had the effect of visually enhancing the monarch’s presence. They were owned, traded, and delivered as gifts to kings and queens.

#16

Image source: cartstanza, New Line Cinema

TIL that Jim Carrey was paid $7 million for ”Dumb and Dumber”, while his co-star Jeff Daniels made just $50,000

#17

Image source: godumbledorkk, Universal Pictures

TIL Jaws directly contributed to a surge in shark hunting, and consequently a drop in shark populations. Peter Benchley regretted writing Jaws, “Knowing what I know now, I could never write that book today. Sharks don’t target human beings, and they certainly don’t hold grudges.”

#18

Image source: tropicalrainforest, Polina Tankilevitch

TIL that the reason you get chills from a fever isn’t because you’re physically cold. It’s the brain setting your body temp higher to fight the infection and tricking your body into thinking the temperature is wrong so the chills can help increase heat.

#19

Image source: Kneenaw, https://www.flickr.com/photos/noticeofmeowery/86288815/in/set-72057594047839391

TIL that when Andre the giant passed away there was no crematorium large enough in France so his body had to be flown to America

#20

Image source: EssexGuyUpNorth, Callam Barnes

TIL that Scotland has over 30,000 lochs but only 1 lake.

#21

Image source: ParadoxicalState, Costa Rica Wildlife

TIL that the loudness of a howler monkey is relative to the size of its testicles. Researchers found that the smaller the testicles, the louder the monkey.

#22

Image source: poleco1, Bombycoidea

TIL: We domesticated the silk moth 5000 years ago for sericulture. They lost their ability to fly, lack fear of predators, & have lost native color pigments since camouflage is not useful as they only live in captivity. They’re entirely dependent on humans for survival, including finding a mate.

#23

Image source: iamayeshaerotica, Roberto Nickson

TIL Hawaii is considered the bird extinction capital of the world – Since humans arrived, 95 of 142 bird species found nowhere else in the world have become extinct in Hawaii

#24

Image source: Romboteryx, NBC

TIL Spock was originally supposed to be a Martian, but Gene Roddenberry changed his home to the fictional Vulcan because he feared humans will already land on Mars during the show‘s runtime and make it look outdated

#25

Image source: windingtime, TEDx Talks

TIL: In 2019, a lawyer and a software developer brute force copyrighted every possible melody and entered them into public domain to insulate musicians from ‘stolen melody’ lawsuits.

#26

Image source: TheAfternoonStandard, Fallou Ngom

TIL that for centuries, numerous African populations were purported to be illiterate by European academics. In fact, they’d been using Ajami for literature and communication. Ajami adapts the Arabic script for many African languages, like Roman script is used for European ones…

#27

Image source: FewGuide5, Venkat Ragavan

TIL elephant trunks are strong enough to lift and hold 770lbs yet precise enough to crack peanut shells without breaking the seeds

#28

Image source: ShabtaiBenOron, unknown

TIL that the makers of Donkey Kong Country wanted the Kongs to be voiced by actual gorillas and spent hours recording some at a zoo, only to realize that gorillas are actually very quiet. Finding themselves without sounds to work with, they had a programmer do gorilla impressions instead.

#29

Image source: ParadoxicalState, Egor Kamelev

TIL ant corpses release a chemical when they die. A scientist once recreated this chemical and put it on a live ant. Its ant friends kept bringing it to the graveyard no matter how much it struggled to return.