20 ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove You Can Learn Something New Every Day (New Pics)

We live in an age of knowledge and no one can escape the flood of information that comes through the various channels of media. However, what we consume is mostly our choice. Either you can just scroll down your social media feed to see what other people are doing, or you can learn some interesting new facts during that time. If you want to do the latter, we've collected some random facts that you might find interesting. The 'Today I Learned' community shares intriguing trivia that might keep you engaged while teaching you something new. Scroll below to read some of their new posts. And if you want more, check out our previous posts here, here, and here. More info: Reddit

#1

Image source: BekanntUndUnbekannt, united-archives "TIL the iconic Einstein-sticking-his-tongue-out photo was his annoyed reaction to paparazzi goading him to smile on his 72nd birthday. It achieved cult status mostly because Einstein himself asked for a cropped version, ordered many prints and proceeded to send them to friends."

#2

Image source: dilettantedebrah, Kelli McClintock "TIL figure skating competitions in the 1800s involved the act of skating pictures into the ice. This required precision and wasn't as fast-paced as modern figure skating."

#3

Image source:  jattyrr, Library and Archives Canada "TIL Joseph Armand Bombardier invented the snowmobile after his son died of appendicitis when a blizzard prevented him from getting him to a hospital in time."

#4

Image source:  Not_that_kind_of_DR, Ivars Utināns "TIL that on the entire 4300 mile length of the Amazon river there are no bridges."

#5

Image source: Status-Victory, teletubbies "TIL after the TV show Teletubbies ended, the owner of the land used had to dig out the hill and flood the field it was filmed in, due to the amount of people trespassing to see Teletubbieland."

#6

Image source: Hegemon1984, intheair "TIL the Masai Tribe in Africa donated 14 cows to the United States after 9/11."

#7

Image source:  Jacknerik, Diceman Stephen West "TIL Scientists at the Parkes radio telescope in Australia spent 17 years trying to identify powerful but extremely short radio bursts that would appear at seemingly random intervals. In 2015 they finally identified the cause: a microwave oven at the facility being opened prematurely."

#8

Image source:  psychcrime, Georgia Parham "TIL: Bats eat enough insects to save the US over $1 Billion a year in crop damage and pesticide."

#9

Image source: Hutwe, Justin Ide/Harvard News Office "TIL in 1999, Danish physicist Lene Hau was able to slow down light to 38 mph (61 kmph), and was later able to stop it completely, manipulate it, even move it to a different location."

#10

Image source:  VoidOfEndlessDark, B. Barloccini "TIL about Secessio Plebis which was a form of revolt first introduced in ancient Rome. When the ruling class of Rome would become too corrupt or unjust to the commoners, the commoners would band together, evacuate the entire city and leave the elites to fend for themselves."

#11

Image source: RootaBagel, imdb "TIL that in the operatic song in The Fifth Element, composer Eric Sierra "purposely wrote un-singable things" so she’d sound like an alien. When opera singer Inva Muls came for the part, "she sang 85% of what [Eric] thought was technically impossible", the rest being assembled in the studio."

#12

Image source:  derstherower, Soul Asylum "TIL that 26 of the 36 missing children featured in the original music videos for Soul Asylum's Runaway Train have been found. Most recently, the remains of Aundria Bowman were identified in 2020, 31 years after she was reported missing."

#13

Image source: kingeuphorix, sasint "TIL that the first commercial airliner shot down by hostile forces was refurbished, returned to service, and later became the third commercial airliner to be shot down by hostile forces."

#14

Image source:  TheSameAsDying, Unknown "TIL the last king of Egypt, Faud II, is still alive and ascended to the throne when he was just 192 days old. He was deposed a year later after his father was exiled and Egypt declared a republic."

#15

Image source: batesplates, Pieter Isaacsz "TIL to collect taxes, Christian IV of Denmark asked captains of ships crossing the Øresund to estimate the value of their cargo, which was applied as the tax base without further audit. But the king also claimed the right to buy the entire cargo at exactly that price."

#16

Image source: vancouver_reader, shop.crayola.com "TIL A Canadian makeup developer helped Crayola create "Colors of the World" crayons that are meant to accurately reflect human skin tones. He pared down the 40 shades he had created for Cover FX to 24 distinct colors that kids can use to draw themselves."

#17

Image source: unappliedknowledge, Somesh Kesarla Suresh "TIL that a fire destroyed most of Harvard Library’s collection in 1764. Only a small number of books were spared, including 144 that were checked out at the time. One of these books was found and returned in 1997."

#18

Image source: D0ugF0rcett, Mert Kahveci "TIL there's a gene that controls how long you sleep. "Short sleepers" function the same off of 4-6 hours of sleep as a typical individual getting 8."

#19

Image source: LongshanksAragon, www.thisdayinaviation "TIL about Jean Boulet who in 1972 set the world record for the highest altitude reached in a helicopter, 40,280ft. During descent his engines failed, and he landed the helicopter without power, setting another record in the process for the highest unpowered helicopter landing."

#20

Image source:  ToggleHD, National Cancer Institute "TIL that the Feeling of "impending doom" is an official symptom of a Wrong blood type Transfusion. (ABO incompatibility)."