40 Random Fun Facts From "Today I Learned" Online Community (New Pics)

The internet is full of random rabbit holes, but few are as consistently surprising and delightful as Reddit’s Today I Learned (TIL) subreddit. With over 30 million members, it’s a goldmine of bite-sized facts, forgotten history, surprising science, and oddly heartwarming trivia—shared by users who stumbled upon something fascinating and just had to tell someone.

We recently took a virtual stroll through the TIL subreddit, and here are some of the most intriguing discoveries we found.

#1

Image source: Perfect-Conference32, Super Festivals TIL that Weird Al Yankovic doesn't need permission (under US copyright law) to make a parody of someone's song. He does so as a personal rule to maintain good relationships.

#2

Image source: tyrion2024, HBO TIL Charles Dance (Tywin Lannister) always ended scenes with co-star Peter Dinklage (Tyrion Lannister) by apologizing for his character's awful comments and behavior. Dance said Dinklage is "the most adorable man. After all those scenes, I apologize to him" because "I have to treat him like sh*t."

#3

Image source: MarzipanBackground91, Hannah Skelly/unsplash (not the actual photo) TIL a Royal Marine lost part of his "You'll Never Walk Alone" tattoo after a leg amputation, leaving "You'll Never Walk"—now he uses it as a joke in speeches and has become a gold medalist and record-chasing runner.

#4

Image source: Pfeffer_Prinz, Love Productions TIL when Great British Bake Off hosts Mel and Sue would see a contestant crying out of frustration or disappointment, they would use their coats to block the person from cameras, or start swearing a lot, so the footage was unusable

#5

Image source: MarzipanBackground91, grantimahara TIL Grant Imahara made a lifelike Baby Yoda robot to visit children in hospitals and cheer them up before he passed away

#6

Image source: MarzipanBackground91, Sergei Wing/unsplash (not the actual photo) TIL that a cat named Tommy called 911 to help its owner, Gary, who had fallen from his wheelchair and couldn't get up. Gary had tried to train Tommy to call 911, but never expected it to work.

#7

Image source: commander_nice, Unidentified painter TIL Napoleon had planned an invasion of the UK but it was never carried out. Preparations were financed by the sale of the Louisiana territory to the US which the US financed with a loan from a British bank, so Britain was indirectly funding an invasion of itself.

#8

Image source: WeightLossGinger, Universal Pictures TIL Eminem wrote 'Brain Damage' about his actual childhood bully, DeAngelo Bailey. Bailey boasted in an interview that he gave Eminem a concussion so bad, his ears bled and he lost his vision. He had also attempted to sue Eminem for slander in 2001. A judge dismissed the claim in the form of a rap.

#9

Image source: tyrion2024 TIL Steven Spielberg offered Tom Sizemore a role in Saving Private Ryan (1998) under the condition that he would be given a drug test at the end of every day of filming, and if he failed even one time, all his scenes would be re-shot with someone else. He stayed clean and completed the movie.

#10

Image source: JackThaBongRipper, Jimmy Chan/pexels (not the actual photo) TIL that in 1900, a physician named Jesse William Lazear wanted to prove that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. He allowed an infected mosquito to bite him, and he became infected with yellow fever, proving his hypothesis correct. He died 17 days later.

#11

Image source: tyrion2024, freepik (not the actual photo) TIL a 35-yr-old man found an age-progression image of himself on a missing children's site in 2010. Though he knew he was adopted, this would lead to him discovering that his mom had kidnapped him from his dad when he was an infant 34 years earlier.

#12

Image source: SFgiant55, New York World-Telegram and the Sun staff photographer: Fisher, Alan, photographer. - Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division TIL Jazz musician, Fats Waller, was kidnapped by 4 men and “given” to Al Capone as a birthday gift. He performed for 3 days and was found drunk with thousands of dollars in cash stuffed in his pockets.

#13

Image source: VegemiteSucks, Aglaé Quenedey, Joseph Karl Stieler TIL Beethoven was challenged to a piano duel by pianist Daniel Steibelt, who tried to bend the rules by handing Beethoven a Cello and Piano piece instead of just a Piano piece. Unfazed, Beethoven turned the score upside down, played it, then improvised on the inversed themes for half an hour.

#14

TIL that when a celebratory dinner in honour of recent Nobel Peace Prize winner Martin Luther King Jr. did not garner enough support in his native Atlanta, J. Paul Austin, CEO of Coca-Cola, threatened to pull his business out of the city - within two hours of this announcement tickets were sold out. Image source: NapalmBurns

#15

Image source: sundler, shattha pilabut/pexels (not the actual photo) TIL peanut allergies plummet by 77% if they're added to babies' diets at 4-6 months of age.

#16

Image source: funkyflowergirlca, Andrej Lišakov/unsplash (not the actual photo) TIL: Most outlet stores don’t sell leftovers from regular stores—they sell cheaper, lower-quality versions made just for outlets. The “compare at” prices and big discounts? Often fake. You think you’re getting a deal, but it’s not the same product. (California Department of Justice)

#17

TIL that James Dean was most likely bisexual and had relations with several men and women throughout his career. When questioned on his orientation, he said "No, I am not a homosexual. But I'm also not going to go through life with one hand tied behind my back." Image source: altrightobserver

#18

Image source: SuspiciousWeekend41, rawpixel.com/freepik (not the actual photo) TIL that in Japan, more diapers are now sold for elderly people than for babies, reflecting the country’s aging population and shifting demographics.

#19

TIL that Measles infection causes "immune amnesia" which causes your immune system to forget how to fight pathogens that you had previously obtained immunity to. Image source: zax9

#20

TIL Good Will Hunting was only able to film on location at Harvard after alumnus John Lithgow intervened. Harvard had initially denied the movie access to film on its campus. However, Lithgow asked the movie's location manager what he wanted and then made a phone call which ultimately delivered it. Image source: tyrion2024

#21

Image source: Gjore, Getty Images/unsplash (not the actual photo) TIL that a boy was trapped in his own body for 12 years, fully conscious but unable to move or speak. Doctors thought he was in a vegetative state, but he later regained the ability to communicate and wrote a book about his experience.

#22

Image source: tyrion2024, Peter Buffett TIL Warren Buffett's son Peter, at 19, received the only inheritance he'll ever be given for personal use: $90K worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock. It was understood that he should expect nothing more. It'd be worth $300m today, but he sold it back then to start his music career & doesn't regret it.

#23

Image source: MrMojoFomo, Alex Gomez/unsplash (not the actual photo) TIL that American military pilot call signs--nicknames the pilots go by--are often based on mistakes the pilot made, and get assigned early in their career.

#24

TIL that teen pregnancy rates in the US are less than a quarter what they were in the 90s! Image source: BasileusIthakes

#25

TIL Mississippi refused to air Sesame Street in 1970 due to its mixed-race cast. Image source: haddock420

#26

Image source: tyrion2024, wirestock_creators/freepik (not the actual photo) TIL in 2019 a man died less than 12 hours after eating a hot fishcake that burned his throat, causing it to swell so much that he choked to death. The doctor who performed the autopsy said the symptoms were normally seen in people involved in house fires, caused by smoke inhalation.

#27

TIL the habit of sitting on the toilet too long, even if one isn't straining, significantly increases the risk of hemorrhoids Image source: mcaffrey

#28

Image source: JackThaBongRipper, Archive of the Chancellery of the President of the Republic of Poland TIL that popes cannot be organ donors because their body becomes property of the church upon their death. This rule invalidated Pope Benedict’s organ donor card, which he had held since the 1970s.

#29

TIL of triathlete Lesley Paterson, who dedicated her race winnings to maintaining the film rights to one of her favorite books. She almost lost them in 2015 until competing and winning with a broken shoulder. It took 16 years and $200k, but she eventually made All Quiet on the Western Front (2022). Image source: TheButschwacker

#30

TIL that when Victor Hugo died in 1885, some Parisian brothels reportedly closed for a day to mourn his passing. Image source: MarzipanBackground91

#31

Image source: Pozzolana, Castle Rock Entertainment TIL during a scene in The Shawshank Redemption in which a crow was to be fed a maggot, the American Humane Society objected against the idea of a live animal being k*lled for the scene meaning the team had to find and use a maggot that had died of natural causes.

#32

Image source: tyrion2024, Elena Ternovaja TIL Steven Spielberg told movie stars that if they wanted to work with him, a prerequisite was that they gambled along with him by not taking any salary upfront and instead only taking backend compensation. He said "...if my film makes no money I get no money. They should be prepared to do the same"

#33

TIL that in the 1790s, France had a network of signalling towers that could send messages by writing symbols using giant mechanical arms on towers. They could send complex messages across the entire country in ~1 hour. These were precursors to electric telegraphs. Image source: Cultural_Shame666

#34

Image source: DisastrousWeather956, Paramount Pictures TIL During the filming of The Godfather, Marlon Brando refused to memorize his lines, and would read them off cards attached anywhere from trees in the background to fellow actors.

#35

TIL Matt Damon wrote the first draft of Good Will Hunting's first act as an assignment in a playwriting class during his fifth year at Harvard. The only scene that survived verbatim from that "40-some-odd-page document" was the scene where Damon's character & Robin Williams' character first meet. Image source: tyrion2024

#36

TIL in 1978, Leo Ryan,member of the U.S. House of Representative traveled to Guyana to investigate claims that people were being held against their will by Jim Jones at the Peoples Temple Jonestown settlement. He was shot and k*lled there, as he and his party were attempting to leave. Image source: Complex_Anteater6528

#37

TIL one of the biggest drug busts in the world was in Sylmar, CA. 20 tons of c***ine, worth $6 billion and about 5% of the world’s annual production, was left unguarded and secured with a $6 padlock. Image source: gonejahman

#38

TIL in 2014, the daughter of the chairman of Korean Air flew into a rage when she was served macadamia nuts in a packet instead of a plate while on a Korean Air flight. She forced the flight attendant who served her the nuts to apologise on his knees, ejected him from the flight, and demoted him. Image source: nuttybudd

#39

TIL that in 2011, the Mexican ambassador in London complained to the BBC and demanded an apology from "Top Gear" presenter Richard Hammond, after Hammond called the Mexicans 'lazy, feckless, flatulent and overweight' on the show Image source: ModenaR

#40

TIL that in 1878, US Supreme Court Justice Ward Hunt suffered a stroke which thereafter left him unable to either attend court sessions or to render opinions. Yet he refused to resign for another 4 years, his sole reason being to stay long enough to claim his pension. Image source: Kate_Kitter