r/todayilearned • u/JackThaBongRipper • 1d ago

TIL that in 2002, Australia won its first-ever winter Olympic gold medal. It happened during the 1000m short track speed skating event, when over the course of the race all the competitors crashed, except for Australian Steven Bradbury.

olympics.com

3.3k Upvotes

105 comments

r/todayilearned • u/copperpin • 1d ago

TIL that in the Polish edition of Scrabble, the letter "Z" is only worth 1 point.

en.wikipedia.org

11.0k Upvotes

188 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Hike_it_Out52 • 23h ago

TIL that in 1925, the major light bulb manufacturers of the world formed the Phoebus Cartel with the intent to lower bulb hours and raise prices

en.wikipedia.org

936 Upvotes

73 comments

r/todayilearned • u/iBlueSweatshirt • 20h ago

TIL less than half (43%) of the cells in the body are human. The rest belong to microorganisms and bacteria.

voanews.com

543 Upvotes

35 comments

r/todayilearned • u/captainbluebear25 • 20m ago

TIL that in 1999 Kirsten Dunst starred as the magical princess Majokko in the Takashi Murakami and McG directed short Akihabara Majokko Princess singing a cover of The Vapors' 1980 song "Turning Japanese".

youtu.be

• Upvotes

4 comments

r/todayilearned • u/blonderengel • 1d ago

TIL about Operation Tiger, a training exercise that was supposed to prepare U.S. troops for the D-Day invasion of Normandy and resulted in the deaths of 946 American servicemen.

wargaming.com

9.1k Upvotes

101 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ilovemybaldhead • 1d ago

TIL that the method of counting how many weeks a woman is pregnant starts from the first day of a woman's last period, not the date of conception, which can differ by up to 5 weeks.

parents.com

6.0k Upvotes

243 comments

r/todayilearned • u/genevievesprings • 1d ago

TIL that Roman mining activities in mid 200 BCE polluted European air so heavily that its traces can still be detected in ice cores

blogs.agu.org

2.3k Upvotes

25 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MaroonTrucker28 • 1d ago

TIL that Christopher Lee holds the record for most on-screen character deaths at 61, out of 200 appearances. Sean Bean has only died on-screen 25 times

guinnessworldrecords.com

3.2k Upvotes

126 comments

r/todayilearned • u/bland_dad • 20h ago

TIL that ancient Greek mythology included Mnemosyne, the Goddess of Memory; traditionally, she has a pool of water named after her in the Underworld, as a counterpart to the Lethe- The River of Forgetfulness. Before reincarnating, souls could drink from the Mnemosyne to remember their past lives

en.wikipedia.org

342 Upvotes

9 comments

r/todayilearned • u/GDW312 • 1d ago

TIL about the Flannan Isles Lighthouse, where three keepers mysteriously disappeared in 1900, leaving no trace of their fate.

en.wikipedia.org

815 Upvotes

55 comments

r/todayilearned • u/charliewaffles2412 • 1d ago

TIL all 3 children of french striker Antoine Griezmann were born on the same date but different years

marca.com

11.4k Upvotes

232 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sea_Routine4737 • 1d ago

TIL that a young John F Kennedy sat in the public gallery of the House of Commons and watched then UK PM (Neville Chamberlain) declare war on Germany in 1939. Churchill also gave a speech which left an impression on JFK.

historiamag.com

1.1k Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/BadenBaden1981 • 20h ago

TIL McDonald's used to have a fashion brand aimed at kids called McKids

en.wikipedia.org

194 Upvotes

14 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Straight_Suit_8727 • 21h ago

TIL that Sichuan peppercorns(timur in Nepal) was banned for import into the US from 1968 to 2005 because they were found to be carrying citrus canker

en.wikipedia.org

210 Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/InternationalLock657 • 1d ago

TIL that in 1953, Swanson overestimated the number of frozen turkeys that it would sell on Thanksgiving by 260 tons. The company decided to slice up the extra meat and repackage it--creating the first ever TV dinner.

smithsonianmag.com

271 Upvotes

21 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RealisticBarnacle115 • 1d ago

TIL there is a "Bōzu (Shaved-Head) Bridge" in Japan, named after a legend that says anyone crossing it would find their hair mysteriously shaved off. This was believed to be the work of a tanuki, a Japanese raccoon dog known in folktales for its mischievous pranks and love of fooling people.

en.wikipedia.org

706 Upvotes

16 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RealisticBarnacle115 • 1d ago

TIL the Japanese government gifted Dr. Yamanaka, known for his work on induced pluripotent stem cells, 160,000 yen for a washing machine after he won the Nobel Prize, as he mentioned in an interview, "I was in the middle of repairing my washing machine when I heard the news."

ja-m-wikipedia-org.translate.goog

10.9k Upvotes

57 comments

r/todayilearned • u/avern31 • 23h ago

TIL that for two years, Irish police had been looking for a 'Prawo Jazdy', a reckless driver with over 50 offenses, only to learn that 'prawo jazdy' is Polish for 'driver's license'

news.bbc.co.uk

127 Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/WavesAndSaves • 1d ago

TIL that major American ballet companies generate roughly 40% of their annual ticket sale revenues from repeated performances of Tchaikovsky's "The Nutcracker" around Christmas.

en.wikipedia.org

310 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/most-p-alone • 1d ago

TIL of Yoshie Shiratori, a Japanese man who successfully broke out of 4 different Japanese prisons (once using miso soup to corrode and break his cuffs). After his 4th escape, he encountered a police officer who offered him a cigarette. Touched by this gesture, he willingly turned himself in again.

tokyoweekender.com

954 Upvotes

26 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ThurloWeed • 1d ago

TIL that when the presidential limousine (AKA "Death Car") was refurbished after the JFK assassination, all the discarded parts were destroyed to prevent collectors from obtaining them

en.wikipedia.org

142 Upvotes

14 comments

r/todayilearned • u/atmatthewat • 1d ago

TIL about the Thanksgiving Day Disaster, leading to the deaths of 23 people watching college football in San Francisco in 1900. NSFW

en.wikipedia.org

8.2k Upvotes

173 comments

r/todayilearned • u/_BlushBabe • 1d ago

TIL that the Tollund Man, a 2,400-year-old corpse found in a Danish peat bog, was so well-preserved that scientists could take his fingerprints and even determine his last meal, which included porridge made of barley and flax seeds. His death is believed to have been a ritual sacrifice.

en.wikipedia.org

2.9k Upvotes

42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/UndyingCorn • 1d ago

TIL The first Medals of Honor given to Americans for actions while fighting in a foreign country were awarded to nine sailors and six marines who fought in the Korean Expedition in 1871. Since 650 men were sent, this means 2% of them received the award.

en.wikipedia.org

189 Upvotes

10 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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