30 ‘Today I Learned’ Facts That Prove You Can Learn Something New Everyday (New Pics)

The internet is full of fascinating facts, but few places deliver them as effortlessly as the Today I Learned (TIL)  subreddit. A treasure trove of bite-sized knowledge, TIL is where Redditors share intriguing facts they recently discovered, often backed by sources. Whether you’re looking for surprising historical tidbits, quirky science facts, or pop culture revelations, this subreddit has it all.

#1

Image source: multi_io, public domain

TIL George Washington decided to step down after two terms because he feared he might die in office and Americans would then view the presidency as a lifetime appointment.

#2

Image source: pikknz, Oladimeji Ajegbile

TIL Charles Darwin created the office chair, he put wheels on the bottom of his chair so he could roll between specimens.

#3

Image source: Flares117, fauxels

TIL: The “Simple Sabotage Field Manual” was declassified in 2008 and it contains advice on how spies can sabotage the enemy by just being maliciously incompetent. Advice include praising inefficient coworkers, cry and sob frequently at work, asking inane questions in meetings, and spreading gossip.

#4

Image source: Level_Cash2225, Sony Pictures Releasing

TIL Danny Trejo has a clause in his movie contracts that requires his villainous characters to die by the end of the film. He wants children to learn that crime doesn’t pay.

#5

Image source: Festina_lente123, Kay Hunjan

TIL about skeuomorphism, when modern objects, real or digital, retain features of previous designs even when they aren’t functional. Examples include the very tiny handle on maple syrup bottles, faux buckles on shoes, the floppy disk ‘save’ icon, or the sound of a shutter on a cell phone camera.

#6

Image source: zahrul3

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.

#7

Image source: tyrion2024, Miles Peacock

TIL in 2010 a doctor and his son just happened to be walking by an apartment building in Paris when a 15-month-old boy fell 80ft (24m) from a seventh floor balcony before bouncing off a cafe awning into the doctor’s arms. His catch helped the boy escape “miraculously without a single scratch.”

#8

TIL that Weird Al’s Phantom Menace parody ‘The Saga Begins’ was recorded a month before the film released in May 1999. Yankovic was denied an early screening by Lucasfilm, but managed to almost exactly piece together the plot by researching rumours posted on Star Wars fan forums.

Image source: lappy482

#9

Image source: zahrul3, NOAA

TIL huge rogue waves were dismissed as a scientifically implausible sailors’ myth by scientists until one 84ft wave hit an oil platform. The phenomenon has since been proven mathematically and simulated in a lab, also proving the existence of rogue holes in the ocean.

#10

Image source: Bronzescaffolding, Trần Long

TIL Siblings can get completely different results (e.g., one 30% Irish and another 50% Irish) from DNA ancestry tests, even though they share the same parents, due to genetic recombination.

#11

TIL that Elton John never performed the Princess Diana version of Candle in the Wind again after her funeral in 1997, despite receiving numerous requests.

Image source: TriviaDuchess

#12

Image source: ebot91, southparkstudios

TIL South Park aired an episode titled “Band in China”… which resulted in them being banned in China.

#13

Image source: Potatoe_expert, Miguel Cuenca

TIL Tasmanian Devil’s give birth to between 30 and 40 offsprings but the mother only has four teats. The first four to attach to teats survive, the others perish.

#14

Image source: SFKz, Julia Peretiatko

TIL life didn’t give us lemons, they are not naturally occurring. They are a hybrid fruit from selective breeding of the citron and the bitter orange.

#15

Image source: wilsonofoz, Jade Ignacio

TIL Mihailo Tolotos was a Greek Orthodox monk that died without ever seeing a woman. He lived all his 82 years of life in Mount Athos monastery.

#16

TIL the term ‘jaywalking’ was promoted and popularized by the automobile industry to blame pedestrians for traffic issues.

Image source: Devuluh

#17

Image source: tyrion2024, Brecht Denil

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.

#18

Image source: Potatoe_expert, cottonbro studio

TIL – the family that couldn’t sleep, a family in Venice, Italy where for over 200 years many of the family members died suffering from fatal insomnia.

#19

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.

Image source: orbesomebodysfool

#20

Image source: F1grid, Sheff Production

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

#21

TIL there were just 5 surviving longbows from medieval England known to exist before 137 whole longbows (and 3,500 arrows) were recovered from the wreck of the Mary Rose in 1980 (a ship of Henry VIII’s navy that capsized in 1545). The bows were in excellent finished condition & have been preserved.

Image source: tyrion2024

#22

Image source: LorenzoApophis, The Beatles Get Back

TIL that after George Harrison’s death from lung cancer, his widow sued a doctor at the hospital where he received radiation therapy for allegedly forcing Harrison to listen to his son play guitar and autograph the guitar while lacking his mental faculties.

#23

Image source: Tom_Bradys_Butt_Chin, Boteas

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”.

#24

Image source: ProudReaction2204, United States Marshals Service

TIL after Leona Helmsley did not pay her contractors that worked on her Connecticut home, she was investigated for tax evasion, and she received a 16 year sentence. During trial her housekeeper testified that Helmsley said “only the little people pay taxes.” She ended up serving 19 months in prison.

#25

TIL in 2020 a woman took an online DNA test which showed a 22% match with a man who she’d eventually discover to be her still alive uncle, who was kidnapped in 1951 at the age of six & had been missing for 70 years. After he was abducted in Oakland, he was flown to the east coast & raised there.

Image source: tyrion2024

#26

Image source: capribex, Pixabay

TIL that in Major League Baseball the ball is pitched so fast that the eye cannot track it. However, the brain is able to calculate its trajectory via specialized cells, making it possible for the batter to hit it.

#27

Image source: Equilibrity3, California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation

TIL Robert F. Kennedy’s assassin is still alive and has been denied parole 17 times.

#28

Image source: friendlystranger4u

TIL that Gene Roddenberry originally did not want to cast Patrick Stewart as Picard, since he had envisioned an actor who was “masculine, virile, and had a lot of hair”.

#29

Image source: Double-decker_trams, Kyle Ryan

TIL 10 US states have absolutely no vehicle inspection whatsoever (i.e no safety, emissions, or VIN inspections).

#30

TIL that the first laws outlawing food coloring were in regards to bread. White bread was expensive and some bakers added chalk to lighten dark bread. King Edward I (1272-1307) created a law saying anyone caught using whiteners in bread would be put in the public pillory for one hour.

Image source: Festina_lente123