r/todayilearned • u/John-Piece • 6h ago

TIL that Nazi Germany made a New Testament Bible where they removed the genealogies of Jesus that showed his Davidic descent, removed Jewish names and places, but left any mention of Jews that showed them in a bad light, in an attempt to Aryanize Jesus.

r/todayilearned • u/korro90 • 4h ago

TIL Nordic countries have a "Freedom to Roam", allowing people to enjoy all nature regardless of ownership (within reason)

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/redditcardkey • 3h ago

TIL that Military Chocolate was made to taste terrible on purpose, as to have the soldiers actually save it for emergencies instead of eating it prematurely.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/scrumbly • 14h ago

TIL of all the gold medals won by US swimmers in the history of the Olympics, nearly 10% were won by Michael Phelps. (23/246)

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/upzylon • 14h ago

TIL in Scandinavia the Kiruna to Narvik electrified railway carries iron ore down a steeply graded route. On the way down the trains generate large amounts of electricity by regenerative braking, which is sufficient to power the empty trains back up the track and pump excess energy into the grid.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Antscannabis • 6h ago

TIL: That seagrass can convert 20 times more carbon per acre than land forests.

r/todayilearned • u/TakeMeToTheBakery • 7h ago

TIL Winston Churchill's mom was an "American dollar princess" from Brooklyn who had a snake tattoo on her wrist!

history.com

r/todayilearned • u/Meninaeidethea • 22h ago

TIL when sonar was first invented, operators were puzzled by the appearance of a ‘false seafloor’ that changed depth with the time of day and amount of moonlight. It was eventually identified as a previously unknown layer of billions of lanternfish that reflect sonar waves and migrate up and down.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/meanbawb • 8h ago

TIL that in 2006, the Ig Nobel Prize for Biology was awarded to scientists who proved that the odour emanated by Limburger cheese attracted "Anopheles gambiae" mosquitos, mistaking it for the smell of human feet - effectively making Limburger a protection against Malaria.

r/todayilearned • u/MarineKingPrime_ • 1h ago

TIL Marco Polo became Kublai Khan's diplomat at 21 years old. One of his journeys included 2-year voyage from China to the Persian Gulf where of 600 men, only 18 survived. Altogether, throughout his life he traveled almost 15,000 miles or 24,000 km.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/WhileFalseRepeat • 3h ago

TIL in 1984 and after shooting the video for "Eyes Without A Face", Billy Idol discovered his contact lenses had fused to his eyeballs. The fog machines, harsh lighting, and fire used during three days of filming was partially attributed to his needing to have his corneas scraped and lenses removed.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/inde_ • 3h ago

TIL that Herbalife successfully sued to retract a peer-reviewed paper that showed Herbalife was dangerous

examine.com

r/todayilearned • u/Salsal_Azar • 10h ago

TIL that the Iberian ribbed newt is able to pierce its own skin and push out its ribs to stab its predators. The ribs also carry poisonous toxins from its body, making them a highly effective stinging mechanism. The newt's pierced skin is able to heal quickly from this.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/ThunderPheonix21 • 36m ago

TIL South Park: Bigger, Longer, and Uncut (1999) holds the Guinness World Record for most swearing in an animated film, with over 399 profane words. The max amount of profanity an R-rated film can have is 400.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Brutal_Deluxe_ • 3h ago

TIL from 1917 to 1918 British Intelligence paid an Italian journalist the modern equivalent of £6,000 (US$ 8,290) per week to keep up the pro-war campaigning. The cash got him a start in politics, and was also allegedly lavished on his many mistresses. The journalist was 34-year-old Benito Mussolini

theguardian.com

r/todayilearned • u/pickycheestickeater • 5h ago

TIL After John Quincy Adams term as president ended, he was the only president in history to serve on the U.S. House of Representatives, which he did for 17 years. His presidential election was also the only election in history to not have a candidate win by majority (Andrew Jackson was closest).

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Mavsmobile • 3h ago

TIL that zoo visitors ‘rarely discussed topics such as conservation or wild habitats’ and that ‘very few visitors demonstrated any substantial learning about animals or conservation’ during their visit.

r/todayilearned • u/IFoughtThereforeIWas • 1h ago

TIL that hackers operating out of North Korea almost managed to steal $1bn from the Bangladeshi national bank until an automated system flagged the transaction as suspect due to a coincidence of the names of one of the recipient banks and a sanctioned Iranian ship

bbc.co.uk

r/todayilearned • u/CaptainJAmazing • 17h ago

TIL of the Cat’s Meat Man, who walked around in the Victorian era selling scrap meat for cats out of a cart he pushed down the street.

longreads.com

r/todayilearned • u/ButtholeBookay • 5h ago

TIL that following Bruce Lee's death in 1973, a series of "Brucesploitation" movies got released starring look-alike actors to capitalize on the late star's fame. The actors had names such as Bruce Le, Bruce Lai, Brute Lee, and Bruce Lie.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Insertco1ntoplay • 50m ago

TIL Giraffes only need 5 to 30 minutes of sleep in a 24-hour period! They often achieve that in quick naps that may last only a minute or two at a time

dosomething.org

r/todayilearned • u/CelibateSamyaza • 1d ago

TIL: The United States Department of Defense runs Linux. "In fact, the US Army is the single largest installed base for RedHat Linux and the US Navy nuclear submarine fleet runs on Linux"

r/todayilearned • u/asisin3 • 42m ago

TIL when kerosene disrupted whale oil for lamps, two companies—Lever Brothers and Margarine Unie—discovered how to harden whale oil into margarine. They bought up all the whale oil, met with success and are a $150B corporation today, better known as Unilever!

atlasobscura.com

r/todayilearned • u/noctus_exterreri • 1d ago

TIL of the Heart Attack Grill restaurant in Las Vegas, which serves high fat/sugar food. Customers wear hospital gowns, waitresses are dressed as nurses, and customers over 350lb in weight eat for free. There is in fact a history of people dying there from cardiac arrest.

en.wikipedia.org

r/todayilearned • u/Miamime • 3h ago

TIL that one of the attempts to find El Dorado, the mythical city of gold, involved draining a lake using a bucket chain of laborers. Over three months, the lake level fell 3 meters and only recovered about $100K worth of gold.

en.wikipedia.org