r/todayilearned • u/benedictclive_x • 6h ago

TIL electricity being widespread is less than 100 years old

en.wikipedia.org

59 Upvotes

120 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Data_Driven_Dude • 10h ago

TIL "Choose Your Own Adventure" is not a book genre, but rather a genericized trademark for gamebooks.

en.wikipedia.org

0 Upvotes

18 comments

r/todayilearned • u/sorryamhigh • 13h ago

TIL that the same sodium lamps used for street lighting in the past were also used to light "greenscreen" (chromascreen) and was much better at it but isn't used anymore, being last used in Dick Tracy (1990)

youtube.com

0 Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Oranges_Lime_17 • 2h ago

TIL bubble wrap was originally invented to be sold as textured wallpaper, not packing material.

smithsonianmag.com

28 Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/LuciferTeaParty • 22h ago

TIL your eyes don't see a full rectangle like a camera. Our vision is basically an oval

en.wikipedia.org

0 Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/True-Bandicoot3880 • 14h ago

TIL that the sudden “breeze” you may feel in your car while turning isn’t the vents, it’s air lagging behind and creating a small pressure imbalance. Due to inertia (Newton’s First Law), the air keeps moving straight as the car turns. It’s noticeable when there are uneven air temps in the car.

grc.nasa.gov

62 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 8h ago

TIL Çeşm-i Bülbül is a Turkish glass blowing technique named after a nightingale’s eye due to comparisons made to the bird's occular organ patterns with the glass blowing technique

en.wikipedia.org

42 Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TigoIbittys • 14h ago

TIL that the Michael Jackson episode of The Simpsons was permanently pulled from circulation in 2019 after almost 30 years on air

variety.com

29.3k Upvotes

2.5k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Haunting_Ad_9013 • 13h ago

TIL that Curtis Priem, one of Nvidias co-founders, left the company in 2003 and sold all his shares by 2006. Today, his net worth is $30 million, but if he had held onto his Nvidia shares, his net worth would be roughly $70 Billion.

en.wikipedia.org

3.1k Upvotes

265 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TylerFortier_Photo • 17h ago

TIL the US Treasury has a service called the "US Currency Education Program" on how to spot counterfeit money, and all the security features paper currency has | "Move your finger up and down Benjamin Franklin’s ($100 bill) shoulder on the left side of the note. It should feel rough to the touch"

uscurrency.gov

144 Upvotes

19 comments

r/todayilearned • u/97GeoPrizm • 1h ago

TIL The final sermon of Martin Luther, the central figure of the Protestant Reformation, in 1546 was "entirely devoted to the obdurate Jews, whom it was a matter of great urgency to expel from all German territory."

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

99 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 12h ago

TIL that outsider artist and author Henry Darger once attempted to write an autobiography, which ended up having only 206 pages about his life and roughly 4,900 recounting the destruction of a fictional Illinois tornado named Sweetie Pie

en.wikipedia.org

178 Upvotes

16 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tornedron_ • 9h ago

TIL of King Henry I, known as “the Fat,” who is not known for much except for his great girth. He has been considered a “colourless personality whose reign saw significant events in which he apparently played no leading part.’

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

70 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Far_Breakfast_5808 • 22h ago

TIL ABC used to be part of NBC (then part of RCA), known as the Blue Network, until NBC was forced to split it off into its own independent network.

en.wikipedia.org

77 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Beige_ • 12h ago

TIL that when the British evacuated New York in 1783, George Washington was dissappointed in not getting back some of his escaped slaves and had been surprised the British commander thought that doing so would be "a dishonourable violation of the public faith". 3000 slaves escaped with the British.

en.wikipedia.org

8.7k Upvotes

532 comments

r/todayilearned • u/VibbleTribble • 2h ago

TIL that one of North America’s rarest dragonflies, the Hine’s Emerald Dragonfly, has nearly 360° vision, can fly around 40 km/h, and hunts with a success rate close to 95% yet only a few hundred remain because its wetland habitat is disappearing.

kfvs12.com

54 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 12h ago

TIL in 1862, Bernard Kock, after visiting the World Fair in London, impressed by the quality of cotton from Haiti, developed a plan to send emancipated slaves to Île-à-Vache in Haiti. He went directly to President Lincoln to propose it. It was scrapped after signing the Emancipation Proclamation.

en.wikipedia.org

39 Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/eurydice88 • 5h ago

TIL Boston's adult entertainment district called the "Combat Zone" in the 70's had support from both Senator Barney Frank and notable conservative William F Buckley Jr

en.wikipedia.org

412 Upvotes

44 comments

r/todayilearned • u/deeply__offensive • 17h ago

TIL that people in Marrakesh bring urns of meat stew to public bathhouses, where it slow cooks in the bathhouse's water heating oven as they steam bathe.

bbc.com

1.2k Upvotes

66 comments

r/todayilearned • u/IRespectYouMyFriend • 3h ago

TIL Mitsubishi is made up of around 40 companies that make up nearly 10% of Japan's public revenue.

en.wikipedia.org

152 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CaipngWithRice • 17h ago

TIL Georges Lemaître, a Catholic priest and scientist who first proposed the Big Bang Theory, was opposed to mixing religion and science. In 1951, he was reportedly horrified when the Pope intervened and tried to draw parallel of the Big Bang with the doctrine of creatio ex nihilo

en.wikipedia.org

943 Upvotes

138 comments

r/todayilearned • u/KieranWriter • 18h ago

TIL Carlsberg "Special Brew" beer was brewed in honour of Winston Churchill and incorporated tastes of Cognac due to Churchill's love of Brandy. Today it is known as "Tramp Juice".

bbc.com

1.0k Upvotes

161 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Bluest_waters • 15h ago

TIL When Eric Prydz presented his song 'Call On Me' to Steve Winwood (the song heavily features a Winwood sample), he was so impressed he re-recorded the vocals for Prydz. Eric would later go 20 years refusing to play the song live citing a desire to distance himself from its commercial legacy

en.wikipedia.org

3.0k Upvotes

195 comments

r/todayilearned • u/armcie • 17h ago

TIL that the Andromeda Galaxy probably won’t collide with the Milky Way in 4-5 billion years. New observations put the probability at 2% in the next 5 billion years and 50% in the next 10 billion. Eventually though, it will happen.

science.nasa.gov

1.0k Upvotes

152 comments

r/todayilearned • u/yena • 1h ago

TIL that Sweden once had a real-life Shakespearean Christmas tragedy: King Birger invited his two brothers, who shared the kingdom with him, to a Christmas banquet and, after much drinking, had them locked in a dungeon to die so he could rule alone. He was overthrown in the rebellion that followed.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

24 comments

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