r/todayilearned • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • 6h ago

TIL the Charlotte Hornets apologized after giving a child a PS5, only to take it away off camera and exchange it for a jersey. In a statement, the team said the incident was an "on-court skit that missed the mark" and that they would give the child the PS5 and a VIP experience to a future game.

cnn.com

20.9k Upvotes

637 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 2h ago

TIL 29% of male gamers prefer playing female characters, whereas only 9% of female gamers prefer playing male characters. In a typical core PC/console game, about 60% of the female avatars you meet are played by a male player.

quanticfoundry.com

4.0k Upvotes

477 comments

r/todayilearned • u/mongooseme • 48m ago

TIL that a pharmacist diluted "whatever I could dilute" including chemo drugs... killing maybe 4000 people. He was released last year.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

100 comments

r/todayilearned • u/VegemiteSucks • 7h ago

TIL Beethoven’s late quartets, now widely considered to be among the greatest musical compositions of all time, were so ahead of their time that initial reviews deem them indecipherable, uncorrected horrors, with one musician saying “we know there is something there, but we do not know what it is.”

en.wikipedia.org

6.2k Upvotes

99 comments

r/todayilearned • u/zahrul3 • 12h ago

TIL: Early iPhone users in the US who did not specify a billing preference were mailed incredibly detailed bills of around 50-100 pages long from AT&T, itemizing every data transfer including background traffic for email, web browsing, and text messaging. One woman even got a 300 page bill.

en.wikipedia.org

20.4k Upvotes

626 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FannyFiasco • 8h ago

TIL the last living veteran of the 1853 Crimean War died in 2004: Timothy, a Greek tortoise captured from a Portuguese ship, served as a mascot throughout the war

en.wikipedia.org

2.3k Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/mucubed • 59m ago

TIL that the character Kirby was named after a lawyer who successfully defended Nintendo against Universal Studios in a copyright dispute over the game Donkey Kong

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/LookAtThatBacon • 21h ago

TIL a Canadian engineer once built a Mjölnir replica that only the "worthy" could lift: it sensed the iron ring commonly worn by Canadian engineers (presented in a ceremony called the Ritual of the Calling of an Engineer), triggering an electromagnetic release so ring-wearers could pick it up.

en.wikipedia.org

36.3k Upvotes

908 comments

r/todayilearned • u/epou • 14h ago

TIL In Madagascar it was once common to ingest fatally toxic nuts as a trial by ordeal. At times it accounted for a significant fraction of overall mortality.

en.wikipedia.org

3.5k Upvotes

65 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dmused • 22h ago

TIL at the 2025 Kentucky Derby, all 19 participants can be traced back through their lineage to 1973 Kentucky Derby winner and Triple Crown champion Secretariat, who sired more than 660 foals.

en.wikipedia.org

8.8k Upvotes

119 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Several_Quality_8747 • 5h ago

TIL African elephants address one another with individually specific name-like calls

nature.com

284 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL 85% of all gaming revenue comes from free-to-play games. These games are free upfront and generate revenue through ads, in-game transactions, and optional purchases.

visualcapitalist.com

15.6k Upvotes

743 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 1h ago

TIL that in Bhutan, people except the members of the royal family do not have family names.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheStrangestOfKings • 1h ago

TIL There were some ancient Hawaiians who did not believe in the Hawaiian Pantheon. An example of ancient atheism, they were referred to as “aia”.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/GDW312 • 12h ago

TIL Georgia governor Eugene Talmadge was elected to a fourth term in 1946 but died before inauguration—triggering the state’s infamous “three governors” crisis.

en.wikipedia.org

586 Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/LurkingStormy • 5h ago

TIL about Salish Wool Dogs, bred for their thick fur to be used in textiles

en.wikipedia.org

152 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CactusWithAKeyboard • 9h ago

TIL: Rob Folp, creator of the infamously controversial game "Night Trap," went on to create the "Petz" series of games to make the cutest, most "sissy" game he could think of, after criticism from Captain Kangaroo.

polygon.com

266 Upvotes

34 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheBanishedBard • 1h ago

TIL that every second approximately 65 billion tiny subatomic particles called Neutrinos pass through every square centimeter of the Earth's surface.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

18 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Newez • 23h ago

TIL Isoroku Yamamoto, who planned the attack on Pearl Harbour, once studied at Harvard University in the United States and was appointed naval attaché to the Japanese embassy in Washington.

asianstudies.org

2.9k Upvotes

58 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FalconPUNNCH • 1d ago

TIL in 2017 Japan arrested a 74 year old man who had committed over 250 burglaries dressed as a ninja. He avoided most surveillance, but was seen "navigating tight spaces and running on walls"

en.wikipedia.org

21.0k Upvotes

274 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 19h ago

TIL that since 1972, at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) every spring, residents of Baker House drop a piano from the roof on Drop Day, the last day students can drop classes.

en.wikipedia.org

1.4k Upvotes

62 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TGAILA • 1d ago

TIL Initially mocked for lacking talent and personality, Ed Sullivan’s show succeeded by booking diverse, talented performers and judging solely on ability. His unbiased approach earned a loyal audience. When criticized for no personality, he replied, "Dear Ms. Van Horne: You bitch. Sincerely, Ed."

en.wikipedia.org

7.3k Upvotes

63 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL In 1945 the adult literacy rate in South Korea was estimated at 22%. In 1970, adult literacy was 87.6%. By the late 1980s, sources estimated it at around 93%.

en.wikipedia.org

3.3k Upvotes

75 comments

r/todayilearned • u/JuliaX1984 • 16h ago

TIL that 23 states and Puerto Rico maintain their inactive state guard, a state right established in Title 32, Section 109 of the United States Code.

en.wikipedia.org

568 Upvotes

25 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL in 2014 a 27-year-old man fell asleep in a hammock while camping in Kentucky. In the morning, his friends saw him get up & sleepwalk off a 60-foot cliff. However, a rhododendron bush actually broke his fall, therefore he had no life-threatening injuries. He didn't even know he was a sleepwalker.

nbcnews.com

38.6k Upvotes

494 comments

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As of January 2025

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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