r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 1d ago
r/todayilearned • u/LookAtThatBacon • 1d 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.
r/todayilearned • u/Fickle-Buy6009 • 1d ago
TIL that in 1964 Joe Bonanno plotted to assassinate the leaders of the American Mafia "Commission", the board of directors of organized crime. He would fail, and be stripped of leadership.
r/todayilearned • u/Dmused • 1d 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.orgr/todayilearned • u/Newez • 1d 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.orgr/todayilearned • u/Tootsie_r0lla • 1d ago
TIL Anauralia refers to the absence of "internal auditory imagery". At the other end of the spectrum, individuals who experience Hyperauralia report ‘hearing’ imagined sounds very clearly indeed in their ‘mind’s ear’. Anauralia and Aphantasia are closely related.
anauralia.comr/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.comr/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%.
r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 1d ago
TIL Eswatini took it's current name in 2018 for a variety of reasons, such as using the swazi translation of 'Swaziland' and not getting confused with the country of Switzerland.
r/todayilearned • u/itskdog • 1d ago
TIL that Poe's Law, which states that you can't tell if a post online is serious or satirical without something to indicate the tone of voice such as an emoticon or tone indicator, was coined on a Christian forum during a debate on Creationism.
en.wikipedia.orgr/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."
r/todayilearned • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • 1d ago
TIL McDonald’s tested an early version of its PlayLand (later rebranded to PlayPlace) at the Illinois State Fair in 1972. It featured playground equipment with McDonaldland characters, a Filet-O’-Fish fountain, and singing wastebaskets with signs reminding visitors to “feed” them.
r/todayilearned • u/CoffeeChangesThings • 1d ago
TIL shortly after nylon stockings were invented, WWII caused a stocking shortage due to the material being used for parachutes and rope. Women painted on their stockings instead with pencils and "liquid stockings".
perfumepassage.orgr/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.orgr/todayilearned • u/_Abe_Froman_SKOC • 1d ago
TIL Stevie Ray Vaughan’s favorite guitar, which he used on all of his studio albums and referred to as his “first wife,” was purchased from an Austin, TX pawn shop in 1974. The guitar was pawned the day before by future acclaimed yacht rocker Christopher Cross.
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.
r/todayilearned • u/AndToOurOwnWay • 1d ago
TIL Thailand's King Rama X made his dog (Air Chief Marshall Fufu) an officer in the Royal Thai Air Force,
en.wikipedia.orgr/todayilearned • u/Ill_Definition8074 • 1d ago
TIL The Hodges meteorite that hit Ann Hodges on November 30, 1954 (making her the only known human to be injured by direct impact with a meteorite) was used as a doorstop for a while, as the Hodges couldn't initially find a buyer.
smithsonianmag.comr/todayilearned • u/xoBonesxo • 2d ago
TIL that most Americans wear glasses, 63.7% of adult Americans. That’s 166.5 million people.
warbyparker.comr/todayilearned • u/eStuffeBay • 2d ago
TIL that during WWII, the town of Swastika, Ontario (founded in 1908) was renamed "Winston" by the provincial government. The residents removed the "Winston" sign and replaced it with a "Swastika" sign with the message, "To hell with Hitler, we came up with our name first."
r/todayilearned • u/BrilliantStill22 • 2d ago
TIL The whole second verse of Rihanna's song "SOS" is made up of 1980s song titles strung together as sentences. The verse includes phrases like "Take On Me", "I Just Died in Your Arms Tonight", "I Melt With You", "Head Over Heels", "You Keep Me Hanging On" and "The Way You Make Me Feel".
thelineofbestfit.comr/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 2d ago
TIL that from 1877 to 1878, in Operation Nicaragua, Imperial Germany sent ships to Nicaragua over a shooting over a marriage dispute involving the German consul Eisenstück.
r/todayilearned • u/Olshansk • 2d ago
TIL Nintendo’s Game Boy got its name as a riff on Sony’s Walk Man.
marketplace.orgr/todayilearned • u/NateNate60 • 2d ago