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28 Lesser-Known Facts That The “Today I Learned” Community Recently Shared
Article created by: Evelina Šiukšterytė
You learn something new every day. And you don't even have to attend a class to do so. You might learn something by accident, through a friend, in a book or on the internet. It could be a recipe, a new route to work, a word you never knew before, a fun fact, or a complex skill. We can keep learning throughout our lives. And as we do, our brain grows. It's a process called brain plasticity. But in order for that growth to occur, we have to exercise and train our brain. As if it were a muscle.
The Today I Learned community has 38 million members. It's a mind gym for anyone obsessed with gaining more knowledge about the world around them. Every day, people post the most interesting and intriguing facts they happened to stumble across. Bored Panda has gathered our personal favorites. From a student who got full marks for handing in a blank essay, to some lesser known truths about famous people, there's bound to be something here that you might want to share at the dinner table tonight. Don't forget to upvote your favorites, and let us know what you learned today.
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#1
In 1972 Canada had a contest to complete the saying "As Canadian as..." The winner was Heather Scott who answered "As Canadian as possible under the circumstances."
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#2
In Japan, only 100% fruit juice can display a realistic cut fruit on the label, 95% may display a whole but unsliced fruit. 5% or less, it is forbidden to display a realistic fruit on the label.
#4
In 2019 a Japanese University student studying ninja history turned in an essay written in invisible ink. The words only became visible when the paper was heated over a gas stove. Her professor without even revealing the whole essay gave her an A.
#5
After a boy in the 1930s found what looked like a "great lump of coal", his family used it as a doorstop for a decade until his dad had "a little look at it." This led to the realization it was the world's largest black sapphire. After being faceted, the Black Star of Queensland is 733 carats.
#6
A Coca-Cola secretary offered to sell Coca-Cola trade secrets to Pepsi. Pepsi responded by notifying Coca-Cola, and the secretary was sentenced to 8 years in prison.
#7
Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys wrote their first single "Surfin'" for a high school music class and received an F for it. In 2018 the high school retroactively changed his grade to an A.
#8
Sir Ben Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji but changed his name and noticed an immediate uptick in job offers, from "We don't quite know how to place you" to "When can you start?"
#9
Japanese war criminal Hitoshi Imamura, believing that his sentence of 10 years imprisonment was too light, built a replica prison in his garden where he stayed until his death in 1968.
#10
Mark Ruffalo woke from a dream that told him he had a brain tumor. He got a CT scan the following day confirming he had a benign tumor behind his left ear. The tumor was removed, and he is deaf in that ear as a result of the surgery.
#11
A man missing nearly 30 years was found alive and living just 80 miles away from where he disappeared after he helped solve his own disappearance by telling a social worker he had a flashback and remembered his name. He had reportedly suffered major memory loss due to a head injury.
#12
Early TV remotes worked with a spring-loaded hammer striking a solid aluminum rod in the device, which then rings out at an ultrasonic frequency, requiring no batteries.
#13
That P.T. Barnum noticed people were lingering too long at his exhibits so he posted signs indicating "This Way to the Egress". Not knowing that "Egress" was another word for "Exit", people followed the signs to what they assumed was a fascinating exhibit and ended up outside.
#14
Tolkien and CS Lewis hated Disney, with Tolkien branding Walt's movies as “disgusting” and “hopelessly corrupted” and calling him a "cheat"
#15
Just 2 months after 9/11, another commercial airliner, American Airlines Flight 587, crashed into a NYC neighborhood in Queens after a critical mechanical/piloting failure just minutes after take off. 265 people were killed and several homes were completely destroyed.
#16
"Tiffany Problem", where a historical or realistic fact is deemed anachronistic or unrealistic due to modern associations. Named after the name Tiffany, which is often considered a modern name but has medieval origins.
#18
The Double Rainbow guy was a prolific uploader and created thousands of videos. He also scheduled 15 years of uploads in advanced before he died, leaving his channel still active now 4 years after his death.
#19
Male peacocks make fake mating sounds to make him seem more popular so females will mate with him.
#20
'Zombie fires' are fires that burned during the summer, stay underground all winter long and pop up above the surface again in the spring.
#21
Iceberg Lettuce has a water content of 96%. This results in it having essentially no nutritional value and only trace amounts of vitamins and minerals.
#22
Medieval European cuisine used to be more complex and flavorful. However, once spice became cheap and readily available to the poor, the elites started taking spices out of European cooking as they didn't want to be associated with the poor. This trend had lasting effects on European cuisine.
#23
In 1958, Burma-Shave offered a "free trip to Mars" for sending in 900 empty jars. A grocery store manager, Arliss French, took it literally and collected all 900. To save face, Burma-Shave sent him, fully dressed as an astronaut, to Moers, Germany (of which they felt was pronounced Mars).
#24
In 2012, a California high school student was directed to urinate in a bucket in a supply room closet after a teacher mistakenly believed that bathroom breaks were not permitted. In 2017, a court ordered the school district to pay the student $1.25 million.
#25
According to a 2016 study, having a first-class section on an airplane quadruples the chances of an air rage incident. Furthermore, loading economy passengers through first class doubles the chances again.
#26
Due to their long association with humans, dogs have evolved the ability to thrive on a starch-rich diet, which would be inadequate for other canid species.
#27
The Notre Dame fire disaster was made worse because a guard was sent to investigate, but to the wrong location where he found no fire. The alarm system was not designed to automatically notify the fire brigade.
#28
George Washington was unusually tall (6'2") and quite strong, and never wore a powdered wig.
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