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Your teacher, mom, and virtually any adult with a thoughtful mind would never approve of Twitter as a learning tool. And how would they with this whole infinite source of the not-very-serious side of the internet where memes, jokes, and burns are roaming free?
But people are proving them wrong by sharing incredible facts brought to them by Twitter that should have been put in the textbooks. From realizing the symbol “&” is a ligature for the word "et" to finding out that an 18-inch pizza has more of a good thing than two 12-inch pizzas, these are some of the facts that could have been part of my wisdom bank this whole time.
So scroll down, upvote your faves, and after you’re done with this post, check out our previous list of 30 random facts that will make you feel "today years old."
This post may include affiliate links.
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#2
hispanic! at the disco 4 years ago
And still today, Natives are being harassed by police for protesting there peacefully. Nothing much has changed..
Look, I am not saying we should believe all that Twitter has to offer. But it turns out, the things we were taught at school are not so innocent either. Some facts we still believe to this day are complete myths, and they had better be laid out bare before you become "today years old" to realize they aren’t true.
You probably would place a pretty high bid on the fact that Columbus discovered America. You’re not the only one. A 2005 survey showed that 85% of Americans believed Columbus discovered the continents and only 2% correctly answered that he couldn’t have discovered America because it was already inhabited by Native Americans.
#4
Whitehart 4 years ago
Caligula declared victory and his soldiers brought back chests full of seashells as proof.
Vic 4 years ago
What were they smoking? Can I have some of it? Sounds fun..
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WilvanderHeijden 4 years ago
Because if they didn't play along they would be killed in a most sadistic way. Caligula often said: "I can do anything to anybody. That's my right."
Claire 4 years ago
Hmmm, this sounds rather similar to something a current leader of country says. Something along the lines of "I can do whatever I want as President".
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Nameless 4 4 years ago
I imagined a bunch of Roman Legions marching up to the ocean and then being told by their superiors that the water was the enemy and they needed to defeat it.
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Better watch your language bud 4 years ago
I learnt this on horrible histories! *sigh* thems the days
Val/Malibu/Dante/Bob 4 years ago
Omg yesss. Horrible histories was everything and more
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Phunny Philosopher 4 years ago
Right? It just sort of rolls off the tongue but doesn't. And feels naughty but really isn't. It sounds like fancy writing plus the act of making lady bits happy plus the name of that thing that hangs down in the back of your throat.
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Xan A. Du 4 years ago
Kind of like what is happening today. Trump bad. Must destroy. [everyone scurries along]
Mike Crow 4 years ago
Trump isn’t bad per say, but he is incompetent and a narcissist.
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Martha Meyer 4 years ago
Well, he WAS completely bonkers. At least this one, unlike his other crazy ideas, didn't hurt anyone.
BoredPerson 4 years ago
We won! Thank you all. We pulverized our enemy. I could see all the blood, radiating out from his dying body. ... It was either that or the fish that Charles accidentally stabbed.
Blackheart 4 years ago
Yes, Caligula was crazy. When I showed students a bust of Caligula, their comments were "He's kinda hot."
Tom Susala 4 years ago
After the battle, they filmed an epically awful movie with that jerk who used to own Penthouse Magazine...
Dorothy Cloud 4 years ago
I can believe that. Just look at the idiots today. They're basically doing the same thing.
Randy Klefbeck 4 years ago
He was a serious nut job as emperors go. It is believed he suffered from some genetic disease. Julius Cesar apparently had epilepsy. Caligula declared himself a god at some point.
TheExtremeSmell 4 years ago
Didn’t he also elect his horse to a seat on some council. And bang his mom. And sister.
Bonnie North 4 years ago
I could see this happening at a political rally today - you know the ones!
Rustyn Birch 4 years ago
Caligula was more than a little batsh*t crazy too. Gore Vidal wrote a very good book about him- the movie that was made of it in 1979? Not so much.
PhantomBuni 4 years ago
You know what? I’ve been close. Stupid sea tide came and yoinked away a pretty shell. Darn thing didn’t come back.
Loki’s Lil Butter Knife 4 years ago
Caligula also allegedly committed incest (hmmm, sounds like a famous blonde-haired sibling on "Game of Thrones"), was unusually fond of his horse Incitatus, and fed his prisoners to wild animals. What a great guy!
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
Whilst King Canute was nearby trying to stop the tide. Which, even though it probably didn't happen, he was actually proving that even though he was a King, even himself could not stop the tide.
Catlady6000 4 years ago
It's Poseidon, not Neptune. You're ignorant. Please, learn.
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Gareth Graham 4 years ago
The London Underground maintain several stations that trains never use. They are reserved for TV and movie locations so as not to close down functioning stations
Another fact which turns out to be a myth is the tongue map idea, which suggests that different parts of our tongues identify different kinds of tastes. However, the University of Florida Center for Smell and Taste stated that “the locations of those taste buds aren't in accordance with the 'tongue map.'” And even if taste buds are indeed receptive to certain types of tastes, the difference in reality is tiny.
You've probably heard how Einstein failed math in school and was not an A student in general. It turns out, the only exam he failed was an entrance test to the Zurich Polytechnic he had to take in French, which he didn’t speak well at the time.
#8
#9
స్టీఫెన్ ఆండ్రూ 4 years ago (edited)
Let's just ignore the human rights abuses suffered by the Nepali minority group...
#13
chi-wei shen 4 years ago
A small group of wooly mammoth existed on Wrangel Island in the Arctic Ocean until about 2000 B.C.
#17
Mishte Tine 4 years ago
She’s also small and behind a ton of protection. She’s beyond amazing.
#20
Sergio Bicerra Descalzi 4 years ago
Read a funny story about him. He used to pay meals with checks. People didn't cash them cause Dali's signature was more worthy than the pay, so he got many free meals doing so. Not sure if its true, but like this story.
#21
Tiny Dynamine 4 years ago
Did you know you can get free extra pizza slices if you cut your pizza into 8 pieces instead of 6? ;)
#22
Aisha Boudy 4 years ago
Googol Plex (it's a number) is so large that if u wrote each of its zeros on separate atoms in the universe, there won't be enough space to finish writing all the zeros.
#23
Saurin Apriliawan 4 years ago
My identical twin cousin just told me that, although wearing exactly the same clothes and has quite similar voice, their toddlers can still tell them apart.
#29
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What do you think ?
Steve Barnett 4 years ago
You know I was taught a bunch of stuff in school, but I kinda wish that I was taught life skills; how to deal with loss, a broken heart, finances, rudimentary DIY, etc. You know everything that actually happens to you after you leave school.
Anne 4 years ago
We have some schools now that do (Netherlands) including growing food, but yeah, those are important survival skills
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Tom Hardeveld 4 years ago
fun fact, if you would put all the bloodveins in your body in one straight line... you would die
Irina Rachow 4 years ago
I always felt there should be a Life101 course in high school to teach people lots of survival skills like: how marketing works on you, the banking system, credit card lures and traps, living within your means, how to shop and cook, negotiation skills, etc. etc.
Vernice Aure 4 years ago
In Middle School (US, grades 6-8), we had Home Economics (cooking, sewing, nutrition) and Industrial Education (basic tool use, fun industrial projects). In 10th grade we had General Business (letter writing, banking, budgeting, basic laws, comparison shopping).
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Jennie-Lind Normand 4 years ago
So as a Canadian I wonder why we weren't taught that a Canadian invented peanut butter, we were taught about insulin and basketball being Canadian (among other things), but not peanut butter (I find that weird)
Dianna Siever 4 years ago
Americans are taught that it was George Washington Carver, one of the first and most prominent black American Scientist, who invented peanut butter.
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Lea S. 4 years ago (edited)
These are all interesting facts - I love lists like this. But on another note...poor teachers. They barely make a living, they're constantly disrespected and defunded, they are now looking at going back to school at the height of this pandemic. There's also lists everywhere of things you should've been taught in school. Are we incapable of learning ANYTHING ourselves? What makes this a list of things I should've learned in school? They are supposed to teach us this ever-evolving list of 'life skills' everything from cars and appliance repair to cooking, planting a garden, etc. Forget that necessary life skills are relative to who/where/what you do/want to do. The history of every civilization where everyone used to live, everyone's different points of views about history, every important historical figure (good or bad) AND all the different diseases/conditions/disabilities a person has. Where does it end? WHY the things on this list - please someone give me some insight.
Tracy 4 years ago
There are several here that I wouldn't expect to learn in school, like the cost of movie theater popcorn vs filet mignon, who designed chupa chups, and how many faces a chicken can recognize.
Lea S. 4 years ago
I swear it's in vogue right now to lament all the things you weren't taught in school. As if once you graduate that's it, you're done. You can't learn anything at all now - just have to go through the rest of your life confused.
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Theron Roberts 4 years ago
oops. accidentally pressed enter. meant to say that some of these are cool but aren't really necessary to learn in school.
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Steve Barnett 4 years ago
You know I was taught a bunch of stuff in school, but I kinda wish that I was taught life skills; how to deal with loss, a broken heart, finances, rudimentary DIY, etc. You know everything that actually happens to you after you leave school.
Anne 4 years ago
We have some schools now that do (Netherlands) including growing food, but yeah, those are important survival skills
Load More Replies... Tom Hardeveld 4 years ago
fun fact, if you would put all the bloodveins in your body in one straight line... you would die
Irina Rachow 4 years ago
I always felt there should be a Life101 course in high school to teach people lots of survival skills like: how marketing works on you, the banking system, credit card lures and traps, living within your means, how to shop and cook, negotiation skills, etc. etc.
Vernice Aure 4 years ago
In Middle School (US, grades 6-8), we had Home Economics (cooking, sewing, nutrition) and Industrial Education (basic tool use, fun industrial projects). In 10th grade we had General Business (letter writing, banking, budgeting, basic laws, comparison shopping).
Load More Replies... Jennie-Lind Normand 4 years ago
So as a Canadian I wonder why we weren't taught that a Canadian invented peanut butter, we were taught about insulin and basketball being Canadian (among other things), but not peanut butter (I find that weird)
Dianna Siever 4 years ago
Americans are taught that it was George Washington Carver, one of the first and most prominent black American Scientist, who invented peanut butter.
Load More Replies... Lea S. 4 years ago (edited)
These are all interesting facts - I love lists like this. But on another note...poor teachers. They barely make a living, they're constantly disrespected and defunded, they are now looking at going back to school at the height of this pandemic. There's also lists everywhere of things you should've been taught in school. Are we incapable of learning ANYTHING ourselves? What makes this a list of things I should've learned in school? They are supposed to teach us this ever-evolving list of 'life skills' everything from cars and appliance repair to cooking, planting a garden, etc. Forget that necessary life skills are relative to who/where/what you do/want to do. The history of every civilization where everyone used to live, everyone's different points of views about history, every important historical figure (good or bad) AND all the different diseases/conditions/disabilities a person has. Where does it end? WHY the things on this list - please someone give me some insight.
Tracy 4 years ago
There are several here that I wouldn't expect to learn in school, like the cost of movie theater popcorn vs filet mignon, who designed chupa chups, and how many faces a chicken can recognize.
Lea S. 4 years ago
I swear it's in vogue right now to lament all the things you weren't taught in school. As if once you graduate that's it, you're done. You can't learn anything at all now - just have to go through the rest of your life confused.
Load More Replies... Theron Roberts 4 years ago
oops. accidentally pressed enter. meant to say that some of these are cool but aren't really necessary to learn in school.
Load More Replies... Related on Bored Panda
