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“Today I Learned”: 40 Lesser-Known Things About The World That Should Be Common Knowledge (New Pics)
They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but what about pandas? We believe that, regardless of your age, you can always learn something new. Just ask the members of Reddit’s ‘Today I Learned’ community! This group, which has an impressive 31 million members, is a wealth of information that’s constantly changing and updating, so below, we’ve gathered some of our favorite recent posts from TIL.
Keep reading to also find an interview with Alison Winfield-Chislett, founder and director of The Goodlife Centre in the UK, and be sure to share the tidbits of information you find most fascinating with your friends. I’m sure they’d like to learn more about why dishwashers were invented and why there are hundreds of raccoons wreaking havoc in Japan!
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
TIL about Don Ritchie, an Australian who intervened and prevented at least 180 suicide attempts at a notable suicide destination called The Gap. He lived nearby and would approach and ask “Can I help you in some way?”
#2
TIL One of the largest charitable donations made by a lottery winner came from a man in Canada. Two years after his wife died from cancer, Tom Crist won the lotto and donated everything to organizations fighting the disease. Canada doesn't tax winnings, so Crist donated $40 million.
To learn more about why it's important to be a lifelong learner, we reached out to Alison Winfield-Chislett, founder and director of The Goodlife Centre in the UK, and she was kind enough to have a chat with Bored Panda. The Goodlife Centre is an independent learning space in London that offers practical boutique workshops in DIY, Home Maintenance, Decorating, Upholstery, Woodwork & Carpentry, Furniture Upcycling & Restoration and various traditional hand Crafts. It's the perfect place to go to learn something new, which Alison says is important to "help us feel vital and part of life. We can continue to grow until the day we die."
#3
TIL in 1952, Jimmy Carter led a team of nuclear scientists in disassembling a Canadian nuclear reactor undergoing meltdown. To accomplish this, Carter, alongside other American military personnel, personally lowered himself into the reactor to disassemble it by hand.
#4
TIL of castaway huts (or depots) which are deliberately placed on isolated islands by governments. They contain supplies and tools which can help people who become stranded there. Most were built by the New Zealand government in the 19th and 20th centuries.
When it comes to the benefits of learning something new, Alison says, "As we get older we can challenge any belief system that has held us back. ‘I don’t know how to…’ becomes ‘I’m learning how to…’"
Alison also shared with Bored Panda that there's no end to what she's curious about. "I love all materials and processes. The practical methods of making your world personalised leads on forever. There’s always a way to improve what you make."
#5
TIL the ancient Nazca got water in the middle of the desert through an engineered series of 46 aqueducts running 12 m underground. They were built around 200-500 AD, and 32 of them are still used by local farmers today.
#6
TIL about Josephine Cochrane, who invented the dishwasher because she was fed up of China breaking whilst being hand washed.
Alison also noted that we can find inspiration for learning anywhere. "I asked myself ‘Why is it called that?’ A little tool known as a ‘Gent’s saw’ led me to learn about the 19th century craft revolution when ‘gentlemen’ tried using their hands like ‘artisans’."
"When we are using our hands to make something, we connect with a part of ourselves that feels like we are home," she added. "There’s no place like it."
If you'd like to learn a new skill, particular one that involves working with your hands, be sure to check out The Goodlife Centre's website right here.
#7
TIL by passing a law requiring pharmacies to be owned by a licensed pharmacist, North Dakota has essentially done away with corporate chain pharmacies. Corporations that own pharmacies must be majority owned by licensed pharmacists.
#8
TIL that mature bull elephants play a pivotal role in elephant society. The absence of mature bulls creates juvenile delinquency in younger bulls, who will soon enter musth. When mature bulls were introduced into areas with a high concentration of delinquents, they soon put a stop to this behavior.
#9
TIL of Movile Cave, which has been completely sealed off from the outside world for 5.5 million years and evolved dozens of animal species found nowhere else, sustained only by toxic chemicals in the air and water, not photosynthesis.
#10
TIL Roman concrete structures such as the Pantheon and aqueducts are ultra durable because of lime clasts. While many modern concrete structures crumble after a few decades, Roman concrete has self-healing functionality from lime clasts which allow their structures to survive millennia.
#11
TIL in 1993 Mattel's Barbie division accidentally released a Gay Ken doll. Despite being quickly recalled, it remains the best selling Ken doll of all time.
#12
TIL that in 2014, Diana Nyad became the first person to swim from Cuba to Florida without using a shark cage. She endured a 104-mile swim through jellyfish and shark-infested waters, taking approximately 53 hours. Amazingly, she was 64 years old when she made this swim.
Ace Girl 1 year ago (edited)
and her last name, Nyad, means "water nymph." I read her autobiography, she was an incredible woman.
Anyone-for-tea? 1 year ago
The TED radio hour on NPR talking about her achievements was really worth listening to!
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Shark Lady 1 year ago
I hate that term, I'm glad nothing happened to her as sharks are already demonised more than enough.
Andy-Pandy-Panda 1 year ago
I fully understand that I may be asking a question out of ignorance but, how does one swim any distance in a shark cage?
Dirk Daring 1 year ago
I got some really bad stings on my hand when I tried to get some honey out of a bee-infested hive.
Janine B. 1 year ago
Bad evil bees they are. And mean. Kill them with fire!
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Jessica Cifelli 1 year ago
Well her last name is Nyad. Even though it's spelled different, naiads are water spirits. They are supposed to take care of bodies of water, in mythology
Jaguarundi 1 year ago
"Nyad" is an alternate spelling of "naiad", a water nymph. I always thought that that was the perfect name for her to have as a long-distance swimmer.
GV Martinez-Williams 1 year ago
It was here second or third try I believe. I remember she had to stop her previous try because the stings were really bad.
Nathan Shipman 1 year ago
I remember reading about how her. Her body looked like it was swollen from all the jellyfish stings. Bless her heart.
Matt Smith 1 year ago
I couldn't make that swim when I was at my healthiest, which I'm far from at the moment
Max Fox 1 year ago
Millions of Americans swim in areas full of sharks, and only 70 or so are attacked every year. Sharks are not a big danger. The only reason that people use a shark cage is because they are being idiots and feeding the sharks. Once the shark starts feeding, it may decide that the humans swimming nearby is food. Otherwise, humans are simply not part of a shark's menu.
shawn mckinney 1 year ago
She swam 104 miles. I haven't been to the walking track in a week (I walk indoors during winter)
Steve Robert 1 year ago
Unfortunately she was bit by a landshark when answering the door for a Candygram
Doug the Special one 1 year ago
Captain Newt you try it then you can post stupid stupid comments about whose water it is.
#13
TIL of Dr. Jochem Hoyer, a German transplantation surgeon who argued in favour of altruistic organ donations. After a colleague criticized him for praising "living donors as long as it is NOT you who has to donate" Hoyer donated a kidney to an unknown stranger to make a quote "very strong statement".
#14
TIL in 1974 the band Ace had their only hit, How Long (has this been going on). The song is not about a cheating girlfriend - it’s about the band’s bass player, who was moonlighting with another band.
#15
TIL that Nikola Tesla once worked for Thomas Edison but left due to a disagreement over payment for his work on improving Edison's DC power systems. Tesla went on to develop AC power systems, which became the basis for modern electrical grids.
#16
TIL A slave couple escaped to the North in 1848 by disguising her, a light-skinned black woman, as his owner, and him, darker-skinned, as her valet. She was illiterate at the time, so they put her arm in a sling against signatures and pretended she was sick. An acquaintance nearly recognized them.
#17
TIL that scientists created a 60 year long experiment in Siberia, selectively breeding wild foxes who showed friendly traits. 40 generations later they were as friendly as dogs!
#18
TIL Impressed with his energy and ability to do the splits, the owner of the Oakland A's hired an 11-year old named Stanley Burrell as a batboy and personal play-by-play announcer. A's player Reggie Jackson gave the kid a nickname, Hammer, who would later become MC Hammer.
#19
TIL Sperm whales use babysitters. Sperm whale youths cannot dive as deep as their mothers so when the mother needs to forage in the deep the youth is kept safe by swimming with other adult whales.
#20
TIL A repairman wanted to get out of work early and intentionally started a fire, causing $700,000,000 in damages to the USS Miami submarine.
#21
TIL Robin Williams improv was so good in FernGully the director tripled his character’s screen time for the final cut.
#23
TIL Japan has become infested with North American raccoons after an anime based on the book Rascal aired in 1977 and caused thousands of raccoons to be imported as pets only to be released into the wild.
#26
TIL that bioluminescence in fireflies is nearly 100 percent efficient, meaning little energy is wasted to produce their light.
#27
TIL that the actor who played Darth Vader, David Prowse, was banned from attending official Star Wars events because he leaked too many plot details.
#28
TIL the crews of Apollo 11, 12, and 14 had to spend 3 weeks in quarantine after returning to Earth because of the possibility that they might spread contagions from the moon.
#29
TIL That in case of emergency in a railroad crossing, instead of dialing 911, we should first look out for a blue and white sign that has a phone number that will get you in touch with the railroad dispatcher, who can radio the engineers of nearby trains to immediately stop short of that crossing.
#30
TIL The prototype of the Rolls Royce Ghost was so quiet inside that it made test drivers sick. The engineers had to remove some of the noise-isolating material, and create seats that vibrated at specific frequencies to introduce some noise into the interior.
#31
TIL about Mrs. Winslow's Soothing Syrup, a medicine used in the early 1900s to quiet infants and teething children. Popular in the US and UK it took twenty years of doctors' complaints before it was withdrawn from the market for being a "baby killer." The main ingredient was morphine.
#32
TIL as a research student, Lawrence Bragg figured out how to use X-ray to study the atomic structure. His breakthrough discovery earned him the Nobel Prize in Physics at age 25.
#33
TIL the Japanese turned the third of their superbattleships (after Yamato and Musashi) into the largest aircraft carrier ever built at the time. After four years of construction and enormous cost, she left the shipyard and was immediately sunk by a submarine.
#34
TIL Charles Dickens had a talking pet raven named Grip, who terrorized his dog, buried valuables in the yard, and died eating "a pound or two" of lead paint. As a character in one of his novels, Grip is believed to have inspired Poe's famous poem, and is on display in a Philadelphia public library.
#35
TIL that South Korea's CIA recruited a suicide squad to kill North Korea's dictator, Kim Il Sung. The squad mutinied, killed their commanders, hijacked a bus to Seoul, and were blown up by their own military. The survivors were then executed.
#36
TIL that the Fahrenheit scale was standardized 18 years before Celsius. The world switch due to the British Empire. The United States is actually using the earlier standard.
#37
TIL Japan has used history textbook that contained references to the Nanjing Massacre, anti-Japanese resistance movements in Korea, forced suicide in Okinawa, comfort women, and Unit 731 since the mid 1990s.
#38
TIL beneath the Puerto Rico Trench is a mass so dense it has a gravitational pull on the surface of the ocean, causing it to dip somewhat. The Trench is also associated with the most negative gravity anomaly on earth, -380 milliGal, which indicates the presence of an active downward force.
#39
TIL Crypto.com mistakenly sent a customer $10.5 million instead of an $100 refund by typing the account number as the refund amount. It took Crypto.com 7 months to notice the mistake, they are now suing the customer.
#40
TIL that King Alfonso XIII of Spain,was known as "the Playboy king"and considered the pioneer of pornographic cinema in Spain.He commissioned pornographic films considered immoral and degenerate, including sexual relationships involving Catholic priests, and his passion "women with enormous breasts".
What do you think ?
Shana Hay 1 year ago
He actually set a few small fires and kept pulling the fire alarm and it always happened on my husband's duty days (every 3rd day he was on the boat for 24 hrs). They had some cameras that looked like a guy in uniform could be doing it but they did not get a face. We had an upside down mortgage and 2 toddlers in CT, so when the boat when to do the overhaul in Portsmouth, it was only 18 months, the kids and I stayed in CT. Nobody was happy about that, so hubs was 'the angry guy' in the division. We had the house and a car so 'tons' of debt, enough that he might have sold out to 'enemies'. It was crazy. In reality, we had less than $235,000 in debt all in the car and house. They had him and one other guy in being questioned every single day. The other guy left the Navy after that because of all the stress.
Shana Hay 1 year ago
He actually set a few small fires and kept pulling the fire alarm and it always happened on my husband's duty days (every 3rd day he was on the boat for 24 hrs). They had some cameras that looked like a guy in uniform could be doing it but they did not get a face. We had an upside down mortgage and 2 toddlers in CT, so when the boat when to do the overhaul in Portsmouth, it was only 18 months, the kids and I stayed in CT. Nobody was happy about that, so hubs was 'the angry guy' in the division. We had the house and a car so 'tons' of debt, enough that he might have sold out to 'enemies'. It was crazy. In reality, we had less than $235,000 in debt all in the car and house. They had him and one other guy in being questioned every single day. The other guy left the Navy after that because of all the stress.
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