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‘Today I Learned’: 40 Interesting Things People Didn’t Learn At School (New Pics)
Two of the greatest upsides of the internet, in my opinion, are its ability to entertain us and put us right on track to learn something entirely new. We have the wealth of human wisdom at our fingertips, but we need constant reminders to hone our minds when we can just as easily spend the entire evening watching Netflix or reading about which celeb did what.
For me, the ‘Today I Learned’ community on Reddit is a constant reminder about how rich in information and full of knowledge our world really is. It is an online group that celebrates people learning something new every single day. So far, it has carved out a massive niche for its 26.3 million (soon to be 26.4 million) curious members who have a special place in their hearts for science and history. The TIL crowd helps keep me learning and, I hope, it’ll do the same for you, too, Pandas.
Scroll down for the newest TIL facts and trivia, upvote the ones that surprised you, and let us know in the comments about all the things that you recently learned.
Oh, and one of the best parts about these facts? We can totally repeat them during our lunch break and impress everyone with how brainy we are. Who doesn’t like random facts alongside their sandwich-and-tea combo, right? In case you need more interesting facts to fill your mind, you can always scroll through Bored Panda's earlier articles featuring the TIL community. You’ll find them here, here, and here.
I wanted to get to grips with whether the internet is a force for education or a tool for distraction, as well as talk about how we can choose the direction of our further studies if we feel completely lost, so I reached out to Steven Wooding. A member of the Institute of Physics in the UK, Steven is also part of the Omni Calculator Project and helped create the Weird Units Converter (it's a lot of fun for scientists and geeks alike). Read on for Bored Panda's interview to see what Steven had to say.
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#1
TIL when Dr. Joyce Brothers was a contestant on The $64,000 Question the show’s sponsor Revlon tried to get rid of her because she didn’t wear makeup on air. She was asked increasingly obscure questions but was able to answer them all correctly and became the show’s first woman to win the top prize.
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#2
TIL that in the Netherlands on May 4th 8 pm, no matter where you are, there is a 2-minute silence for the soldiers that died in WWII
#3
TIL about the Edict of Salerno. In 1231 after noticing the rapidly rising cost of medicine, Emperor Friedrich II made it forbidden for doctors to double as pharmacists and the prices of various medicines were fixed so they could not rise further.
River Webb 3 years ago
a guy in 1231 has done better than the American government ever will when it comes to chemo and insulin
Steven, a member of the Omni Calculator Project team, told Bored Panda that the internet is something that's neutral and more akin to a mirror than a tool that's either inherently good or evil. "Of course it can be both," he said.
"The internet reflects the world around it, so everything you find in the world will also appear on the internet. I see it as a great shortcut to information (gone are the days of having to visit a library) that can speed up your learning and ability to do things," Steven said.
He added that if we feel like we're unable to maintain our focus and keep getting distracted by all the potential entertainment we're missing out on, we should "set aside specific times for studying and other times for fun." Discipline and clear boundaries are key here.
#4
TIL at David Niven's funeral, the largest wreath was from the porters at Heathrow Airport with a card reading "To the finest gentleman who ever walked through these halls. He made a porter feel like a king."
#5
TIL that in 1867, an American businessman attended a reading of A Christmas Carol and was so moved by it, that he closed his factory on Christmas Day and sent every employee a turkey.
#6
TIL that in 1992, six visitors to a dinosaur exhibition in the Memphis Zoo demanded a refund after discovering it did not contain living dinosaurs
Steven also opened up about fighting back against burnout and apathy. In his view, we can become burned out when there's far too much going on, as well as far too little. "I believe that burnout awaits us at the two ends of a graph in the shape of an inverted letter 'U.' The graph represents the level of difficulty of what we're doing. If it is too high (e.g., we get too stressed, feel too insecure), we will eventually give up. But the same happens when the difficulty level is too low: when we're doing exactly the same thing over and over again," he said.
"My little secret for avoiding apathy is giving myself little challenges, difficulties, or assumptions that I need to stick to during my tasks. This way, I can polish my skills, avoid burnout, and (as a bonus side effect) get better results over time. Try to be conscious of 'the burnout curve'—and adjust your life's challenges so that they always hit somewhere near the top of the curve."
In short, we need to challenge ourselves to stay engaged in whatever project we're doing. However, it can take some work to find the right balance that doesn't stress you out or make you bored.
#7
TIL Queen Victoria personally admired Harriet Tubman and gifted her a silk lace & linen shawl in 1897. It is now on display at the national museum of African-American history & Culture
#8
TIL Viking women’s faces were more masculine than today’s women, while Viking men's faces looked more feminine than today's men, with a less prominent jaw and brow ridges. The ambiguous facial features mean that it is difficult to decide upon a Viking skeleton’s sex based on the skull alone
#9
TIL that the reason many Hanna Barbera characters had collars and ties was to save money on animation. Separating the head and body allows the body to remain static while the head is animated. This made it so a seven-minute cartoon only required around 2,000 drawings, as opposed to the usual 14,000
For any of you Pandas who love learning but aren't sure what direction to take your education further, know that you aren't alone. I've been exactly where you are. I had a few radically different directions I wanted to pursue at university, and it took a while for me to narrow down my options.
Steven suggests picking the subject that interests you the most because you'll spend several years studying it. In this case, you really should listen to your heart. "Don’t choose based on things like the job you could get, as you’ll always be wishing you were doing the thing that really interests you," he warned.
"If you have no idea, ask yourself what subject at school did you enjoy most? Or what other activity do you find yourself doing? Can that be a starting point as to what to study at university?" Steven shared some of the questions that we should pose that, hopefully, will help us come to an informed decision about our future.
During an earlier interview, I learned all about, well, learning from child independence expert Lenore Skenazy, the president of Let Grow and the founder of the Free-Range Kids movement. She told Bored Panda that, nowadays, we have a far narrower understanding of what learning is than we did before, as a species. She also believes that it’s not really learning that we fall in love with, it’s the activities and topics that interest us, that we’re the most passionate about. That, in turn, makes us want to know more about them.
“How do you fall in love with learning? You don’t. You fall in love with something that you love to do— drawing, kicking a ball, playing make-believe, walking in the woods, reading…,” Lenore said.
#10
TIL according to the head of MI6, if James Bond was real, he would be unable to work for British intelligence because he lacks the required emotional intelligence, respect for the law and teamwork abilities.
#11
TIL about Buy Nothing Day, established to counteract the consumeristic Black Friday
#12
TIL of Conrad Veidt, a top 1920s German actor whose wife was Jewish. He refused to renounce her and even claimed to be Jewish in solidarity. In Hollywood, his acting contract said if he played a Nazi, he must be a villain (like he was in Casablanca). He also gave his life savings to the war effort.
Madzdad the bard 3 years ago
The same was true of Werner Klemperer who played Colonel Klink on "Hogan's Hero's". As a Jew, he only agreed to play the part as long as his character never won in any episode.
“All of those things involve learning. If they didn’t, you’d be bored and you’d stop doing them. Instead, as a kid AND as an adult, you get into something and do it because each time you get a little better, or try a slightly different technique. In a game, you’re ALWAYS thinking and learning because the ball never comes to you in exactly the same way twice. In the woods, there’s always something new to look at, climb or poke. In play, you have to react to the other person. And you pick up a book to fall into another world and learn all about it,” Lenore explained to Bored Panda in an interview.
These days, when most of us think of learning, we think of teachers, classrooms, and students. In other words, formal education. But this isn’t how we did things for most of our history.
“We think it’s what happens in a classroom, and the proof is on a test. Considering that most humans didn’t even HAVE school till maybe 100 or 200 years ago, that’s very strange. The species had to be smart enough to survive and it did so by learning to farm, raise kids, fish, build boats—you name it. Our species is built to learn. Curiosity and drive turn that superpower on,” the expert said.
#13
TIL of Arthur Stillwell, a young Kansas City entrepreneur who built over 3000 miles of railroad, and founded over 40 towns, and developed a way to to ship live oysters by train, all because the voices in his head told him to.
#14
TIL that the sirens from Greek mythology were never said to be beautiful, or even mermaids. Instead, they were strange human-faced bird creatures who lured men to their deaths by promising them wisdom and knowledge of the future.
#15
TIL that many birds do not breed very well in small flocks and that Zoos use mirrors to help increase reproduction
DennyS (denzoren) 3 years ago
Bird: My goodness, look at how pretty/handsome I am! I must reproduce! lol
In Lenore’s opinion, “learning comes automatically” when we fall in love with something that we consider to be interesting or absolutely essential for us right now. What’s more, we shouldn’t be too picky about what form our learning takes, as long as it helps us get to our end goal quicker. In other words, the internet can be a perfectly viable tool for learning. If we use it correctly.
“Having books at home can help a child find new things to fall into—but so does YouTube. Remember: every new technology is distrusted at first,” she said, noting that Socrates himself hated the idea that folks exchanged memorizing things for writing them down.
“So yes, books are great. But don’t ignore all the skills, hobbies, facts, and new things kids can learn online as well. If you’re worried about the bad stuff, install some filters. But learning from a podcast or DIY video is still LEARNING. Think of all the things you have learned since your formal schooling ended. Learning doesn’t only take place in a classroom or book!” Lenore told Bored Panda.
#16
TIL astronaut Bruce McCandless floated in space completely unattached to anything, 320 feet away from the space shuttle with only a nitrogen jetpack back in 1984.
#17
TIL Vikings believed that there was a goat in Valhalla that supplied an endless supply of beer from it's udders
Allan Breum 3 years ago
Not only that, there was an immortal pig, that more or less instantly regenerated anything you cut off of it, I.E. Infinite Free Bacon... The Vikings went to the best heaven.
#18
TIL that an underachieving Princeton student wrote a term paper describing how to make a nuclear bomb. He got an A but his paper was taken away by the FBI.
What’s more, the expert firmly believes that children need to have time to goof off and have fun. “Kids need some time to goof up, noodle around, and find their interests. You probably had a chance for all of that when you were young, before we decided that every moment should be ‘teachable’—as in, taught by a wise adult. If you thought you got something from your ‘wasted’ time, please assume your kids will too. Starting now!”
It’s vital that kids get some time to do what they want without adult supervision and intervention so they can develop their social-emotional skills like patience, curiosity, frustration-tolerance, and focus. They’ll also figure out what they’re interested in without having adults push their personal interests on top of them. The result? A curious growing mind that wants to learn more about the world.
#19
TIL in 1999, Microsoft wanted the domain www.Windows2000.com but it happened to be owned by a guy called Bob. Luckily, Microsoft happened to own the domain www.Bob.com. They made a swap, with Bob receiving some "other considerations" as well!
#20
TIL in the 1950s, a researcher was designing army airplane seats for an 'average' pilot based on measurements from 1000s of airmen, only to discover this theoretical 'average' he'd derived wouldn't fit any of them. This realization led to adjustable seats, foot pedals, helmet straps, and flight suits
Roxy Eastland 3 years ago
You only have to understand how shoes work to realise this was a non-starter
#21
TIL that silica gel packets aren't poisonous. They are labeled "do not eat" because they are a choking hazard.
#22
TIL that one town in Scotland celebrates Halloween on the last Friday of October instead of the 31st since there’s no school or work (for most) the next day.
Yula Lopez 3 years ago
It's also called guising not trick-or-treating in Scotland and they still have Samhain on the 31st
#23
TIL that in 1859 a 2 hour telegraph conversation between Portland and Boston was able to be had without the use of any battery power. This was due to an aurora borealis generating enough electric current in the telegraph wires.
Paizleypie 3 years ago
Well there it is, the answer to all our energy problems . . . the Aurora borealis.
#24
TIL that corned beef is named for the large grains of rock salt (also called "corns" of salt) that are used to treat the meat.
Roxy Eastland 3 years ago
Canned corned beef used to be cheap food in the UK, but nowadays it's become expensive. Other foods have gone this way, like oxtail.
#25
TIL there are 17 monarchies in the world ruled by a Queen, 16 of those are Queen Elizabeth II
#26
TIL Danish has about 40 different vowel sounds and is so hard to learn that Danish children on average know 30% fewer words at 15 months than Norwegian children and take two years longer to learn the past tense
Don Golosso 3 years ago
Another fun fact. Danish and Dutch have very similar sounding words but they are totally different. I had this once, standing in line for a concert talking to a friend when two people approached us. they asked us what the heck language we where talking 'cause it sounded familiar to them but they couldn't make any Danish word from it.
#27
TIL that Brussels Sprouts have been selectively bred over the last few decades to taste less bitter, indirectly lessening their anti-cancer properties.
Phill Healey 3 years ago
Sprouts, broccoli, cabbage etc are all manmade by selectively growing wild mustard.
#28
TIL - The oldest wheel was discovered in Slovenia and is over 5,000 years old
#29
TIL jazz guitarist Pat Martino suffered a near-fatal seizure in 1980 which left him with amnesia and no recollection or knowledge of how to play the guitar. He re-learned how to play the instrument, and resumed his performing and recording career in 1987 until his death in 2021.
Nathan Pogorzala 3 years ago (edited)
This was on NPR like 2 days ago. Edit- Did i say something wrong? I thought the story was very interesting.
#30
TIL until 1971, the Government of Canada assigned all Inuit people a number in lieu of a surname and issued each a leather disc with the number that had to be carried at all times or sewn into clothing
#31
TIL that Cinderella isn't a real name but was just a nickname for Ella who would be covered in cinders due to having to sleep by the fireplace to keep warm or clean ashes. Most other versions have different variations on a name relating to ashes.
#32
TIL in the midst of Greenland's pristine landscape lies a U.S. Air Force base which was abandoned in 1947 and everything was left behind; dilapidated vehicles, asbestos-laden structures, and 10,000 leaking fuel barrels. The Inuits who live in the region call the rusted remains "American Flowers".
#33
TIL: when St. Jerome translated the Bible to common Latin, he made the forbidden fruit an apple as a pun.
#34
TIL that when Leslie Nielsen died, ESPN published an obituary for Enrico Pallazzo, the umpire he played in The Naked Gun
#35
TIL that during World War 1, the American Expeditionary Forces tried to make the French treat Black soldiers in accordance with Jim Crow laws ''due to concerns that black soldiers and officers working with the French were being treated with too much “familiarity and indulgence.”
Jon S. 3 years ago
Same in the UK. They tried to enforce segregation in towns where they were being barracked and were generally rebuffed by the locals. In some cases there were major outbreaks of violence when white MPs found black GIs drinking in local pubs and the locals tried to prevent any arrests being made.
#36
TIL that "No Country For Old Men" had to suspend production because the crew for "There Will Be Blood" was testing pyrotechnics in the same area and created too much smoke.
#37
TIL that in No Time to Die, the cobbled streets of Matera, Italy did not have sufficient grip for the film's opening car chase. The crew got around this by pouring Coca-Cola all over the road, making it sticky, and allowing the drivers to perform the stunts.
#38
TIL in 1972, The Los Alamos National Laboratories patented a nuclear tunnel boring machine, claiming it could reach depths of 18+ miles. It uses molten lithium to melt through rock, leaving behind a tunnel with a glass-like finish.
#39
TIL that in 1952, Stalin proposed German reunification under a "neutral and democratic" government, but was turned down by the West. It is still debated whether the offer was a bluff, a trick, or a genuine missed opportunity for reunification.
#40
TIL that when Niccolo Tartaglia found a formula to solve certain types of cubic equations, he did not publish his findings. However, Tartaglia wrote a 25 line poem explaining the formula and shared it with another mathematician, Girolama Cardano, who went ahead and published it himself.
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