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A wonderful part about being alive in the information age is the ability to access, you guessed it, information in volumes our ancestors could probably not comprehend. A side effect of this is that there is simply so much to learn that you can encounter a new fact every single day.

We’ve gathered a collection of interesting posts from people who just discounted something recently. So get comfortable as you scroll through, perhaps jot down the ones that were new for you, upvote your favorites and be sure to share your thoughts and own experiences in the comments section below.

#1

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) In 2001, a 13-year-old Boy Scout named Cody Clawson went missing for over 18 hours near Yellowstone Park. Clawson resorted to using his belt buckle to signal to planes overhead. Eventually, he got a pilot’s attention - and that pilot was none other than Harrison Ford - who rescued Clawson.

waitingforthesun92 , ABCNews Report

#2

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) in his suicide note, mass shooter Charles Whitman requested his body be autopsied because he felt something was wrong with him. The autopsy discovered that Whitman had a pecan-sized tumor pressing against his amygdala, a brain structure that regulates fear and aggression.

GlitteringYams , Austin History Center, Austin Public Library Report

#3

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) In 2015, a woman's parachute failed to deploy while skydiving, surviving with life-threatening injuries. Days before, she survived a mysterious gas leak at her house. Both were later found to be intentional murder plots by her husband.

sanandrios , Donna Rutherford/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

#4

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) A group of horses were trained to communicate whether they wanted a jacket. All horses in the group successfully communicated that they did want a jacket when it was cold and did not want a jacket when it was hot.

PunnyBanana , Jean Alves/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report

#5

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Octopuses deliberately throw shells at each other. Researchers found that 66% of throws were made by females, often in response to mating attempts. For a creature with no thumbs or rotator cuffs, they had a 17% hit rate.

decafcovfefes , Rob Green/Flickr Report

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#6

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) In 1976 groundskeeper Richard Arndt caught Hank Aaron's 755th home run ball & tried to return it to Aaron but was told he's unavailable. The next day the Brewers fired Arndt for stealing team property (the ball) & deducted $5 from his final paycheck. In 1999, he sold it at auction for $625,000.

tyrion2024 , MLB/Youtube Report

#7

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) The first African American woman to win an Oscar, Hattie McDaniel in 1939, wasn't even able to attend the premiere of the movie she preformed in due to it being held at a whites-only theater.

DeVoto , Unknown Report

#8

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) A man named Göran Kropp from Sweden rode his bicycle to Nepal, climbed Mount Everest alone without Sherpas or bottled oxygen, then cycled back to Sweden again.

notgonnahappen207 , 4GTV NEPAL/Youtube Report

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#9

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) During a rap beef, Jay-Z wrote a diss song against Nas, describing him having an affair with Nas girlfriend. Jay-Z's mom was disgusted with her son's behaviour and made him apologize to Nas and his family.

lazarus870 , JAY-Z/Youtube Report

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#10

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) On April 18 1930, the BBC's evening news report simply said "there is no news" and then played piano music for the entire segment.

footballmaths49 , bbc Report

#11

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Lady Gaga is the first woman in history to win an Oscar, Grammy, BAFTA & Golden Globe in a single year, in 2019 for her perfomance in A Star is Born.

rocklou , Lady Gaga/Youtube Report

#12

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Chief Baker of the Titanic, Charles Joughin, survived by getting smashed on Brandy and calmly paddling around until dawn when he was rescued by a lifeboat. He was also one of the last people off the ship, riding the stern rail into the sea like an elevator.

SappyGilmore , Unknown , Francis Godolphin Osbourne Stuart Report

#13

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) More people died taking selfies (379) than from shark attacks (90) between 2008-2021.

tyrion2024 , Hannah Nelson/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report

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#14

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Muhammad Ali's star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame is on a wall instead of on the ground. This is because Ali, a devout Muslim, did not want people stepping on the name "Muhammad".

wimpykidfan37 , Hachim.Pi/Flickr Report

#15

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) In the early 60s, the US Coast Guard got letters from the public demanding to know why the castaways on the TV show Gilligan's Island had not yet been rescued.

Desperate-Option1130 , Ricki Stromm/Youtube Report

#16

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) War pigs were used by the Romans because the squeals would scare war elephants into fleeing, and cause them to trample their own armies.

notwormtongue , ancient-origins Report

#17

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) That 'Rocky' (1976) was inspired by the true story of Chuck Wepner, a local boxer from New Jersey who was set up for a dream fight with Muhammad Ali. Wepner quit his job to train full time, and against all odds, lasted 15 rounds with the champ. Stallone was in the audience.

L8_2_PartE , Amazon MGM Studios Report

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#18

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Most animals can see UV light — humans being blind to it is the exception not the rule.

douggold11 , brx0/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

#19

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Steven Spielberg desperately wanted to release Schindler’s List in 1993 in time for the Warsaw Ghetto anniversary. But Universal wanted him to finish Jurassic Park first. To keep Universal happy, he had George Lucas oversee Jurassic’s post-production while he’s filming Schindler’s List in Poland.

DreGu90 , Rotten Tomatoes Classic Trailers Report

#20

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) While dogs may not pass the traditional mirror test, they do pass a "smell mirror" test, suggesting they understand the concept of 'self'.

stan-k , Les Chatfield/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

#21

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Squirrels terminal velocity is so low they can fall from any height and survive.

Aleniaflux , Matt Brown/Flickr Report

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Nathaniel He/Him Cis-Het
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Any height? Really? Has someone tested this? Yeeting cute, little, furry squirrels out of a plane?

MotorcycleDoggo
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Maybe you don't understand how "terminal velocity" works. They don't need to be very high to reach it.

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Sleestak
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've seen a 40-45' drop in my back yard. One Mississippi and then bolting back up the tree. There's more drama to the story, but that's the terminal velocity part

Data1001
Community Member
5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I just saw someone claiming this about house cats the other week, as well -- although as I recall, it had to be at least a certain height so that they could "right" themselves in the air. Lower heights than that (whatever that was) would be problematic. As I recall. Of course that could all be completely incorrect.

Bookworm
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not entirely true of cats - they have a lot more body mass than a squirrel, so falling at terminal velocity probably wouldn't turn out as well. It is true that cats can only land on their feet if the fall is long enough to give them time to turn.

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UncleJohn3000
Community Member
5 months ago (edited) DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I was crossing campus one day, moving at a smart clip, and there was a guy walking towards me also moving swiftly. High above, a squirrel missed the branch and came cartwheeling down to sploot on the sidewalk right between us. It shook itself off and shot right back up the tree. Without either of us breaking stride, I said "Always wanted to see that." "Right?!", we high fived and kept walking.

Maartje
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Well, this is funny. This week I had to drop off a squirrel at Animal Control to be put down; the poor thing was suffering from some serious neurological disorder, resembling the behavior that animals exhibit when they have rabies. I figured it was either roundworms on the brain OR rabies and the officer told me "oh we get that a lot, they fall out of trees." I knew this TIL already and know that she was wrong. Either way, the squirrel was dying and had to be put down.

Blue Cicada
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

THANK YOU for getting proper assistance to end the suffering. You did let nature take its course. It is human nature to alleviate suffering in other animals.

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The Panda society
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Please please please go to You Tube and search for Mark Rober squirrel. Awesome squirrel experiments (I can't find the words to make that sound less creepy but it's not creepy). Engineering humour. Watch it when you have 15 mins spare, especially if there's a 10 year old nearby. No squirrels harmed.

Anxious Aardvark
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Having seen mice fall from 4-5 stories, hit the ground, bounce and take off running? I imagine the squirrel's wiring causes it to immediately go *FLUFF* increasing drag. Apologies if that should be resistance.

Zoey Bear
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Because they know there's seeds somewhere down there and want to live to tell the bushy tail.

Max Fox
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I actually saw a flying squirrel in flight once. - it was practically coming straight at me. It first looked like a dirty-white trapeze, coming at me, zipping a meter or so past me, hitting a tree trunk, and then resolving into a squirrel which had just landed. Still one of the most amazing sights I have ever seen in nature, and I have been in some amazing places.

Anxious Aardvark
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

They're wonderful to see up close. They also have very sharp teeth & powerful jaws, which makes perfect sense.

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Heffalump
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

No they can't. They can survive the _impact_ of a fall from any height, but will die from lack of oxygen if dropped from high enough. Also, they do poorly when being dropped into active volcanoes.

Analyn Lahr
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

So they fall off the telephone wires but only die because they get hit by cars before they can shake it off?

martin734
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

It's not the fall that kills but the landing and a squirrel landing in front of my dog Rocky is unlikely to survive.

Michael Largey
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

How far a squirrel can fly depends on how forcefully Bullwinkle throws him into the air.

RabidChild
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And, despite stupid old scientists disproving it, I believe they make 3-point landings like super heroes.

Jeff Rhodes
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I've read that they would not die from the fall but starve to death if dropped from several thousand miles

Solidhog
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Stewardess on passenger plane at 30,000 feet: "Sir why do you have a live squirrell. Is it a service animal?" Me: "No, trying to prove a point on Bored Panda."

C.O. Shea
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

From a sufficient altitude, I seriously doubt this fun fact.

axle f
Community Member
5 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

....what if a major league pitcher threw them down at the ground from the top of the mound? I bet they reach terminal velocity then, little bastards...

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#22

Korean serial killer Kim Sun-ja laced her friend's tea with cyanide, causing her to vomit. She told her friend that she would feel better if she drank more of the beverage, but her friend became suspicious and refused, becoming the only known survivor of 6 poisoning victims from 1986 to 1988.

admiralturtleship Report

#23

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) The reason why animal shelters are full of huskies, is because of the TV show Game of Thrones. Everyone wanted their own real life dire Wolf, but then abandoned them after they realize how much work they are.

rtineo , Julia Ballarin/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

#24

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) French geologist Michel Siffre, who in a 1962 experiment spent 2 months in a cave without any references to the passing time. He eventually settled on a 25 hour day and thought it was a month earlier than the date he finally emerged from the cave.

FiredFox , National Speleological Society/Youtube Report

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#25

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) If you tune your radio to 91.9 FM for one city block in Montclair, NJ you can hear a looped recording of "I'll Make Love to You" by Boyz II Men which has been broadcasting for at least 13 years straight.

AssumeTheRisk , Alan Levine/Flickr Report

#26

When “Star Wars” officially debuted in theatres on May 25th, 1977, George Lucas was so busy approving the film’s advertising campaigns that he forgot the film opened that day. That same evening, he went out for dinner in L.A. with his wife and saw crowds lining up to see the movie.

waitingforthesun92 Report

#27

John Von Neumann worked on the first atomic bomb and the first computer, came up with the formulas for quantum mechanics, described genetic self-replication before the discovery of DNA, and founded the field of game theory, among other things. He has often been called the smartest man ever.

HumanNutrStudent Report

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#28

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) In 2016, an Oregon man essentially dissolved inside a hot spring at Yellowstone National Park in Wyoming after he accidentally fell into it.

mgwngn1 , Maureen/Flickr Report

#29

Lou Bega, singer of iconic Cuban song Mambo No. 5, is a German man of Italian & Ugandan descent. His only interaction with Cuban culture was a vacation to Miami as a teen.

GengarGangX13 Report

#30

A dude in the middle ages wrote a book claiming that witches were stealing men's penises, putting them in a nest, feeding them oats, and keeping them as pets. He was in part responsible for starting the European witch trials.

Missburr Report

#31

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Craigslist generates over $600 million in revenue annually with only 50 employees.

nuttybudd , Chika Watanabe/Flickr Report

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#32

Philanthropist and engineer Avery Fisher was motivated to start his own company after, identifying a way to save his employer $10,000 a year, was immediately denied a $5/week raise.

EtOHMartini Report

#33

12 years before taking their fans to court for sharing their music, Metallica released the "$5.98" EP, titled to stop their record label and music stores from overcharging fans - the record came with a sticker warning 'DO NOT PAY MORE!!!'—a direct jab at music industry markups.

InternetWeakGuy Report

#34

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Combining 50mL of alcohol and 50mL of water doesn't make 100mL.

Outrageous_Art745 , Rodolfo Clix/Pexels (not the actual photo) Report

#35

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Louis XIV had an elephant at Versailles, a gift from Portugal's king in 1668. The animal became part of the Ménagerie, the palace's zoo, and was fed 80 pounds of bread, 12 pints of wine, and two buckets of soup daily. It is the only African elephant recorded in Europe between 1483 and 1862.

whstlngisnvrenf , Unknown Report

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#36

If you feed a human body to pigs, they will eat just about all of it except the teeth. Several murderers in rural areas have used this fact to their advantage.

ifellonafish Report

#37

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) The largest unfinished church in the world, the Sagrada Família, began construction in 1886. It is expected to be completed in 2026, nearly 150 years after it began construction.

LivingRaccoon , neusitas/Flickr Report

#38

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) If you have a fear of bridges, you can hire a service where someone gets behind the wheel of your car and drives you across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, a 4.3-mile stretch in Maryland known as one of the scariest bridges in the world.

Majorpain2006 , formulanone/Flickr Report

#39

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Actress Alicia Witt's parents were found frozen to death in their Massachusetts home in December 2021.They refused help on home repairs repeatedly.

Cultural_Magician105 , Chesler/Perlmutter Productions Report

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#40

A French Socialite Named Blanche Monnier Was Imprisoned by Her Family in a Secret Room for 25 Years, From 1876 to 1901. According to officials, Monnier had not seen any sunlight for her entire captivity.

whstlngisnvrenf Report

#41

In 1964, 17-year-old Randy Gardner set the world record for sleep deprivation by staying awake for 11 days and 25 minutes, providing valuable insights into the effects of extreme sleep loss on the human mind and body.

whstlngisnvrenf Report

#42

1700s Persian emperor Nader Shah kept fried peas on his person at all time, which he would eat if he didn't have time to prepare a proper meal.

GallicHeritage00 Report

#43

In 1993, James Scott purposely damaged a levee and caused a massive flood of the Mississippi River only to stall his wife from coming home so that he could party.

burgerissues Report

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#44

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) In the USA, 60 people die from walk-in freezer accidents per year.

7ur1n9 , jgurbisz/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

#45

Schizophrenic hallucinations vary across culture, western illusions usually being more violent and harmful.

zTRU5T Report

#46

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) 29 bars in NJ were caught serving things like rubbing alcohol + food coloring as scotch and dirty water as liquor.

solananorwood , mk_is_here/Flickr (not the actual photo) Report

#47

When "New Coke" was released Pepsi gave their employee's the day off and ran full page newspaper ads to declare victory in the cola wars.

jeffnnc Report

#48

In Rosario, Argentina, the home city of Lionel Messi, people are banned from naming their children ‘Messi’.

9oRo Report

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#49

Fox took video game clips from YouTube to use in an episode of Family Guy and after airing, Fox's automatic search robots accidentally flagged the original clips with a copyright claim and the videos were taken down. The videos were later restored when the mistake was pointed out.

Bryanb337 Report

#50

Akira Toriyama originally planned to end Dragon Ball after the dragon balls were collected, which happened in chapter 19. Dragon Ball lasted 519 chapters.

NoLastNameForNow Report

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#51

Cockroach dust plays a part in why so many inner-city children have asthma.

Majoodeh Report

#52

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Mike Tyson went bankrupt in 2003. Despite having earned $400 million from boxing, examples of reckless spending included $6.3 million on luxury cars and $580K on his 30th birthday party. He has improved his financial situation and now receives $900K/month from his cannabis company, however.

TMWNN , Eduardo Merille/Flickr Report

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#53

Napoleon, despite being constantly engaged in warfare for 2 decades, exhibited next to no signs of PTSD.

andreecook Report

#54

That performance artist Marina Abramović created a piece called "The Artist Is Present" in 2010 at the Museum of Modern Art in New York, where she sat silently at a table for a total of 736 hours over 3 months inviting museum visitors to sit across from her and make eye contact without speaking.

whstlngisnvrenf Report

#55

In April 2018, Robert Pope completed the Forrest Gump run, in which he ran across America 5 times in 422 days of running. It is estimated that he ran 15,607 miles. As his first act after finishing the run he proposed to his girlfriend.

-Appleaday- Report

#56

Helios 522 was a case of a "Ghost Plane", the cabin didn't pressurize and all but one on board passed out from hypoxia. The plane circled in a holding pattern for hours driven by autopilot before flight attendant Andreas Prodromou took over the controls, crashing into a rural hillside.

AmountUnlucky9967 Report

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#57

There was a famous Japanese game show in which diehard baseball fan contestants were locked individually in small rooms for an entire baseball season: if their favorite team won each night they got dinner for the evening, if their team lost the lights would be turned out until the next win.

BenevolentCheese Report

#58

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Kurt Cobain was wearing 3 pairs of pants when he died.

mikkeldp , Nirvana/Youtube Report

#59

50 Curious “Today I Learned” Facts People Couldn’t Wait To Share (New Posts) Brazil turned Pelé into a national treasure to stop him from leaving the country to play soccer in Europe.

Humblerequest_21 , Unknown Report