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Most of us have a small Ravenclaw inside of us, and we adore learning new things about the world, especially if they’re random facts that completely blow our minds. A lot of us are still spending loads of time working and studying from home, which leaves plenty of time for random browsing—so we’re picking up semi-useless but fun new facts about the world every day.

Like the fact the American Gothic painting shows a farmer and his daughter, not his wife. Or how Gandalf carries his pipe in his staff.

You’re probably aware of the ‘I was today years old’ jokes that people post online when they want to share something weird that they just learned with everyone. Well, these jokes have made a resurgence during the coronavirus lockdown, and there are plenty of new ones to make our jaws drop. 

Bored Panda has collected some of the best ‘I was today years old’ moments for you to enjoy (and to have random cool facts to drop during your next Zoom cocktail party), so scroll down for some truly weird facts that are true and don’t forget to upvote your faves.

#1

omynthe tweets about how mice like to crawl inside flowers to eat the pollen and sleep and picture of mice inside flower

omynthe Report

#5

soapachu tweets about aubergines and picture of aubergines

soapachu Report

New Fact For Dog Lovers

So, since we’re talking about random facts today, let’s share some other cool ones, shall we? For instance, did you know that one study found that dogs prefer to align themselves “along the North-South axis under calm magnetic field conditions” when they have to go number two? Researchers studied 70 dogs over two years, and this was the first time that magnetic sensitivity was proven in dogs. Science is weird and wonderful.

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#7

sassycrass tweets about measles completely erases body's immunological memory

sassycrass Report

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#9

Abdvil tweets about division symbol

Advil Report

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Tovah Roche
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

The interweb done break my brain today with all these factoids.

kurisutofu
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Is it true or just something that looks true after the fact?

Sandra Burnett
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Wow! I am a 5th-grade teacher and my kids always struggle with fractions. I will definitely be using this in my lessons next school year.

CincyReds
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I don't think I even remember what a fraction is, but his makes sense

Jace
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Seriously? ½ is a fraction. ½ of a pie is 50% of the pie. ⅓ is a smaller fraction. The bottom number is how many pieces into which you’re diving up a thing, and the top number is how many pieces you have. Ie: ⅓ of a pie is one of three equal pieces.

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Weishaar Jamie
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm so bad at math that I don't even understand your explanation and I'm "this" many years old

Honeybuzz
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

As a kid i had this doubt that the symbol is a blank fraction and asked my teacher who just laughed in my face and said obviously not.

Lorraine R
Community Member
6 months ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

TIL that the the elements of division are called the numerator and the denominator.

Mildred Thompson
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I just found out this minute - are we any better off for knowing it? In what way; I don't want to miss anything - except trouble.

jovi
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Major, major, wow. (math-kinda-liking-type)

John Young
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And when you see it in the cell of an Apple “Numbers” app, it confusingly looks like a plus sign!

deewanipoetry
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Why is this so surprising to so many people I always thought fractioning and dividing were the same thing.

Lauren Michlin
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

wow. I was many years ago old when I found that one out. And then I suprised the **** out of the entire school. (i was a kid)

Heather Williams
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

And the division sign is called an obelus. Which used to be a mark inserted in text to indicated questionable passages.

Rita Teo
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I read somewhere that the ampersand was part of the alphabet a long time ago.

mermaidgirl960
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Yeah, I thought about that randomly in class and was like, "Oh my god... MS. LANDERS!" XD

Tim Douglass
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

I'm going to say "probably not" on this one. The symbol goes back to ancient Greece while the mathematical use of it dates only to 1659.

More Thanimages
Community Member
4 years ago DotsCreated by potrace 1.15, written by Peter Selinger 2001-2017

Not quite, not even at all for many. What is quite obvious is the insecurity shown by your type of comment.

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#10

yourpappalardo tweets about ampersand and pictures of ampersand

yourpappalardo Report

Old Weird Fact That Is True

Another brain-melting fact is that there were fewer than 1.5k people living in Central Europe for significant periods of time during the Stone Age. Yeah, that sounds unbelievable. IFL Science made a great analogy about how you could fit all those people on a modern mid-sized cruise ship.

#11

Shxperienced tweets about buttload and picture of wine barrels

Shxperienced Report

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#12

bakbakbakkerr tweets about turtles and picture of turtle inside

bakbakbakkerr Report

#13

Jordan_Coombe tweets about how they X-ray small childrens and picture of x-ray children

Jordan_Coombe Report

#14

ColleenB123 tweets about cashews and picture of cashews growing

ColleenB123 Report

#15

upstephanie tweets about toblerone and picture of toblerone box

upstephanie Report

A Modern, But Random, Cool Fact

Speaking of modern times, if you’ve ever complained about TV ads being too long, just wait until you realize that Old Spice made a 14-hour promo. Their ad ran on December 18, 2018, in São Paulo, Brazil, and won the Guinness World Record for the longest TV ad ever. You can find the abridged version right here (don’t worry, it’s just over 3 minutes, not 3 hours long).

#16

brokemycoccyx tweets about iPhone texting

brokemycoccyx Report

#17

ThatEricAlper tweets about American Gothic and portrait of farmer and his daughter

ThatEricAlper Report

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#18

MuellerSheWrote tweets about Karens

MuellerSheWrote Report

#19

SheaCoulee tweets about voices of Musafa and pictures of Musafa, Sarabi and Kind and Queen Zamunda

SheaCoulee Report

#20

bryan_spoon tweets about why you don't park in front of fire hydrants and picture of car near fire hydrant

bryan_spoon Report

A Source for More Daily Fun Facts

The internet continually proves that there are still things for us to learn. Luckily, someone took the ‘I was today years old’ concept and created a whole project around it. This initiative regularly shares new facts on social media, mainly Facebook and X (formerly Twitter), and their dedicated website.

However, you can always check out Reddit for a daily dose of ‘I was today years old’ moments. Two groups, r/IWasTodayYearsOld and r/TodayYearsOld, are full of weird but true facts you might want to know about.

#21

Kokomothegreat tweets about hammerhead bat and picture of person holding hammerhead bat

Kokomothegreat Report

#22

gracebeverley tweets about loofahs and picture of loofahs

gracebeverley Report

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#23

JayyKess tweets about green and brown M&Ms and picture of green and brown M&Ms

JayyKess Report

#24

TechConnectify tweets about word footage

TechConnectify Report

#25

Sarahmcgphoto tweets about warning against going to sleep with a concussion and picture of woman holding her head

sarahmcgphoto Report

Got Your Own Fact to Share?

Here at Bored Panda, we are always eager to learn. Have you ever had an 'I was today years old' moment? Share it with other Panda users and us. Whether it’s funny, cool, or downright strange, if you find it interesting, share it in the comments below!

#26

todayyearsoldig tweets about Bikini Bottom houses and picture of Bikini Bottom house and car mufflers

todayyearsoldig Report

#27

RavenElyseTV tweets about pasta spoon and picture of pasta with spoon

RavenElyseTV Report

#28

BitchItsSpice tweets about yellow watermelon and picture of yellow and red watermelons

BitchItsSpice Report

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#29

SITHBARNES tweets about Harisson Ford and Carrie Fisher

SlTHBARNES Report

#30

kevinddaly tweets about stock photo for the Mamma Mia! and picture of stock photo for Mamma Mia! and poster for Mamma Mia!

kevinddaly Report

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#33

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

hoboulis Report

#34

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

denzeldion Report

#35

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

agasramirez Report

#36

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

RushCam Report

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#37

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

iowahawkblog Report

#38

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

MlNACHAEYU Report

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yashar Report

#41

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

CorvinJLyn Report

#44

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

EricHaywood Report

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#45

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

emdoughtyxo Report

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nthonyagu Report

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Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

hollyshortall Report

#49

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

namjoonstaco Report

#50

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

FreeSoul_420 Report

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#51

Today-Years-Old-People-Share-Facts

__Sasquaaatch Report

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