Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 20:49

TIL that all British tanks come with a "boiling vessel" to make tea - if it's broken, the tank is unfit for service. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 19:49

TIL that people can actually understand spoken words and respond even while they’re asleep, across almost all sleep stages. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 17:49

TIL in 1987, during KNBC's Ch 4 News in LA, Gary Stollman got into NBC's Burbank Studios as a guest of a former employee and took David Horowitz hostage live on air. With a gun pressed to his side, Horowitz calmly read the gunman's statements about the CIA and mental health hospitals on camera. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 16:49

TIL the original version of the Pinocchio story concluded with the puppet's execution [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 14:49

TIL Pimps often wear large amounts of gold jewelry purchased from pawn shops because if they get arrested, cash is usually seized, but jewelry can be pawned again to raise bail money. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 12:49

TIL Apollo Quiboloy, a Filipino pastor who declared himself the 'Appointed Son of God' and 'Owner of the Universe', was wanted by the FBI for sex trafficking and human rights abuses. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 10:49

TIL: Women are 73% more likely to be seriously injured in a car accident, as crash test dummies are modeled after men. The first "female" dummy was made in 2011, and was only 4′ 11″ and weighed 108 lbs. - representing just 5% of women. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 08:49

TIL the CIA spent $20 million trying to turn a cat into a spy. It got hit by a taxi 5 seconds into its first mission. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 06:49

[TIL] There's an episode of Fresh Prince of Bel Air in which Carlton deliberately goes off-script, breaks the fourth wall, and runs screaming into the audience and through another set. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 04:49

TIL in 2021 a man died from multiple organ failure after he used epoxy adhesive (a strong waterproof glue) to "seal off" his penis while having sex because he forgot to carry a condom. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 02:49

TIL that west Berlin was NOT the capital of western germany. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 00:49

TIL Narender Yadav an Indian went to Everest where he claimed to have summitted the mountain but discrepancies were noticed which indicated he had faked the summit. He got a ban from the mountain for six years. He returned the day after his ban expired and reached the summit with ample proof. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 July 2025 23:49

TIL in 1859, an aurora was so strong over the Rocky Mountains that gold miners were woken up in the middle of the night thinking it was morning and they made breakfast. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 July 2025 21:49

TIL that 32 US States have a State Beverage, and 20 of them are milk. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 July 2025 18:49

TIL $157K worth of stolen Magic: the Gathering and Dungeon & Dragons gaming cards were recovered after they were turned in by the party who bought them from the thieves for $4K. The cards had been stolen at Gen Con 2023 when 2 men simply walked out with a pallet that had 115 boxes of the cards on it [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 20:49

TIL the 21-year-old man who received the world's first successful penis transplant in December 2014 was not expected to be fully functional for the first two years, however he confirmed to his doctor that he and his girlfriend had conceived a child just six months after his transplant. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 18:49

TIL about the crime drop, a pattern observed in many countries whereby rates of many types of crime declined by 50% or more beginning in the mid to late 1980s and early 1990s. There is no universally accepted explanation for why crime rates are falling. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 17:49

TIL When Uranus was being named, astronomer Johann Elert Bode proposed it as the Latinised version of the Greek god Ouranos. However, he was apparently unaware that Uranus was only the Latinised form of the deity's name, and the Roman equivalent was Caelus. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 16:49

TIL North Korea abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens between 1977 and 1983 to train spies in language and culture, and only five (and some of their children) have ever been returned. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 13:49

TIL- That the world has 45+ nations in open military conflict, the most since WWII (70 Nations) [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 10:49

TIL that after wrestler Kerry Von Erich lost his right foot in a motorcycle accident, he continued wrestling using a hidden prosthetic foot until his suicide in 1992, with most fans never even knowing. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 09:49

TIL In 1985, a South Korean economist named Oh Kil-Nam defected to North Korea with his wife and two daughters. Less than one year later, he defected again, receiving asylum in Denmark. He left his family behind in North Korea, where (according to latest reports) they remain imprisoned today. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 07:49

TIL (from Injustice) that SHAZAM in DC is apparently an acronym. wisdom of Solomon, strength of Hercules, stamina of Atlas, power of Zeus, courage of Achilles, and speed of Mercury. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 05:49

TIL that the official name of Porto, Portugal is “The Ancient, Very Noble, Ever Loyal and Undefeated City of Porto” [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 03:49

TIL that Bob Anderson, the legendary swordmaster who trained Viggo Mortensen for his role as Aragorn, also stepped into the Darth Vader suit to perform the lightsaber duels in "The Empire Strikes Back" and "Return of the Jedi". [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 01:49

TIL a "Watchdog timer" is the name of a chip that allows a computer to reboot itself without human intervention if something fails. (e.g. a Mars rover in distress) [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 July 2025 00:49

TIL about the Mexican Lapdog, an extinct dog breed that measured only 18 cm (7.1 in) from the snout to the base of the tail as an adult. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 July 2025 23:49

TIL That More than 60% of U.S. smokers have unsuccessfully tried to stop smoking in the past year, a 2017 study found. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 July 2025 20:49

TIL that in 1994, Pearl Jam canceled their summer tour after discovering Ticketmaster was adding unfair service charges. In protest, they began building their own venues in rural areas and sold tickets directly to fans to keep prices low and avoid corporate influence. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 July 2025 18:49

TIL that pet cats form attachments with their human owners that are similar to the bonds formed by children and dogs with their caretakers. It's the first time that researchers have empirically demonstrated that cats display the same main attachment styles as babies and dogs [Source]