Today I Learned 🎓

19 April 2025 06:49

TIL After defeating the French and capturing King Francis in battle 1525, Emperor Charles V agreed to release Francis in exchange for a treaty instead of invading France, which led contemporaries like Machiavelli to call him "mad" and a "fool". As soon as he was released, Francis annuled the treaty [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 April 2025 01:49

TIL in 1975, McDonald's opened their first drive-thru to allow soldiers stationed at Fort Huachuca to order food. At the time, soldiers weren’t allowed to leave their vehicle while in uniform if they were off-post. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 22:49

TIL the guy who did the voice of McGruff the Crime Dog was sentenced to 16 years in prison for weed and ammo [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 20:49

TIL Frank Herbert’s Dune was rejected by twenty publishers, and was finally accepted by Chilton, which was primarily known for car repair manuals. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 17:49

TIL the "good fences make good neighbors" poem by Robert Frost (called Mending Wall) actually argues against fences, says they're unnatural and don't create good neighbors [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 17:49

TIL it was said that Frederick the Great had a physical disgust of women. He once shocked a dinner party with an offensive rant against "ghastly women you smelled ten miles around". When he saw his wife for the first time in six years, he only told her: "Madame has become more stout" and then left. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 15:49

TIL that in Japan, more diapers are now sold for elderly people than for babies, reflecting the country’s aging population and shifting demographics. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 12:49

TIL one of the leaders of the NAACP in the early 20th century was Walter White. Who was able to pass as white and protect himself during tense situations in the 20s and 30s. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 06:49

TIL that Weird Al Yankovic doesn't need permission (under US copyright law) to make a parody of someone's song. He does so as a personal rule to maintain good relationships. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 03:49

TIL that airline pilots routinely fall asleep mid-flight — and in one shocking study, 43% admitted they had woken up only to find their co-pilot asleep too. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 02:49

TIL General James Wilkinson was a high-ranking U.S. officer during the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. Years after his death, historians in Spain uncovered proof he had been a Spanish spy—prompting Teddy Roosevelt to say, “In all our history, there is no more despicable character.” [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 22:49

TIL after returning from WWII, Henry Ford II took control of Ford and hired 10 young army veterans known as “The Whiz Kids” to implement aggressive management control systems. This team took the 1949 Ford from concept to production in 19 months resulting in 100,000 car orders on day one. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 20:49

TIL that Rubies and Sapphires are all actually the same gemstone. Sapphires can come in all sorts of colors (even multiples at once), it's just that when it's red we call it a Ruby. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 20:49

TIL after Drew Barrymore posed nude for Playboy in 1995, her godfather Steven Spielberg sent her a note saying "cover yourself up", along with copies of her pictures altered to make it appear she was fully clothed [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 18:49

TIL about Walter Arnold, a British driver who became the first person to get charged for speeding on 28th January 1896. He was driving his car at 8 mph, four times the speed limit of 2 mph. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 April 2025 01:49

TIL: that First Lady Grace Coolidge acquired a pet raccoon meant to be eaten for Thanksgiving at the White House in 1926. Rather than becoming the main course, she became the official White House Raccoon and was named Rebecca. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 April 2025 00:49

TIL in 2013 a kayaker was trapped by a crocodile on an Australian island for 2 weeks. Each time he attempted to leave in his 8-ft kayak, the croc (estimated to be more than twice that size) would chase him & block his exit. A local man rescued him after investigating a light coming from the island. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 20:49

TIL Warner Bros. spent $30m developing the Tim Burton-directed Superman: Lives (with Nicolas Cage as the lead) before canceling it in 1998. Burton cited issues with Jon Peters "I basically wasted a year. A year is a long time to be working with somebody that you don't really want to be working with" [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 18:49

TIL that in ancient Rome, some statues were designed with removable heads, so the same body could represent different people. This clever approach was especially useful when a new emperor came to power and needed to replace the image of a disgraced or rival predecessor. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 17:49

TIL Ving Rhames earned $7.7 million for roughly 39 seconds of screen time in Mission: Impossible - Ghost Protocol (2011), which makes him the highest-paid actor for the smallest amount of screen time. He had just two days of work on set. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 15:49

TIL Aretha Williams, was given up as a child and informally adopted by Bailey and Mary Jane Robinson. At 15, Aretha became pregnant by Bailey, her adoptive father, and gave birth to music legend Ray Charles. After divorcing Bailey, Mary Jane helped raise Ray alongside Aretha. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 14:49

TIL that until the 1970s, Aboriginal children in Australia were systematically taken from their families, known as the Stolen Generations [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 09:49

TIL that after Surya Bonaly fell during her routine at the 1998 Winter Olympics and realized she wouldn’t win a medal, she performed an illegal backflip and became the first figure skater to land one on a single blade in Olympic competition. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 04:49

TIL that during an NYC parade to celebrate Jesse Owens after he won four gold medals in the 1936 Summer Olympics, an anonymous fan handed him a paper bag with $10,000 in cash. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 02:49

TIL in 1895, Alva Vanderbilt shocked American society by divorcing William K. Vanderbilt after allegations of adultery. Alva secured millions, received several estates, and used her fortune to support women’s suffrage, efforts to uplift women of all races and champion social and prison reform. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

18 April 2025 00:49

TIL Bruce Springsteen's famous song, 'Born in the U.S.A.', is actually a critique of the government's treatment of Vietnam War veterans [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 20:49

TIL: Most outlet stores don’t sell leftovers from regular stores—they sell cheaper, lower-quality versions made just for outlets. The “compare at” prices and big discounts? Often fake. You think you’re getting a deal, but it’s not the same product. (California Department of Justice) [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 20:49

TIL that crows can hold grudges for up to 17 years and pass their beef down to their kids. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 19:49

TIL that the infamous Pac-Man kill screen is caused by an overflow error causing the game to try and draw 256 pieces of fruit. However, the code then starts drawing random garbled pieces of memory, causing half the screen to get covered in random graphics that the game interprets as fruit. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

17 April 2025 17:49

TIL the Lincoln-Douglas debates in 1858 drew crowds of up to 16,000 people—even though they lasted three hours, with a 1-hour opening speech, a 90-minute rebuttal, and a 30-minute closing.The debates were so popular that newspapers printed full transcripts. [Source]