Today I Learned 🎓

22 April 2025 07:49

TIL that airplanes windows are round because if there are no corners, there is nowhere for pressure to focus. Instead, it is evenly distributed across the surface. there is less chance of it warping over time and causing faults that way [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

22 April 2025 03:49

TIL Texaco illegally sold oil to Francisco Franco during the Spanish Civil War. The company was fined $20,000 but would continued to sell the regime oil until the end of the war. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

22 April 2025 01:49

TIL a German woman stalked her doppelganger on Instagram, lured her with a fake beauty offer, then brutally killed her to fake her own death—but got caught eating pizza the next day. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 22:49

TIL that teen pregnancy rates in the US are less than a quarter what they were in the 90s! [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 20:49

TIL that whole chickens and covered pies are not allowed into the Papal conclave [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 18:49

TIL that when Poland's Karol Józef Wojtyła became Pope John Paul II in 1978, it marked the first time since 1523 that the Pope was not Italian. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 16:49

TIL that Uday, son of Saddam Hussein, once tortured members of the Iraqi national football team for losing 2-1 against Kazakhstan, caning their feet and beating them up. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 13:49

TIL that Pope Benedict IX became pope at 20 (though some claim he was as young as 11). He was accused of sodomy, bestiality, and hosting orgies, sold the papacy, and held the office three separate times. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 12:49

TIL that a googolplex (10^(10^100)) is so large that it's physically impossible to write out in full decimal form. It would require more space than is available in the observable universe.​ [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 11:49

TIL a Royal Marine lost part of his "You'll Never Walk Alone" tattoo after a leg amputation, leaving "You'll Never Walk"—now he uses it as a joke in speeches and has become a gold medalist and record-chasing runner. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 07:49

Today I learned that every Sturgeon caught in British waters has to be offered to the reigning monarch. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 05:49

TIL Vince Gilligan described his pitch meeting with HBO for 'Breaking Bad' as the worst meeting he ever had. The exec he pitched to could not have been less interested, "Not even in my story, but about whether I actually lived or died." In the weeks after, HBO wouldn't even give him a courtesy 'no'. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 03:49

TIL there’s a condition called “autophony” where your own voice sounds like it’s screaming inside your head due to a defect in your inner ear. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 01:49

TIL that since 1997, a group of craftsmen has been building a medieval-style castle in France from scratch, using only 13th-century techniques, tools, and materials, as part of an ongoing experimental archaeology project called “Guédelon.” The estimated completion date is 2030. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 April 2025 22:49

TIL that Tudor England strictly regulated begging. Healthy beggars would be whipped or branded with a "V." Only the sick or weak were allowed to beg—and only in assigned areas. If caught begging elsewhere, they were punished. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

22 April 2025 05:49

TIL that in 1989, a group called "The Breeders" caused a medfly infestation in California to protest spraying of the insecticide Malathion, devastating crops and costing $60 million in eradication efforts. The state ceased this spraying in response. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

22 April 2025 02:49

TIL the longest Papal term in the history of the Catholic Church is held by none other than St. Peter for a total of at least 34 years. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

22 April 2025 00:49

TIL at age 20, Pope Benedict IX was the youngest Pope ever elected, and served as Pope on three different occasions. The first time he was overthrown, 2nd time he resigned, the third time he was overthrown again. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 20:49

TIL people who are naturally night owls and started waking up early reported better mental health [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 19:49

TIL that the medical practice of bloodletting persisted into the 20th century in the US [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 16:49

TIL about "dueling scars", which were popular amongst upper class Germans and Austrians involved in academic fencing at the start of the 20th century, and was a practice amongst university students and was seen as a mark of their class and honor. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 16:49

TIL Warren Buffett's son Peter, at 19, received the only inheritance he'll ever be given for personal use: $90K worth of Berkshire Hathaway stock. It was understood that he should expect nothing more. It'd be worth $300m today, but he sold it back then to start his music career & doesn't regret it. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 13:49

TIL that She-Hulk: Attorney at Law is the third most expensive TV show ever produced [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 12:49

TIL Pope Urban VII's only major act as Pope was the world's first public smoking ban. Anyone who "took tobacco in the porchway of or inside a church, whether it be by chewing it, smoking it with a pipe or sniffing it in powdered form through the nose" faced excommunication. His reign lasted 13 days [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 08:49

TIL Victorians took photos of dead relatives—sometimes propping them up to look alive—for family albums. These "memento mori" photos were meant to honor and preserve their memory. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 05:49

TIL You’re supposed to fill your tires with the amount of air specified on the sticker in your door jamb, not the max pressure listed on the side wall. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 04:49

TIL The clitoris never stops growing. While the penis grows rapidly during puberty and plateaus, the clitoris continues to enlarge gradually for most of a woman’s life. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

21 April 2025 02:49

TIL “Waka Waka,” a song by Shakira that topped charts worldwide, was originally performed by Golden Sounds, a Cameroonian band founded by members of Cameroon’s presidential guard. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 April 2025 23:49

TIL that the belly button is an actual erogenous zone. For some people, it even has the potential to trigger a nerve that causes a tickling sensation in their genitals. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 April 2025 22:49

TIL there’s a term for why people act wild in groups—Deindividuation. It’s when you lose your sense of self in a crowd and follow group behavior, ranging from harmless hype to risky or harmful actions. Feeling unidentifiable in a group reduces personal accountability. [Source]