Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 18:49

TIL: "Weird Al" Yankovic has a Billboard top-10 song. "White and Nerdy" peaked at number 9 on the Hot 100 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 17:49

TIL Tibet is the highest region on Earth, with an avg elevation of 4380 m (14k ft) and considered the "Water Tower" of Asia by supplying water to billions of people over thousands of square miles. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 16:49

TIL that since 1986, a grassroots group called Border Angels has been leaving bottled water in desert canyons to help migrants survive, even as the U.S. militarizes its border [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 12:49

TIL that wild panda populations can have reproductive rates comparable to some American black bear populations, which are thriving. Pandas are mistakenly believed to be poor breeders due to their the disappointing reproductive performance while captive. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 10:49

TIL two friends named Thomas Cook & Joseph Feeney shook hands in 1992 and promised that if one of them ever won the Powerball jackpot, he would split the winnings with the other. In 2020, Cook upheld their 28-yr-old agreement after he won $22m. They both chose the cash option & took home $5.7m each. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 07:49

TIL Malcom X had Red Hair [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 05:49

TIL of Seal Finger - inflammation from touching unprocessed seal products or seal bites. It's transmission is unknown. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 03:49

TIL it costs the US government 3.69 cents to make a penny. The cost to make a nickel is 13.78 cents. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 01:49

TIL that the Alnarp Library in Sweden has a 217-volume collection of wooden books called The Tree Library. Each book describes a specific tree—its binding is bark, moss, and lichens found on that species and the book interiors hold more natural surprises. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 00:49

TIL Rabies causes an intense fear of water and induces panic in those offered liquids due to excruciatingly painful muscle spasms that occur when attempting to swallow. This is thought to be the virus's way of "hacking" the brain to encourage its own spread to others via the host's saliva. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 20:49

TIL during Prohibition, winemakers sold "grape bricks" concentrated grape juice blocks with labels warning customers not to leave them in a cupboard for 20 days, lest they "accidentally" turn into wine. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 19:49

TIL that in the 2004 and 2008 Paralympics, athletes with an intellectual disability didn't compete, after It was discovered that 10 of the 12 players of the Spanish Basketball team that won the gold medal at the 2000 Paralympics weren't disabled [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 18:49

TIL that Margaret Atwood based The Handmaid’s Tale entirely on real historical events with every element of oppression in the book having already happened somewhere [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 16:49

TIL a 9-yr-old boy lived alone for 2 years after he was abandoned by his mom who lived with her partner 5 km away & only visited from "time to time". He survived on cake & canned goods and didn't have hot water or heating. However, during this time he continued to attend school & was a good student. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 15:49

TIL in 1904 when Richmond, Virginia passed a law enforcing racial segregation on their trolleys, John Mitchell, Jr. organized a boycott of the system that resulted in white people being arrested for sitting in the new black areas, as there were no black people on the trolleys. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 18:49

TIL that after rescuing piglets from a barn blaze, firefighters received sausages made from those piglets as a thank-you from the farmer six months later. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 17:49

TIL in 1988 East German government held Bruce Springsteen concert in order to appease youth. It backfired when he gave speech in German about tear down the barriers. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 15:49

TIL that when his son Xinzhen was abducted by a child trafficker in 1997, Guo Gangtang spent 24 years, his life savings and 10 motorbikes on a search for him across China. They were finally reunited in 2021 and his efforts helped the Chinese authorities find over 100 more abducted children. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 11:49

TIL a rebellion had occurred in 9th century China when a servant was told by a fortune teller that they would be able to enjoy the emperor’s dinner while sitting on his throne. After storming the palace and finishing the emperor’s meal, they lost sight of what to do next and were killed on the spot. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 08:49

TIL a teenager's fatal overdose from using too much spray-on deodorant was ruled accidental. His mom said he would not take showers but instead would spray half a can of deodorant on himself & then use aftershave to coverup BO. 42 cans of deodorant, hair spray & other products were found in his room [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 06:49

TIL that MyPillow founder Mike Lindell had a crack cocaine addiction that led to his dealers staging an intervention on him. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 04:49

TIL the vampire squid is neither an octopus nor a squid and it's eyes are proportionately the largest in the animal kingdom. If agitated, it ejects a sticky cloud of bioluminescent mucus which is able to stick to predators, making them more visible to secondary predators [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 02:49

TIL about another wild incident in the somewhat chaotic history of 1970s California: The Chowchilla Bus Kidnapping. In a crack-brained scheme, 26 kids and a bus driver were kidnapped, buried alive in a truck trailer, and held for ransom. They escaped after 16 hours by digging their way out. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

09 June 2025 01:49

TIL that a Dutch warship was able to escape to Australia from the Japanese because it's crew disguised it as a tropical island [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 20:49

TIL the harsh conditions of the remote town of Barrow, Alaska makes import very expensive, with half a watermelon costing $36 in grocery stores. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 19:49

TIL that Warren Buffett (5th richest in the world) started buying shares of Berkshire Hathaway in 1962 for less than $8 each. Right now, those shares are worth more than $740,000 each. He will finally retire as CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, at the age of 95 years old, at the end of this year. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 18:49

TIL After the brutal sack of Rome by the imperial mercenaries in 1527, Pope Clement VII was forced to pay 400,000 ducats in exchange for his life. Despite the ransom, he was imprisoned in Castel Sant'Angelo, where he remained for 6 months before he managed to escape the prison dressed as a peddler [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 17:49

TIL that in Japanese folklore, household items like old umbrellas and teacups can become alive after 100 years and watch you with tiny spirit-eyes [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 16:49

TIL about the Barkley Marathon. It's a 100 mile long ultra marathon through the state of Tennessee with a 60h time limit. You can only apply by sending an essay on why you deserve to take part in it in addition with a 1.60$ entrance fee. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

08 June 2025 13:49

TIL crocodilians have an extra left aorta on the side of their hearts, which scientists believe is used to shunt gas-rich blood from their lungs to their stomachs so they can digest large meals before the meat rots. The carbon dioxide in their blood is converted into gastric acid. [Source]