Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 20:49

TIL that the first woman considered to achieve the naval rank of admiral was Laskarina Pinotsi, commonly called Bouboulina (Greek for "little darling" or "little something"). She commanded Greek forces in the Greek war of Independence in 1821 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 19:49

TIL about the "Alexandra Limp" — a Victorian fashion trend where ladies wore mismatched footwear, one high heel and one low, to emulate Princess Alexandra, who developed a pronounced limp after a bout of rheumatic fever. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 18:49

TIL that Ode To Joy which was composed by Ludwig van Beethoven is rarely played in Zimbabwe, because it is associated with the Anthem of Rhodesia which used the same melody. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 16:49

TIL Warner Bros. Games canceled a Wonder Woman video game that was "still years away from release" even though it had already spent more than $100 million on the game's development. WB also closed the studio that had been behind that development, Monolith Productions. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 14:49

TIL about Eddie Hall, the only person to ever complete the 24 Hours of Le Mans race solo [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 12:49

TIL of the various roles Sean Connery turned down, they included Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs, John Hammond in Jurassic Park, Morpheus in The Matrix, Dumbledore in Harry Potter, and Gandalf in Lord of the Rings. Of the Hannibal part in particular, Connery felt it was too "disgusting." [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 07:49

TIL Clarence King, discoverer of Mount Whitney and one of the USA's best-known scientists, revealed on his deathbed in 1901 that he had a second life, wife & five kids, living as a Black man named James Todd. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 06:49

TIL that King Henry VIII was so paranoid about being poisoned, that he had one of his members of staff kiss every inch of of his bedding before he got into bed every night. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 04:49

TIL That despite the huge impact Jerry Stiller had on Seinfeld playing George’s father, he actually doesn’t even join the show until the 2nd episode of the 5th season. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 02:49

TIL the Lakers name comes from their originally city, Minneapolis, Minnesota, land of 10,000 lakes. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 01:49

TIL Man Still in Prison After Daughter Admits She Lied About Abuse When She Was 9 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 23:49

TIL that North Korea has a holiday called Tree Planting Day during which people across the country plant trees [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 21:49

TIL The lowest-scoring NBA game in history occurred in 1950 with a 19-18 victory for the Fort Wayne Pistons over the Minneapolis Lakers. Whenever the Pistons led, they held or passed the ball around as long as possible, eliciting boos from their own fans. The shot clock was introduced 4 years later. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 19:49

TIL Colonel Sanders moved to Canada, settling in Mississauga, ON after selling his U.S. KFC rights in 1965 — and apparently left such a mark they named a hospital wing 🍗 after him. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 17:49

TIL that art depicting living beings is generally prohibited in Islam. As a result Islamic art generally consists of calligraphic, geometric and abstract floral patterns [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 20:49

TIL Carl Switzer, who played Alfalfa of the Little Rascals, was killed in a money dispute at the age of 31. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 18:49

TIL During double-amputee athelete Oscar Pistorius's trial in South Africa for the shooting of his girlfriend, he was found not guilty of murder but guilty of culpable homicide (like manslaughter). However, the prosecution was able to appeal his murder acquittal into a guilty verdict of murder. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 18:49

TIL of Lady Mondegreen - a mishearing or misinterpretation of a phrase in a way that gives it a new meaning. An example would be Jimi Hendrix's song "Purple Haze", where many, instead of the line "kiss the sky" mishear Jimi singing "kiss this guy" [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 15:49

TIL a barrel of oil contains 42 gallons. While the barrel as a unit of measurement for oil is 42 U.S. gallons, actual "drums" used in industry typically contain 55 U.S. gallons [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 13:49

TIL Marottichal a village in India was rife with alcoholism and illicit gambling, but everything changed after one man taught the town to play chess. Miraculously, the game’s popularity flourished while drinking and gambling declined. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 10:49

TIL that in 1862, German orientalist Martin Haug proposed a radical reinterpretation of what he believed to be the original teachings of the Zoroastrian religion. When actual Zoroastrians read his arguments, they were convinced, and adjusted their own doctrines in response. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 07:49

TIL that Les Miserables is one of the longest novels in literature. In the original French, it consists of 655,478 words spanning 365 chapters [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 05:49

TIL the 3.5% rule: 3.5% of a national population peacefully protesting on the streets at once will ALWAYS topple a Dictatorship or democratic government. Moreover peaceful movements succeed twice as often as violent ones. This surprised even the Harvard political scientist who discovered it. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 03:49

TIL that Brazil was the only independent South American country to send combat troops overseas during the Second World War where they inflicted disproportionately high losses on enemy munitions, supplies, and infrastructure. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 01:49

TIL that all the royalties for The Animals's version of The House of The Rising Sun went only to one person in the band because there was insufficient room to name all five band members on the record label. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

13 June 2025 00:49

TIL Tobey Maguire's father was convicted of robbing a bank [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 22:49

TIL that the premiere of Gioachino Rossini’s opera The Barber of Seville ended in complete disaster. One of the singers tripped over a trapdoor and had to sing with a bloody nose. During the Finale to Act 1, a cat wandered onstage and declined to leave, and so was forcibly flung to the wings. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 20:54

TIL cats love our feet and footwear so much mainly because of pheromone communication. Even when your feet is squeaky clean, they can still smell the pheromones [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 18:49

TIL NASCAR driver, J. D. McDuffie raced 653 times over 27 years in the NASCAR Cup Series. He never once finished on the lead lap. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

12 June 2025 16:49

TIL that the reason mental health professionals have a legal duty to breach confidentiality and warn potential victims or law enforcement if a patient poses a credible threat- is due to the Tarasoff case. [Source]