Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 05:49

TIL the lungs are the primary excretory organ for fat. In plain English, we lose most body fat through our breath when doing exercise. When your body burns fat (especially during exercise), the fat is converted into carbon dioxide (CO₂) and water [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 03:49

TIL Margot Kidder (Lois Lane from the original Superman) had a manic breakdown after the laptop she was using to write her autobiography crashed. She disappeared for four days [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 01:49

TIL that there's a typo on the Lincoln memorial [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 00:49

TIL The Marshall Islands, Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Tonga, and the United States are the only seven countries in the United Nations that do not require employers to provide paid time off for new parents. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 21:49

TIL a controlled 2002 trial studying the effects of placebo "sham" surgery vs real arthroscopic knee surgery for osteoarthritis showed no difference in pain relief or functioning between the placebo group and surgical intervention groups over a 24 month period. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 19:49

TIL Lorenzo Bernini's altarpiece "the ecstasy of Saint Teresa", in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria, has been described by critics as "the most astounding peep show in art". In victorian times, critics wanted it destroyed, while others have argued that it doesn't contain anything sexual [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 18:49

TIL that the Stanley Cup has been pissed in multiple times, punted into a canal, dropped from a balcony, and left in two seperate pools. In terms of boyency, a player noted that "the Stanley Cup does not float." [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 17:49

TIL that French used to have and provide mobile military brothels to their soldiers between WW1 and as late as 2003. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 16:49

TIL at the luxurious French brothel One-Two-Two there were themed rooms. One of the rooms, the Orient Express was a replica of a train car. It had sound effects and shook and bounced like a real train in motion. You could even have an intrusive conductor barge into the room and join in. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 15:49

TIL Australian serial Killer Ivan Milat lost 25kg (55lbs) from a failed hunger strike in prison when he was denied a PlayStation [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 14:49

TIL pilots and co-pilots never eat the same in-flight meal to protect against both of them getting struck down with food poisoning mid-flight. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 12:49

TIL about John Doe No. 24, an black teen who was found wandering the streets in 1945. As he was deaf, and seemingly incapable of otherwise communicating, police were unable to identify him, and sent him various mental institutions until his death in 1993. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 12:49

TIL that cracking your knuckles doesn’t cause arthritis. The sound comes from harmless gas bubbles popping. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 09:49

TIL Class of 2025 is the largest graduating high school class in American history. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 05:49

TIL that Los Angeles Lakers owner Jerry Buss put his firstborn child, a girl, up for adoption as he was too poor to raise her at the time and never mentioned her to his six other children. The woman eventually connected with her birth family in 2018 and wrote a book about the experience. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 04:49

TIL for the past 4 years, Americans have picked The Weather Channel as the news source they trust the most (49% for 2025) [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 02:49

TIL "The Shawshank Redemption" (1994) was a box office disappointment, earning only $16 million against a $25 million budget during its initial theatrical run, resulting in a loss of $9 million. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

20 June 2025 01:49

TIL that Hetty Green, also called the “witch of Wall Street,” was incredibly rich, yet she continued to live in inexpensive lodgings, avoiding any display of wealth and seeking medical treatment for herself at charity clinics. On her death in 1916, Green left an estate of more than $100,000,000. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 23:49

TIL the F*ck Tree is an oak tree in north London noted for its slender trunk which has been used for cruising since the 19th century. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 20:49

TIL that tornado alley is shifting east. Over the last 40 years or so, the frequency of tornado outbreaks in Texas, Kansas, Oklahoma, and Nebraska has declined by about 10%, while in Missouri, Arkansas, Tennessee, and Kentucky it has increased by roughly the same amount [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 19:49

TIL that Waldo's dog Woof was originally owned by Waldo's first girlfriend Wilma, whom he dumped for her twin sister Wenda after only 2 books, and then kept her dog. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 17:49

TIL that the largest embassy in the world is the U.S embassy in Iraq. It cost $750 million to build and is larger than the Vatican City. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 16:49

TIL that during their campaigns leading up to the 1964 United States presidential election, supporters of Barry Goldwater and Lyndon B. Johnson separately created sodas for each candidate. Goldwater’s was called “Gold Water” and Johnson’s was called “Johnson Juice”. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 15:49

TIL A woman named Sonora Smart Dodd came up with the idea of Father's Day after being inspired by a Mother's Day sermon and appreciating her father, who raised her and her siblings by himself. On June 19, 1910, the first annual celebration was held. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 15:49

TIL that the current King of Cambodia is the only ruling monarch in the world who speaks Czech fluently. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 13:49

TILL About Unity Milford. A UK socialite born in Swastika, Ontario she was such a virulent anti-semite and an admirer of Hitler that she attempted suicide upon the UK's declaration of war on Germany in 1939. The botched attempt left her partially incapacitated until her death in 1948. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 12:49

TIL that Spirytus Rektyfikowany, a Polish rectified spirit with 96% alcohol by volume, is one of the strongest commercially available alcoholic drinks in the world. It’s so potent it’s banned in several countries. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 10:49

TIL that the plane known as "Gimli Glider," that glided without fuel from 41,000ft to a successful emergency landing, was only retired in 2008, nearly 25 years after the incident. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 05:49

TIL that astronauts Mark Lee and Jan Davis married in secret 9 months before their joint flight to the ISS and didn't tell NASA until it was too late to train replacements. They are the only married couple to have ever flown in space together. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

19 June 2025 04:49

TIL the Chinese Communist Party encouraged Yao Ming’s parents to reproduce as part of a program to create incredibly tall athletes [Source]