Today I Learned 🎓

30 June 2025 03:49

TIL in Ohio, convicted drunk drivers are mandated to drive with “Party Plates”, special red-on-yellow license plates in exchange for limited driving privileges such as work. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

30 June 2025 00:49

TIL that the ISS will be retired by 2030 and that they will deorbit the whole station back to Earth. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 21:49

TIL that Gerard Butler was law graduate and then a trainee lawyer. However, he was fired a week before being qualified due to his habits of drinking and partying and missing work. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 20:49

TIL of the Children's crusade in 1212 when thousands of children went on a march to the holy land believing their innocence alone would peacefully bring it back to Christianity. None reached Jerusalem, with many even being sold into slavery by Italian merchants. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 20:49

TIL in 2011 a woman was buried alive in a cardboard box by her fiancé after he attacked her with a stun gun then bound & gagged her with tape because he was "bored" with her & wanted custody of their son. She used her engagement ring to cut herself free & pull the box apart before flagging down help [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 18:49

TIL the term “Big Bang” was coined by Fred Hoyle in 1949, who used it in jest as he disagreed with the idea of a universe with a beginning. Scientists later adopted it as a joke despite the theory describing expansion, not a literal explosion. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 17:49

TIL Princess Märtha Louise of Norway (daughter of the current King) claims to be a clairvoyant, and is married to a "Neoshaman" accused of extensive scams; he even claimed her previous deceased husband contacted him from beyond the grave [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 16:49

TIL Surpassing his father's liking for alcohol and cigars, Randolph Churchill consumed 80–100 cigarettes and up to two bottles of whisky per day for 20 years. He died aged 57. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 14:49

TIL that as a producer, Christopher Nolan had to watch Joss Whedons cut of Justice League after Zack Snyder stepped down. He then warned Snyder never to watch it because it would break his heart [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 13:49

TIL that Japan developed crewed suicide torpedoes called Kaiten during WWII, where pilots steered modified torpedoes into enemy ships with no way to escape. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 08:49

Today i learned that Dalmatian dog puppies are born completely white. Their spots develop as they grow, usually starting to appear after about 2–3 weeks [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 04:49

TIL that Heath Ledger, in 2007, had refused to host the Oscars due to a request that he make explicit fun of the relationship he portrayed with Jake Gyllenhall in the movie "Brokeback Mountain". [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 03:49

TIL that everyone in Singapore above the age of 21 is automatically registered as an organ donor. Opting out from this Act will result in you being put at the very bottom of the organ priority list, should you need an organ transplantation to save your life. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 01:49

TIL an album by the group The Mamas and The Papas was pulled from shelves for indecency because the cover had a toilet in the corner of the shot [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 00:49

TIL that in 1923, Seattle banned the playing of cricket in city parks because they feared their residents were becoming too Canadian. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

30 June 2025 02:49

TIL before the battle of Marathon, Athenians vowed to sacrifice a goat for every Persian slain. After recording 6,400 enemy deaths, they couldn’t offer so many at once, so they sacrificed 500 goats annually to Artemis Agrotera until the vow was fulfilled. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

30 June 2025 00:49

TIL in 2023 a teenager attending a Danish prince's birthday party at the palace intentionally left her shoe behind, hoping for an ending à la Cinderella. Later, the palace posted a picture of the shoe on Instagram. Part of the caption translates to: "Is it Cinderella who forgot her shoe last night?" [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 20:49

TIL in 2011 a man survived an accident where he fell on the nozzle of a high pressure air hose, which pierced his left buttock & rushed air into his body at 100 pounds per square inch. He was inflated to twice his normal size with the air separating his fat from his muscles & compressing his heart. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 20:49

TIL the Navy built a 300-foot ice cream barge in WW2 that made 10 gallons every 7 minutes to boost morale in the Pacific. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 19:49

TIL in 1980, "Batman" producer Michael Uslan saw a photo of Jack Nicholson from "The Shining" in the newspaper and he started drawing on it. Uslan turned Nicholson’s famous “Here’s Johnny!” face into the Joker. Eight years later, Jack Nicholson was cast as The Joker. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 18:49

TIL that elephants can use vibrations they create in the ground by rumbling to communicate with other elephants [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 16:49

TIL Native Americans were present in North America before the Great Lakes existed. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 15:49

TIL of the Beast of Gévaudan. A beast that killed more than 100 people in France between 1764 and 1767 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 13:49

TIL of the Rüsselsheim massacre. In 1944, 6 American surrendered airmen were lynched by German townsfolk angered by previous bombing raids. The perpetrators were tried and many executed after the war. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 10:49

TIL that Scientists have discovered 'Gwada Negative'- a brand new blood type found in just one 68 year old woman on Earth [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 05:49

TIL: Some farmers in Bangladesh have switched to raising ducks instead of chickens, because during catastrophic floods, ducks float. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 04:49

TIL: Microsoft tried a 4-day workweek in Japan as part of a "Work Life Choice Challenge" by shutting down offices every Friday. Productivity, measured by sales per employee, increased by almost 40% compared to the previous period the previous year. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 02:49

TIL Marcy Borders, a 28-year-old employee in the World Trade Center, survived the building’s collapse on September 11, 2001. Her picture, showed her completely covered in dust. The image became widely recognized, and Borders became known as "The Dust Lady." She passed away from cancer on 08/24/2015. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

29 June 2025 00:49

TIL that in a study done in 2020, painting eyespots on cattle butts was shown to be an effective measure in deterring predators. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

28 June 2025 22:49

TIL that after playing 9 years in Major League Baseball, Byron McLaughlin allegedly worked in the counterfeit consumer goods industry in Mexico, making knock-off athletic footwear. He fled justice after posting bail in 1990 and his exact whereabouts are unknown. It is thought he is in Europe. [Source]