Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 13:49

TIL of Sabbatai Zevi who in the 17th century claimed he was the Messiah, leading to a significant portion of Jews world wide believing him. Only for him to end up converting to Islam. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 09:49

TIL that the Persian "Immortals" weren't called that because they couldn't die, but because their number was kept at exactly 10,000 at all times. If a soldier was killed or fell ill, he was immediately replaced, creating the illusion that the army never suffered casualties. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 04:49

TIL a woman named Lydia Abate has been "funeral tracking" for nearly 6 years — she scours obituaries to find recently deceased people, then offers grieving families a free estate clean-out service in exchange for keeping their dead relatives' vintage clothes. She hasn't bought clothes in years. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 01:49

TIL the “Democracy Manifest” meme guy was a prison escape artist and was involved in a love triangle between his wife and “Australia’s Charles Manson,” the latter of whom killed his wife [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 23:49

TIL there is a still (somewhat) active mafia group based in Kansas City [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 22:49

TIL that in the U.S., most paper money lasts less than 7 years before being destroyed and replaced due to wear. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 21:49

TIL the 2015 short "Kung Fury" had a full-length theatrical sequel that included Michael Fassbender and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It finished filming in 2019 but has been stuck in post-production ever since. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that over third of people who called the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Hotline in 2023 were calling because they were having a technical problem with their betting apps and mistakenly believed that calling the Mass hotline would get them IT help. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that Dolly the Sheep was NOT the first cloned animal. Scientists had been cloning amphibians like frogs since the 1950s, 40 years before Dolly was born. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 17:49

TIL that Amazon patented a wristband in 2018 that was designed to track warehouse workers’ hand movements in real time and direct them via vibrations. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 14:49

TIL that after Malcolm X’s assassination, the Audubon Ballroom was cleaned up and a party was held later that same night. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 12:49

TIL that the Samurai era in Japan and the American Wild West were happening at the same time. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 10:49

TIL the son of Queen Victoria's 8th son was an important figure in the Nazi party and a member of Reichstag from 1936 to 1945 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 06:49

TIL Richard of Shrewsbury was knighted before 2 years old, married at 4, widowed at 8, then likely murdered at 9. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 03:49

TIL that the last known individual dinosaur was a triceratops that lived as recently as several thousand years before the K–Pg extinction event. No younger dinosaur fossils have yet been found. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 12:49

TIL that Johnny Cash would create a snare drum effect in the studio by putting a dollar bill under the strings of his guitar [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 09:49

TIL about the Carnation Revolution where military officers organized a coup against their corporatist government, transforming Portugal into a democracy. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 02:49

TIL that before becoming an actor, Danny DeVito worked as a cosmetologist for dead bodies at a morgue, styling the hair of the deceased. He began this after a client of his died where he worked as a beautician at his sister's salon, and her family asked him to do her hair for her funeral. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 00:49

TIL: "Working cats" programs help unadoptable cats live a productive life as mousers [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 23:49

TIL There is a fatal disease called Kuru that causes uncontrollable laughing and is transmitted through ritual cannibalism. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 21:49

TIL In 1651, Jan De Doot, a man who disliked surgeons decided to take a knife and remove his own bladder stone with just some help from his brother. The feat made him famous across the Netherlands and he even had his portrait painted with him holding the egg-sized stone, which he had coated in gold [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 20:49

TIL that the original pilot for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (which later became “Charlie Has Cancer”) was shot on handheld camcorders on a budget of $200, though Charlie Day has since claimed it was essentially filmed for free. The show was later picked up by FX and has aired for 2 decades. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that Hot Wheels and Matchbox — the two biggest rival toy car brands — are actually both owned by Mattel. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that the original iPhone that Steve Jobs famously showed on stage in 2007 barely worked and could only just get through the keynote. A stable, final version of the iPhone was not developed until just weeks before global release. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 16:49

TIL Tamzin Merchant was originally cast to play Danaerys Targaryen in the unaired pilot of Game of Thrones. She was later replaced by Emilia Clarke when the pilot was poorly received and subsequently remade. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 13:49

TIL: The Great Khan had a silver tree that dispensed 4 types of alcohol so that he never ran out. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 11:49

TIL that female stoats become reproductively mature at 15 days old, while they're still suckling and blind. Adult males will mate with said immature females, which then successfully give birth next year. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 07:49

TIL in 2019 Indian magician Chanchal Lahiri drowned in the Hooghly River while attempting a Houdini trick, he was lowered into the water while shackled but did not emerge, his body was found the next day [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 05:49

TIL that Julius Yego, who famously taught himself Javelin through the internet, is still competing at the elite level 11 years after his famous World Championship win in 2015. At the 2025 World Championships he made it to the final and placed 6th. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 02:49

TIL that in 2018 there was a diplomatic spat between India and Pakistan due to accusations that diplomats were ringing each other's doorbells at 3.00am, then running away. [Source]