Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 20:49

TIL that 10 of the 12 largest high school gymnasiums in the USA are located in the state of Indiana. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 19:49

TIL that the Baha Men's 2000 hit song, 'Who Let The Dogs Out', was written about cat-calling. Originally written by Anslem Douglas in 1998, the song compares cat-calling men to unruly dogs who have escaped their homes and are causing chaos. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 17:49

TIL that Saint Lucia, the tiny island country in the Caribbean, is the only sovereign state in the world named after a woman (Saint Lucy of Syracuse) [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 14:49

TIL about the "Wicked Bible", a printing of the King James Bible which accidentally omitted the word "not" from "Thou shalt not commit adultery" [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 10:49

TIL Dionysius I, ruler of Syracuse, wrote poetry which wasn't always well received. After Philoxenus, another poet, criticised his work, Dionysius imprisoned him for a day. He then released him, read him another poem and asked for his opinion. Philoxenus replied "take me back to the quarries" [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 07:49

TIL That almost half of the lakes in the US (48%) are man made [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 05:49

TIL the "black" you see with your eyes closed isn't black - it's called Eigengrau ("intrinsic grey"). Even in total darkness your retina fires faint random noise, so your brain never receives true black; it generates a dim grey static floor instead. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 02:49

TIL a library at Macalester College in Minnesota banned a cat called Max because a staff member had allergies. The funny sign the staff put up to keep him out went viral and made him an internet darling [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 02:49

TIL that Mexico banned cartoon mascots, celebrities, and animated characters from unhealthy food packaging in 2021 to curb child-targeted advertising and combat rising rates of childhood obesity and diabetes. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 00:49

TIL rabbits are not rodents. They were classified as rodents, but got reclassified to the group lagomorphs due to having non rodent traits (four incisors instead of two). Similarities between rabbits and rodents were attributed to convergent evolution, but DNA has proven they share a common ancestor [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 23:49

TIL The Powerpuff Girls were originally called "The Whoopass Girls", but Cartoon Network executives did not want to market a show with the word "ass", leading to Craig McCracken's friends coming up with the name "Powerpuff". [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 21:49

TIL Vermont only has 10 incorporated cities [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 19:49

TIL that between 1900 and 1925, cars were banned in the canton of Graubünden (Switzerland), seen as noisy toys for the wealthy. Vehicles had to be pulled by horses at the border. The ban survived 9 popular votes before being lifted on 21 June 1925, by just 52% [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 18:49

TIL of La Violencia, a Colombian civil war from 1948-1958 that resulted in the deaths of at least 200,000 civilians. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 14:49

TIL that the world’s smallest hotel is a 2.5-meter-wide house in Amberg, Germany. It was built in 1728 as a workaround for marriage laws requiring couples to own property before they could wed. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 19:49

TIL that about 62% of Argentina’s population has some degree of Italian ancestry. Argentina has the second-largest community of Italians outside of Italy. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 18:49

TIL that every extra 4 inches of body height raises cancer risk by 11% for women and 6% for men [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 16:49

TIL that a man named Jack Black was employed by Queen Victoria to the post of "Supreme Rat-Catcher." He was able to catch around 13 rats a day or nearly 5000 rats a year. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 12:49

TIL that December 25 being the birthday of Jesus was decided by pope Julius I around year 350, and nobody really knows why Julius made this decision and chose this specific date. There are various theories, but his actual reasoning for the decision is lost history. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 09:49

TIL At 40 degrees celcius, photosynthesis begins to shut down in C3 plants, which make up approximately 95% of earth's plant biomass, including all the important crops like rice, wheat, etc [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 06:49

TIL that Jan Miskovic holds the record for the worst eyeglass prescription at -108 diopters [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 04:49

TIL about the obsolete scientific theory of Racial Senescence, that species would “grow old” like individuals, and supposed signs of “evolutionary old age” signaling imminent extinction were increasing size and more horns or spikes on the body. This was thought to be how the dinosaurs died out. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 02:49

TIL that across Europe, total household ownership of air conditioning units is relatively low, sitting at an average of just 20%. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 June 2026 01:49

TIL the Statue of Liberty, and the famous immigration office of Ellis Island close by, are both enclaves of New York State despite sitting fully within the borders of New Jersey [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 23:49

TIL there's a fifth Wayans brother, Dwayne, who was severely schizophrenic and died in 2000 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 21:49

TIL that in 1976 a Soviet pilot, Viktor Belenko, defected to Japan by flying his secret MiG-25 fighter there, allowing the West to examine one of the USSR’s most advanced aircraft. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 20:49

TIL that between the 1930s and 1940s, German chemist Arthur Imhausen developed a method of converting coal into synthetic butter. The process took 60 kilograms of coal to produce one kilogram of synthetic butter. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 19:49

TIL that in 1976, Mattel's CEO Ray Wagner passed on the toy rights for Star Wars because of a $750,000 upfront fee. To recoup the lost market share, Mattel created the Masters of the Universe (He-Man) franchise. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 18:49

TIL a 300-million year old Cuttlefish fossil was found in Morocco, alongside ancient humans in a region where no Cuttlefish ever existed. The leading theory suggests the fossil was first found by the prehistoric humans, who collected it as a trinket due to fact that it looks like a flaccid penis. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 June 2026 14:49

TIL the poor audio quality of Aphex Twin's critically acclaimed album Selected Ambient Works 85–92 is partly because a cat chewed on the master cassette tape. [Source]