Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 16:49

TIL Danie Pienaar survived the bite of a black mamba without antivenom after being bitten while tracking rhinos in South Africa in 1998. He was briefly paralyzed & put on a ventilator for 3 days, however he was released to his parents' care on the 5th day with essentially no lingering consequences. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 14:49

TIL that there are twelve US federal judges who were first appointed to the bench by Ronald Reagan that are still serving. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 09:49

TIL that Iron Butterfly's 17 minute song was written in one sitting while Doug Ingle drank an entire gallon of Red Mountain wine. It was originally titled "In the Garden of Eden", however it was interpreted as "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida" due to the slurring of his words. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 06:49

TIL before Ozzy Osbourne developed Parkinson's Disease, his entire genome was sequenced to help understand how he survived all the drugs and alcohol he consumed. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 04:49

TIL Jeff Spangenberg, the original founder of Retro Studios (known for the Metroid Prime series) was fired by Nintendo for using the studio's servers to host a porn site. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 01:49

TIL that Queen Elizabeth II's reign spanned 179 Prime Ministers [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 00:49

TIL that the funeral for Pope Pius XII was ruined by a botched embalming that caused his body to rapidly decompose. Mourners reported a foul odor, and there were reports that his skin turned green. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 22:49

TIL about Williams Syndrome, a genetic condition that makes people more friendly and sociable aswell as soemewhat intellectually disabled and results in "elefin" facial features and a host of physical problems. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 20:49

TIL that in 2023, a kidnapper tried to abduct an 8 year old girl, but her 13 year old brother saved her by shooting the kidnapper with his slingshot until he ran off. A 17 year old was later arrested with wounds to his head and chest. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 18:49

TIL in 1816, the United States built a fort to protect itself from invasion by Canada. There was only one small problem: due to a surveying error, it was built in Canada. It was later known as "Fort Blunder" [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 16:49

TIL Sledge-O-Matic comedian, Leo Gallagher, sued his brother, Ron Gallagher, for false advertising and unfair competition after the younger brother toured as Gallagher Too. A court stopped him from using a "sledgehammer or other similar device to pulverize watermelons, fruits, food or other items." [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 14:49

TIL In 2024, bots made up a bigger proportion of global internet traffic than humans for the first time [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 11:49

TIL that Giraffes are 30x more likely to get struck by lightning than humans [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 09:49

TIL that cyclist Mario Cipollini, widely regarded as one of best the sprinters of his generation, disliked mountain stages so much that he would sometimes skip them entirely, all while releasing photos of himself lounging at the beach while the others struggled in the mountains. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 05:49

TIL that Japan's Kansai International Airport has never lost a piece of luggage since it opened in 1994. In 2023, it handled baggage for over 14 million passengers. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 16:49

TIL about Jesse Heiman, a prolific background extra in tv and film. He has 108 credits including Spider-Man, The Social Network, Transformers, Monk, How I Met Your Mother and many more. It’s believed he is the most recognizable extra in film history. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 12:49

TIL that the Mongol empire, being the largest land empire to exist, only lasted around 150 years. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 09:49

TIL "late capitalism" was coined by Werner Sombart, a Marxist economist who later became a strong supporter of Hitler's National Socialism as the successor to late capitalism [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 05:49

TIL a woman suffering from Body Integrity Identity Disorder (a condition where able-bodied people believe they are meant to be disabled) purposefully made herself blind by having a psychologist put numbing drops in her eyes, followed by a couple of drops of drain cleaner. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 02:49

TIL that Ant Wars are raging around the world between supercolonies of Argentine Ants. Near San Diego, they fight on piles of their dead brethren. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

25 июля 2025 01:49

TIL The Albuquerque FBI in 2011 released hundreds of images of items that were collected during the investigation of David Parker Ray. In that time, no one has yet to identify a single piece as belonging to another person. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 23:49

TIL Riverside, CA turned its old public library into “The Cheech” - a museum named for stoner-comedy legend Cheech Marin, now home to the largest private Chicano art collection in the U.S. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 20:49

TIL that tarot cards weren’t created for divination. They were used to play trick-taking games, which are still played in parts of Europe today. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 19:49

TIL Hulk Hogan Helped Prevent Jesse Ventura From Starting A Wrestlers Union [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 16:49

TIL The corpse of Eva Peron was lost and re-discovered in a crypt in Milan under a fake name, then was moved inside Peron's house in Spain. After assassinating Pedro Aramburu, a group of rebels held his body hostage and tried to use it as bargain to negotiate the return of Eva's body to Argentina [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 14:49

TIL In 2018 a woman in South Africa was discovered alive inside her coffin at her own funeral – hours after being declared dead by paramedics. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 12:49

TIL after meeting William Woods in 1988, Matthew David Keirans went on to assume Woods's identity for over 30 yrs. Woods tried to reclaim his identity during this time, but was stopped by Keirans which led to him spending 428 days in jail & 147 days in a psychiatric hospital before being exonerated. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 09:49

TIL Christianity was the predominant religion on the island of Socotra off the coast of Yemen until the 16th century, a pre-Islamic tradition rumored to have been established by shipwrecked St. Thomas on his way to India who converted the native Soqotri in the 1st century [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 05:49

TIL that shortly after Bill Gates left Harvard to start Microsoft, one of his professors remarked, “He had moved to Albuquerque to run a small company writing code for microprocessors, of all things. I remember thinking, ‘Such a brilliant kid. What a waste.’” [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

24 июля 2025 04:49

TIL an FAA audit of the 737 MAX assembly process found that mechanics at Spirit aerosystems (A Boeing supplier) were using hotel key cards to check the seal of emergency exits, and Dawn dish soap as a makeshift lubricant for door seals and wiped off the soap with a cheesecloth to make it look clean [Source]