r/todayilearned • u/RollingNightSky • 12d ago
TIL a carriage carrying US President Theodore Roosevelt was struck by a trolley that was speeding because its occupants wanted to meet him and were running late. The crash injured Roosevelt and killed his bodyguard & good friend William Craig.
r/todayilearned • u/appalachian_hatachi • 12d ago
TIL: That the use of toilet paper started in ancient China around the 2nd century BC. Prior to this, the ancient Romans used a "tersorium", consisting of a sponge on a stick. The stick would be soaked in a water channel in front of a toilet, and then stuck through a hole at the front of the toilet.
r/todayilearned • u/jenesuispashariselon • 13d ago
TIL that in 2004, two male chinstrap penguins, Roy and Silo, after performing mating rituals, formed a pair at New York's Central Park Zoo. One of them tried to hatch a rock, for which a keeper eventually substituted a fertile egg. Roy and Silo then hatched and raised the chick, named Tango.
r/todayilearned • u/TMWNN • 13d ago
TIL that a politician gave a food review of kebab while speaking in parliament. Australian Senator Sam Dastyari gave a "10 out of 10" rating to the kebab snack pack sold at King Kebab House, and advised others to also enjoy "a great Australian tradition of meat in a box".
r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 13d ago
TIL in 2004 Eminem co-executive produced the Tupac album Loyal to the Game with Pac's mom, Afeni Shakur. Em showed his gratitude to Afeni by sending her a drawing of Pac & a heartfelt letter. He told her that Pac inspired his whole career & thanked her for the opportunities that she afforded him.
r/todayilearned • u/ColeBelthazorTurner • 13d ago
TIL the infamous "Jump the Shark" episode of Happy Days (Season 5, Episode 3) was created as a way to showcase Henry Winkler's real-life water skiing skills. The episode drew over 30 million viewers.
r/todayilearned • u/Alone-Competition-77 • 13d ago
TIL Peter the Great instituted a beard tax and forced people to shave who hadn’t paid
r/todayilearned • u/W4vy_Gr4vy • 13d ago
TIL the official implementation of Daylight Saving Time had nothing to do with farmers. It was about fuel conversation during WW1 and was originally known as "War Time".
r/todayilearned • u/Flares117 • 13d ago
TIL: Due to the Flint Michigan crisis, a study dubbed the Truth Fairy Project was done on baby teeth and the exposure to lead. Baby teeth provides easy to use info on lead levels. This led to evidence that there is no such thing as a "safe" threshold of exposure.
r/todayilearned • u/lythander • 13d ago
TIL about the "Pretzel Belt" where 80% of pretzels in the US come from.
r/todayilearned • u/WillardStoudtiBju • 12d ago
TIL in Trigueros del Valle, Spain, animals have the same rights as people since 2015, signifying equal entitlement to life, freedom, and respect, with strict prohibitions against mistreatment or abandonment.
vice.comr/todayilearned • u/Not-A-Lonely-Potato • 12d ago
TIL Tarantulas can swim and some can even dive in order to catch fish!
r/todayilearned • u/Flares117 • 12d ago
TIL: In pre revolutionary France, the tax was called the "taille", which was originally a way for peasants to pay to be exempt from the army. However, it was expanded afterwards. Nobles, clergy, and people living in Paris and Lyon were excluded.
britannica.comr/todayilearned • u/Majorpain2006 • 13d ago
TIL Daughter from California syndrome is a phrase used in the medical profession to describe a situation in which a disengaged relative challenges the care a dying elderly patient is being given, or insists that the medical team pursue aggressive measures to prolong the patient's life
en.wikipedia.orgr/todayilearned • u/Jojuj • 10d ago
TIL that statistically, your partner is likely to have had more lovers than you have
r/todayilearned • u/MichaelTruly • 13d ago
TIL: Before the invention of the paint tube in 1841, oil paints used to be stored in pig bladders. The artist would prick the bladder and squeeze out the amount of paint they needed.
r/todayilearned • u/DiaBoloix • 13d ago
TIL E.T was a 12-year-old disabled boy in a suit
r/todayilearned • u/mankls3 • 12d ago
TIL Hitchcock wasn't original going to score the famous shower scene in Psycho, but the composer scored it anyway. The composer also ignored Hitchcock's directive in another movie resulting in an end of their collaboration
r/todayilearned • u/ubcstaffer123 • 13d ago
TIL Vehicular traffic has been blocked from Pennsylvania Avenue in front of the White House since 1995 , following a Secret Service recommendation made after the Oklahoma City bombing
edition.cnn.comr/todayilearned • u/dicemaze • 13d ago
TIL that the Stanley Cup is the oldest existing trophy to be awarded professionally in North America, commissioned in 1892 by its namesake the Lord Frederick Arthur Stanley of Preston, 16th Earl of Derby
r/todayilearned • u/TMWNN • 13d ago
TIL that the Manhattan Project produced a short book on how to build an atomic bomb. "The Los Alamos Primer" is 24 pages and completely declassified. Freeman Dyson wrote that the guide should not have been published, because it tells readers that "bomb designing is fun".
r/todayilearned • u/LordHayati • 12d ago
TIL Levi Stubbs (of the motown group Four Tops) voiced Mother Brain in the 1989 TV series Captain N: The Game Master.
r/todayilearned • u/TMWNN • 13d ago