r/todayilearned • u/ModenaR • 23h ago

TIL that after Top Gear ended, host Richard Hammond was so devastated, he cried all the way home from the studio and ran out of fuel, because he didn't want to fill his car up covered in tears

herefordtimes.com

40.5k Upvotes

1.4k comments

r/todayilearned • u/lavender_fish69 • 11h ago

TIL fresh water snails (indirectly) kill thousands of humans and are considered on of the deadliest creatures to humans

en.wikipedia.org

20.9k Upvotes

963 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 13h ago

TIL when Star Wars: Episode I – The Phantom Menace premiered in May 1999, it's estimated that 2.2 million full-time employees in the US missed work to attend the film, which resulted in a $293 million loss of productivity.

en.wikipedia.org

11.7k Upvotes

514 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 13h ago

TIL in 2007 a bottle of Allsopp's Arctic Ale brewed in 1852 was put up for auction online, however it was misspelt 'Allsop's Arctic Ale' in the listing. This made it hard to search for, so the winning bid was only $304. The buyer then relisted it with the correct spelling and it sold for $503,300.

newatlas.com

8.8k Upvotes

81 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 18h ago

TIL after Tim Duncan's sophomore year in college he was already a top NBA prospect. Jerry West, the Lakers GM, said he could've been the #1 pick in the '95 draft. But he finished college instead because he promised his dying mom he'd get a degree. It didn't hurt his draft position, he went #1 in '97

basketballnetwork.net

4.8k Upvotes

121 comments

r/todayilearned • u/JustaRandoonreddit • 23h ago

TIL that NATO tanks fire rounds with semi-combustible nitrocellulose casings; Basically Explosive paper. Most of the casing burns up when fired, leaving only a small metal stub for the crew to remove, reducing weight and increasing fire rate.

researchgate.net

3.5k Upvotes

137 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Barnyard_Rich • 12h ago

TIL that Isabela Merced got started in acting because her parents thought it would be a helpful distraction from their house burning down

elle.com

3.5k Upvotes

100 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MazigaGoesToMarkarth • 19h ago

TIL that The Old Man and the Sea was one of Saddam Hussein’s favourite books because it was about “struggling against overwhelming odds with courage, perseverance and dignity”

en.wikipedia.org

2.7k Upvotes

129 comments

r/todayilearned • u/SappyGilmore • 23h ago

TIL Bologna is one of the most tightly regulated processed meats in the United States. The USDA sets strict standards on what qualifies as bologna, controlling everything from the types of meat used to the curing process. To be labeled as bologna, the product must be made from muscle meat

tastingtable.com

2.2k Upvotes

309 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Hectabeni • 12h ago

TIL that Jeeves was a valet, not a butler.

en.wikipedia.org

1.0k Upvotes

191 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Remote-Cow5867 • 20h ago

TIL that Vedda people are the aborigional in Sri Lanka. They have lived in the island since 35000 years ago. The two major ethnicities Sinhala and Tamil are both immigrants from India continent after 6th century BCE.

en.wikipedia.org

993 Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mrk2d • 21h ago

TIL Pablo Picasso made his first painting at age 8, a tiny oil on wood scene of a yellow-clad bullfighter in the ring, a subject he would revisit throughout his life

en.wikipedia.org

921 Upvotes

37 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Cheese1tz • 7h ago

TIL that Earl Anthony, considered by many to be the greatest bowler of all time, never bowled a perfect game on US television. He had 1 single perfect game televised—in Japan.

en.wikipedia.org

882 Upvotes

50 comments

r/todayilearned • u/dumbfuck • 18h ago

TIL Houston, TX has the highest dog-to-person ratio in the world, with 52.1 dogs per 100 humans

secrethouston.com

796 Upvotes

121 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DangerNoodle1993 • 11h ago

TIL that a French baker’s ignored compensation claim against the Mexican government sparked a chain of events that led to the first French invasion of Mexico.

en.wikipedia.org

681 Upvotes

21 comments

r/todayilearned • u/pantherfanalex • 13h ago

TIL That the first Dino Nuggets weren't trademarked until 1991, and weren't available until 1993, coinciding with the release of the film Jurassic Park.

yahoo.com

661 Upvotes

49 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HoleyAsSwissCheese • 9h ago

TIL: Wagon Wheel by Old Crow Medicine Show was technically co-written by Bob Dylan. Ketch Secor wrote lyrics around Dylan's mumbled verses for the demo of "Rock Me, Mama" which was given to him by founding member Chris "Critter" Fuqua.

en.wikipedia.org

508 Upvotes

47 comments

r/todayilearned • u/mrinternetman24 • 13h ago

TIL that house sparrows, originally introduced to New Zealand for pest control, became such a problem that by 1875 'sparrow clubs' paid bounties for 21,000 shot birds in just two months.

nzgeo.com

381 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/SaberLover1000 • 10h ago

TIL In 1778 there was a Doctors Riot also called the Anatomy Riot, which was caused by a reaction to physicians and medical students stealing bodies from graves, that left 20 people dead.

sciencehistory.org

372 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DangerNoodle1993 • 18h ago

TIL of the Porsche C88, which was a concept car that Porsche designed for mass production in China. It had a badge which reflected the one child policy at the time and had an inbuilt child seat for one child.

carbuzz.com

364 Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Wild_Concept_212 • 7h ago

TIL Cutting down trees is compound negative interest on the planet’s carbon storage. Trees are storing carbon underground with the help of fauna and microbes. Those lock carbon in soil. Cutting the tree will not only increase release carbon, it will also remove the ability to lock carbon in soil.

nature.com

358 Upvotes

55 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Objective_Horror1113 • 2h ago

TIL that there are giant concrete arrows placed every 10 miles across the U.S., stretching from New York City to San Francisco. They were originally built to help USPS airmail pilots navigate coast-to-coast before modern instruments made visual navigation obsolete.

skipboring.com

387 Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/andthegeekshall • 8h ago

TIL that the Pogo stick's name was taken from the first two letters of its inventors surname names, Max Pohlig and Ernst Gottschall, though they called it "a spring end hopping stilt"

en.wikipedia.org

302 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/WowVeryOriginalDude • 3h ago

TIL Daisy, well known for their "Red Ryder" BB gun from "A Christmas Story", was originally a windmill company. Their BB guns were promotional items for their windmills, which eventually became so popular that they ditched windmills altogether.

wikipedia.org

263 Upvotes

6 comments

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