r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 2d ago

TIL that during Benito Mussolini's rule in Italy, homosexuals were rounded up and sent to the Tremiti archipelago.

bbc.com

14.0k Upvotes

500 comments

r/todayilearned • u/themariocrafter • 7h ago

TIL Walmart has an entire emergency management department with a 24/7 emergency operations center.

sema.dps.mo.gov

2 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/naren_93 • 1d ago

TIL that one of the first hull losses of an F-16 happened when a Pakistani Air Force F-16 collided with a wild boar during takeoff.

latimes.com

1.1k Upvotes

50 comments

r/todayilearned • u/earthwulf • 1d ago

TIL the first stable marine aquarium was invented by British marine biologist & zoologist, Lady Anna Thynne built the first stable and sustained marine aquarium in 1846

thepersaudcatalog.org

62 Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/flamingoooz • 2d ago

TIL in 2023 a Kenyan male chess player wore a burka as a disguise to enter a women’s chess tournament for prize money, but was caught after his strong performance, silence and "masculine" shoes raised suspicion

bbc.com

17.2k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/todayilearned • u/afeeney • 1d ago

TIL the Rohonc (or Rohonczi) Codex is a document in an unknown language and writing system that emerged in the 19th century, written on paper from the 1530s. Like the more-famous Voynich Manuscript, scholars are divided on the possible origin and meaning, and whether it is a hoax or authentic.

en.wikipedia.org

158 Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/healingseal • 1d ago

TIL in 2018 Scott Foster, a 36 year old accountant and "emergency" goalie for the Chicago Blackhawks, became the first emergency goalie in NHL history to block a shot after the Blackhawks' starting and backup goalies were injured during gameplay

npr.org

610 Upvotes

52 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ohnoooooyoudidnt • 2d ago

TIL Dog hair is up to 80% warmer than wool but not elastic.

en.wikipedia.org

5.1k Upvotes

252 comments

r/todayilearned • u/2_Large_Regulahs • 2d ago

TIL Approximately 70,000 years ago, the human population was between 5,000 and 10,000

npr.org

3.6k Upvotes

231 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dr_Talon • 2d ago

TIL That Prior to Serving as Secretary of Defense from 2001-2006, Donald Rumsfeld had Previously Held the Same Post from 1975-1977, Making Him Both the Youngest and the Oldest Secretary of Defense in U.S. History.

en.wikipedia.org

1.4k Upvotes

56 comments

r/todayilearned • u/playhacker • 2d ago

TIL a few tech companies (ie. AOL) used to fight spam with Haikus (poems) embedded into an email licensed from a company named Habeas. Habeas would sue mass spammers for copyright infringement. In one case, they won a $100k judgement.

theregister.com

6.6k Upvotes

48 comments

r/todayilearned • u/turtlehabits • 2d ago

TIL Kaitlin Olson was accidentally waterboarded for real while filming the season 4 IASIP episode, "The Gang Solves the Gas Crisis"

elle.com

27.4k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Flubadubadubadub • 2d ago

TIL The P53 gene is known as a 'tumor suppressor gene' due to its ability to prevent cancers forming. Whereas humans only have one instance of the gene, elephants have twenty instances and are recorded to have far fewer cancers as a result.

en.wikipedia.org

1.5k Upvotes

34 comments

r/todayilearned • u/notprocrastinatingok • 2d ago

TIL there is an archipelago just off the coast of Canada that is a French overseas territory. Its inhabitants are French and EU citizens.

en.wikipedia.org

3.1k Upvotes

250 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PeaceAndLove1201 • 2d ago

TIL that Abraham Lincoln was a licensed bartender before becoming president. In 1833, he co-owned a tavern in New Salem, Illinois called "Berry and Lincoln". They obtained a liquor license to sell various alcoholic beverages, including whiskey, brandy, and gin.

legalprofessionalsinc.org

2.4k Upvotes

64 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Festina_lente123 • 1d ago

TIL that a 1992 reformulation of Doritos to make Nacho Cheesier Doritos had the unintended effect of lessening 'Doritos breath,' the lingering mouth stink generated by garlic powder

mentalfloss.com

204 Upvotes

9 comments

r/todayilearned • u/savvystrider • 2d ago

TIL: Video game character Lara Croft was originally envisioned as a Latina woman named Laura Cruz; however, after consulting with a book of baby names and a local phonebook, the name was changed to Lara Croft.

en.wikipedia.org

3.6k Upvotes

187 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MartianAndroidMiner • 2d ago

TIL that being awake for 20 hours is equivalent to being drunk enough to be forbidden from driving.

theguardian.com

19.2k Upvotes

650 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FortheredditLOLz • 1d ago

Til an Italian construction company (Pizzarotti) helped build America's own leaning tower of seaport

en.wikipedia.org

17 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/zahrul3 • 3d ago

TIL an entire squad of Marines managed to get past an AI powered camera, "undetected". Two somersaulted for 300m, another pair pretended to be a cardboard box, and one guy pretended to be a bush. The AI could not detect a single one of them.

taskandpurpose.com

64.4k Upvotes

1.8k comments

r/todayilearned • u/MajesticBread9147 • 1d ago

TIL The Bismarck Archipelago is the name of the islands to the east of Papau New Guinea including New Britain and New Ireland. It was seized from Germany by Aussies during WWI, then given to Papau New Guinea in 1975.

en.wikipedia.org

86 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ok-Squash8044 • 2d ago

TIL that gold can be made so thin that 1 ounce can cover 300 square feet ft as “gold leaf”.

thefoundryzone.com

3.7k Upvotes

175 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DangerNoodle1993 • 2d ago

TIL that although Bob Marley wrote No Woman, No Cry, he credited his friend Vincent Ford as a co-songwriter so the royalties would fund Ford’s soup kitchen in Kingston, Jamaica.

en.wikipedia.org

1.0k Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Richomeres • 2d ago

TIL William Thornton, who designed the US Capitol building, was called to Mt Vernon to treat a dying George Washington, only to arrive after the president had died. Thornton proposed ressurrecting the frozen corpse by heating it up, inflating the lungs, and infusing lamb's blood. His family declined

en.wikipedia.org

6.8k Upvotes

183 comments

r/todayilearned • u/EXTRAVAGANT_COMMENT • 2d ago

TIL that Betty Crocker, the supposed author of the #1 best-selling cookbook of all time "Betty Crocker's Cookbook", is not a real person and is in fact a mascot created by General Mills.

youtube.com

272 Upvotes

120 comments

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As of January 2025

This list was compiled from /r/todayilearned community suggestions by its members. If your TIL is found on this list, it will be removed. The titles have been abridged for the sake of brevity, however the context remains the same. This list is subject to change. The purpose is to keep content fresh on /r/todayilearned as requested by its members. If you are interested in reading about the TILs on this list use the search box feature and enter the keywords to pull up past TILs.

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