r/todayilearned 8h ago

TIL that Channel 5 was the only major UK television channel not to broadcast Queen Elizabeth II's funeral - they aired The Emoji Movie instead

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33.7k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 12h ago

TIL the earliest known account of Christianity from a non-Christian source is a letter (112 AD) of Pliny the Younger to Emperor Trajan, asking for advice on dealing with a new and 'extravagant superstition' that had spread to several cities in Northern Turkey.

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5.9k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 3h ago

TIL: One in four American cowboys were black

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588 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 17h ago

TIL in 1972 Don Rickles mocked mobster Joe Gallo onstage and after the show Gallo invited Rickles to Umbertos Clam House, to which he declined. A firefight erupted at Umbertos later that night, killing Gallo.

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6.9k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 13h ago

TIL that when he was 18 years old and Crown Prince, Frederick the Great was forced by his father to watch the beheading of his close companion (and possible lover) Hans von Katte after the two attempted to escape together to England.

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2.2k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 20h ago

TIL In October 1809 Friedrich Staps attempted to assassinate Napoleon but was captured. Napoleon himself interrogated the would be assassin. On the possibility of being pardoned Staps said, ‘I would notwithstanding seize the first opportunity of taking your life.’ and he was executed on the 17th.

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4.9k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 10h ago

TIL that 75% of the images in Ikea's product catalogue were computer generated...in 2014

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414 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 14h ago

TIL about Jackie Mitchell, a 17-year-old female pitcher for the Chattanooga Lookouts Class AA minor league baseball team. During an exhibition game against the New York Yankees in 1931, Mitchell struck out both Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession.

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750 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 13h ago

TIL: Lake Poopo completely dried up after the water level in Lake Titicaca could no longer support feeding into Poopo

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595 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1d ago

TIL The first person clinically diagnosed with Autism is still alive. Donald Grey Triplett who is 89 years old.

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51.6k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 13h ago

TIL Wensleydale cheese was about to go out of production in the 1990s when it was featured at random in the Wallace and Gromit shorts and movie

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521 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 3h ago

TIL Early Superman comics taught kids how to achieve super-strength through exercises in lifting armchairs, getting a super-grip, and achieving super-vision by glancing at distant and near objects repeatedly

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70 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1d ago

TIL: Thanks to poor internal communication at NASA, information about a spacesuit water leak wasn't properly communicated. Later, Astronaut Luca Parmitano almost drowned on a July, 2013 ISS space walk, his helmet filling with several liters of water before they could get him back inside.

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3.4k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 10h ago

TIL that in the early Middle Ages the Scots, originating in Ireland, colonised what is now Scotland and replaced the native Britons and Picts.

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257 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 2h ago

TIL Anne Frank wrote four dirty jokes in her diary, which she later papered over so they weren’t discovered by researchers until 2018.

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56 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 21h ago

TIL, the placenta that forms with a fetus isn't created by the mother. It grows from the fertilized egg and some fetuses actually develop outside the uterus attached to the intestines in the body cavity.

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1.8k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 3h ago

TIL: In the Led Zeppelin song Kashmir, the guitar parts are in 3/4 time while the drums are in 4/4 time

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56 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 6h ago

TIL: Certain US college athletes can buy insurance to protect against future loss of earnings as a pro due to disabling injury during college

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99 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 8h ago

TIL That the Hallway (as an architectural feature) was first recorded in 1597

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126 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 5h ago

TIL of the ancient city of Benin in Nigeria. It’s walls stretched 4x the length of the Great Wall of China. Unfortunately it was sacked by the British in the late 19th Century and there’s almost nothing left

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72 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 17h ago

TIL about the Angel Makers of Nagyrév. A group of women who killed at least 50-300 people(depends on your source). In the early stages it was to save women from abusive husbands.

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689 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 16h ago

TIL that the Adventures of Pinocchio was originally published in weekly instalments in an Italian Children's magazine. It was cancelled after 15 chapters, but due to popular demand from readers the series returned and was given a proper conclusion. The stories were then collected as a novel in 1883.

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503 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 6h ago

TIL about John Surratt, who fled America following his assistance in the Assassination of Abraham Lincoln. He served with the Pontifical Zouaves in the Papal States before being recognized and was sent back to the U.S. He was released following a mistrial.

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70 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1d ago

TIL the phrase "pulling out all the stops" is derived from pipe organs, which have many levers called 'stops' which allow the organist to control the volume and timbre of different pipes. Pulling out all the stops would result in the loudest, most comprehensive sound.

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6.0k Upvotes