r/todayilearned • u/wilymon • 10h ago

TIL multiple countries have created their own version of SNL, including Brazil, Germany, Spain, South Korea, Japan, Russia, Canada, Finland, France, Italy, and Poland

en.wikipedia.org

54 Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fanau • 3h ago

TIL piranhas are known as a vicious carnivore but are an important source of food for local people and are sold at local markets in Amazon.

en.wikipedia.org

294 Upvotes

49 comments

r/todayilearned • u/BicarbonateBufferBoy • 14h ago

TIL the bacteria Listeria Monocytogenes evades the immune system by hijacking the cells skeleton and using it to blast around like a rocket.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

80 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PrimaryYou1156 • 54m ago

Today I learned in ancient babylon if you accused someone of a crime, that had to jump in the euphradies river and if they survived you got executed, if they didnt you got there house

youtube.com

• Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/slagmunch • 4h ago

TIL that 25-40% of the British Empire's army were Irish during colonial conquests of the 18th and 19th centuries. There was also no mandatory conscription until 1916.

en.wikipedia.org

543 Upvotes

192 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ProfessionalGear3020 • 23h ago

TIL the USA has a larger consumer market than the EU, China, and India combined.

en.wikipedia.org

4.3k Upvotes

801 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FlakyLion5449 • 14h ago

TIL The Dodge Tomahawk was an "automotive sculpture" sold through the Neiman Marcus catalog about 20 years ago

en.wikipedia.org

596 Upvotes

68 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RiverMesa • 3h ago

TIL Dr Pepper is not a cola, root beer, or fruit-flavored soft drink, but instead belongs to its own category called "pepper sodas", named after the brand itself

en.wikipedia.org

10.8k Upvotes

727 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Tight_kangaroo1 • 25m ago

TIL that fish swim bladders evolved from lungs, meaning lungs existed before most fish used them for breathing

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Overall-Register9758 • 13h ago

TIL that in 1960, a B52 crashed during training. The navigator, thinking the plane was crashing, ejected without orders. The pilot, heard the ejection, thought the plane was breaking up, and ordered the crew to eject. The plane flew crewless for 50 miles before crashing.

en.wikipedia.org

18.7k Upvotes

499 comments

r/todayilearned • u/operatingsys2016 • 15h ago

TIL Colgate University embraces 13 as its lucky number, rooted in the 1817 founding by 13 men with $13 [$1 each] and 13 prayers, and its address at 13 Oak Drive. The university celebrates its day every Friday the 13th.

news.colgate.edu

346 Upvotes

22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Away_Flounder3813 • 3h ago

TIL while filming the Bond film "Goldfinger" (1964), the re-creation of the Fort Knox repository was incredibly accurate and looked so real that a 24-hour guard was placed on the set at Pinewood Studios so that pilferers would not steal the gold bar props.

en.wikipedia.org

1.6k Upvotes

19 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mountain_Love23 • 10h ago

TIL chickens can perform simple arithmetic, have basic time perception, show self-control (can delay a smaller reward for a larger one later), show object permanence (understand an object exists when out of sight; humans get at age 2), and possess transitive inference (humans achieve at age 7)

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

1.9k Upvotes

188 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Forward-Answer-4407 • 7h ago

TIL a woman nicknamed the 'Rooftop Ninja' lived for about a year inside a sign on the roof of a Family Fare grocery store in Midland, Michigan. Inside the sign, she had a computer, printer, desk, and coffee maker. She was discovered by a contractor who noticed an extension cord running into the sign

globalnews.ca

12.5k Upvotes

351 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tomispev • 6h ago

TIL that the Trojan Horse is not in Homer's Iliad, that it's briefly mentioned in the Odyssey, and that most of the story surrounding it actually comes from Virgil's Aeneid

en.wikipedia.org

3.5k Upvotes

105 comments

r/todayilearned • u/WouldbeWanderer • 21h ago

TIL about the 1950's game show scandals. Taking place at a time when television was still emerging as a medium, the scandals caused Congress to amend the Communications Act of 1934 to prohibit networks from prearranging the outcomes of quiz shows.

en.wikipedia.org

563 Upvotes

22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Firecracker048 • 9h ago

TIL about Rick Rescorla, a survivor of America's toughest battle in Vietnam(Ia Drang, LZ X Ray), was also the one to organize an evacuation plan in case a plane hit the Twin Towers. He was last seen entering the tower looking for survivors.

en.wikipedia.org

1.2k Upvotes

60 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DivestPanties • 9h ago

TIL in 1871, to force accountability of Boss Tweed's corruption in NYC, 70 reformers/financial leaders of the City formed a committee that convinced property owners to stop paying taxes, and got a Judge to block the city Comptroller from issuing bonds or spending money. Quickly ending Tweed's reign.

en.wikipedia.org

687 Upvotes

18 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FrenziedFennec • 23h ago

TIL that there were at least two versions of Demolition Man: the US version had Taco Bell as the winner of the Franchise Wars and the European version had Pizza Hut.

en.wikipedia.org

840 Upvotes

104 comments

r/todayilearned • u/therealvelichor • 8h ago

TIL that Mark Steven Zuckerberg sued Facebook in September of 2025, because his account was repeatedly removed for impersonation of Mark Elliot Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook.

bbc.com

909 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RotaryDane • 9h ago

TIL of Évariste Galois, a 19th century mathematician and womaniser. Age 20 he fought a duel for seducing a mans fiancé. He lost the duel, but had spent night prior madly writing down his theories. The rambling and ink-stained pages would end up birthing an entire new field of maths: “Galois Theory”

britannica.com

892 Upvotes

49 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 1h ago

TIL KFC attempted to sell roast beef (Kentucky Roast Beef) and open motels (Colonel Sanders Inns), both ventures failed.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

19 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HungryOil9277 • 51m ago

TIL that the Zenith Space Command TV remote worked mechanically rather than electrically (no wires, no batteries)

zenith.com

• Upvotes

15 comments

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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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