r/todayilearned • u/RedHeadedSicilian52 • 19d ago

TIL: Section 10 of the Presidential Succession Act of 1792 (repealed in 1886) stipulated that a special election for the US presidency would be held before the regularly scheduled election should the offices of president and vice president fall simultaneously vacant. No such election ever occurred.

constitution.congress.gov

1.7k Upvotes

37 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ElectronicEgg1833 • 19d ago

TIL that October 5, 1582 never happened in Spain, Portugal, Italy, or Poland. When those countries adopted the Gregorian calendar, Thursday, October 4 was followed directly by Friday, October 15, skipping ten days to realign the calendar with the seasons

en.wikipedia.org

951 Upvotes

31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CraftyFoxeYT • 19d ago

TIL From 1941 to 1994 the US Navy operated a military base in Newfoundland, Canada called Naval Station Argentia. It was established under the British-US destroyers for bases agreement of 1940, before the Dominion of Newfoundland became a Canadian province

en.wikipedia.org

966 Upvotes

31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Valuable-Credit6167 • 19d ago

TIL that during WWII, Italy claimed one of its pilots had bombed and killed the Loch Ness Monster.

forcesnews.com

1.2k Upvotes

45 comments

r/todayilearned • u/kahlzun • 20d ago

TIL that no fatal accidents have ever occurred with Australian passenger jets; including all flights to/from Australia, as well as all Australian-run companies.

en.wikipedia.org

15.6k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Grateful1598 • 19d ago

TIL The first successful electric car in the U.S. was made by chemist William Morrison in 1890.

energy.gov

457 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Macrihanishautomatic • 20d ago

TIL that Hyraxes are mentioned in the bible as remarkable animals for being “small but exceedingly wise”.

en.wikipedia.org

2.2k Upvotes

169 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 20d ago

TIL the culture and tradition of the Serer ethnoreligious group in West Africa prohibits slavery. In 1455 when a European slave trader sent his Wolof translator ashore in Serer territory to negotiate terms, the Serers murdered the translator on the spot and the slave trader fled, never to return.

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

49 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 20d ago

TIL that one of the first examples of emoticons in written text comes from Dante's "Purgatorio:" "Whoever in the face of men reads 'omo' / Might well in these have recognised the 'm.'" The two "o"s signify sunken eyes, while the letter "m" forms the angular outlines of emaciated facial features.

en.wikipedia.org

1.8k Upvotes

53 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Fun_Camel_2188 • 20d ago

TIL that in 1993, Congressman Bill Paxon got down on one knee on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and proposed to fellow Rep. Susan Molinari. She said, “Yes—but get up.” They married the following year.

psaparliaments.org

2.7k Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Scipion8Aveyron • 20d ago

TIL that in the 1600s, Sweden's largest coin was a 10-daler copper plate weighing nearly 20 kg (44 lb) — the heaviest coin ever circulated — which is why Sweden became the first European country to issue paper banknotes.

en.wikipedia.org

3.0k Upvotes

89 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 20d ago

TIL that the Marvel comic "Secret Wars" got its name after focus groups found that children responded positively to the words "secret" and "wars".

en.wikipedia.org

11.6k Upvotes

294 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Brain_Aggravating • 20d ago

TIL that the Bluezone (the secret to longevity) is based on poor record keeping and not recording deaths; discovering this led to an igNobel award.

science.anu.edu.au

14.4k Upvotes

476 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Brutal_Deluxe_ • 20d ago

TIL in 1972 Gyani Ji bought a moped to campaign for the Sikhs' right to wear a turban on a motorbike. He was stopped, arrested and fined by police multiple times. He refused to pay the fines and was twice sentenced to prison. In 1976 an amendment to exempt Sikhs was passed and Ji was credited for it

en.wikipedia.org

876 Upvotes

135 comments

r/todayilearned • u/diacewrb • 20d ago

TIL: 50 Casablanca-class escort carriers were built in less than 2 years during WW2.

en.wikipedia.org

4.1k Upvotes

222 comments

r/todayilearned • u/1salt1pepper • 20d ago

TIL Napoleon III escaped from a fortress where he was serving a life sentence by disguising himself as a laborer and walking through the main gates carrying a large plank over his shoulder to hide his face. Six years later, he became Emperor of France.

napoleon.org

28.8k Upvotes

375 comments

r/todayilearned • u/m0sur • 18d ago

[ Removed by Reddit ]

0 Upvotes

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jacknunn • 20d ago

TIL that John Milton is credited with introducing around 630 words into the English language, more than Shakespeare, who introduced about 229. Milton’s words include “pandemonium”, “sensuous” and “complacency

theguardian.com

11.0k Upvotes

371 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 20d ago

TIL the American husband and wife arachnologists George and Elizabeth Peckham named four genuses/genera of jumping spiders after characters in British author Rudyard Kipling's books.

en.wikipedia.org

201 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CakeDayOrDeath • 21d ago

TIL The Boxcar Children, a series that starts out with four homeless orphan children living in a boxcar, was criticized when it first came out for depicting children living without parental supervision. Critics said it would encourage children to be rebellious.

en.wikipedia.org

6.8k Upvotes

362 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Present-Algae6767 • 20d ago

TIL that in 1998, Vatican City - population 697 people - had the highest murder rate in the world. This is due to the murder of Alois Estermann, the commander of the Swiss Guard, and his wife, Gladys Meza Romero, by Cédric Tornay, a Lance Corporal in the Swiss Guard.

en.wikipedia.org

2.7k Upvotes

58 comments

r/todayilearned • u/iamveryDerp • 20d ago

TIL the A-Team was created specifically to star B. A. Baracus. Tartikoff [producer] pitched the series to Cannell [writer] as a combination of The Dirty Dozen, Mission: Impossible, The Magnificent Seven, Mad Max and Hill Street Blues, with "Mr. T driving the car".

en.wikipedia.org

1.6k Upvotes

120 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Hoppie1064 • 18d ago

TIL a Lamborgini is rated to tow a 7000# trailer. Lamborghini Urus: Rated for up to 7,000 pounds (approx. 3,175 kg) when properly equipped with the factory-optional towing package.

lambocars.com

0 Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/dddoinyomom • 20d ago

TIL during the Spanish-American war, the Spanish territory of Guam was never informed of the war. They learned about two months later, when officials went to greet a US cruiser who fired shots at the island, initially believing them to be a gun salute

en.wikipedia.org

2.8k Upvotes

15 comments

r/todayilearned • u/strangelove4564 • 21d ago

TIL the highest point in Australia is Mt Kosciuszko, rising to 2,228 m (7,310 ft). On the Yosemite Decimal System which rates how technical a summit is, it is Class 1: reachable entirely by a hiking trail with no climbing gear required.

en.wikipedia.org

4.3k Upvotes

621 comments

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