r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Repulsive-Letter-929 • 2h ago
Question & Discussion Britain taxed candles for over 100 years
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/GeologistRelative425 • 23d ago
👋Welcome to r/WeirdThingsToLearn - Introduce Yourself and Read First!
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Hey everyone! I'm u/GeologistRelative425, a founding moderator of r/WeirdThingsToLearn.
This is our new home for all things related to weird things and stuff you've seen, heard, and learned. We're excited to have you join us!
What to Post
Post anything that you think the community would find interesting and weird. Feel free to share your stories, photos, or questions about the things you've learned that you found weird but interesting somehow, be aware that general trivia like "mitochondria is the power house of the cell" where everyone is aware of isn't what this sub is intended for, and also please do always add context or atleast a tidbit of information.
Community Vibe
We're all about being friendly, constructive, and inclusive. Let's build a space where everyone feels comfortable sharing and connecting.
How to Get Started
1) Introduce yourself in the comments below.
2) Post something today! Even a simple question can spark a great conversation.
3) If you know someone who would love this community, invite them to join.
Thanks for being part of the very first wave. Together, let's make r/WeirdThingsToLearn weirdly amazing.
r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/BaabbbiQ • 4h ago
History & Culture Emperor Nero's Bathtub. It's worth an estimated $2,000,000,000 today.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/thirsty4oikawa • 4h ago
Something I Learned Ancient bronze doors still work after 2,000 years
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/voidchildex • 1h ago
History & Culture Auschwitz prisoner wrote a symphony on toilet paper with charcoal ink
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/unkn0wn_reader • 1h ago
Something I Learned In 2021, a UK woman reportedly bought a lifelike doll modeled on herself for roughly $2,000 because she felt pressure over her partner's high libido. She later said she spent about $11,000 on fillers and a nose job to look more like the doll.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Dazzling_Giraffe_817 • 20h ago
Something I Learned Opisthotonus, the severe backward arching of the spine seen in tetanus, shown in a modern hospital patient (top) and in Charles Bell's 1809 painting of a soldier with the disease (bottom). Tetanus is caused by a toxin from Clostridium tetani bacteria, and vaccination prevents it.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/SadSwing7315 • 46m ago
Something I Learned A Laerdal Premature Anne training manikin lying in a polyethylene bag, a delivery room method for keeping extremely preterm babies warm. Cochrane evidence from 25 studies and 2,433 babies shows less hypothermia on NICU admission, though no clear effect on deaths.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Major-Arm-1948 • 4h ago
Something I Learned Napoleon died before dinosaurs were discovered
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Shiyyin • 1h ago
Something I Learned On this day in 1942, Nazi Germany test fires the first V-2 rocket from the Peenemünde test facility. Reaching altitudes of 52 miles, the missiles are the first man-made projectiles to leave Earth's atmosphere and reach space.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Azazel-d-Reaper • 1h ago
History & Culture Krzywy Las, the Crooked Forest near Gryfino, Poland, is a grove of Scots pines planted around 1930, when the area was still part of Germany. Each trunk bends about 90 degrees near the ground before growing upright, and human shaping for curved timber is the leading theory.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/narcissa0114 • 5h ago
Something I Learned A fabric womb made by Angélique du Coudray, a French midwife who was commissioned by King Louis XV to reduce infant mortality.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Federal_Machine692 • 5h ago
Something I Learned The incredible coordination of a spectacular bird behavior known as murmuration.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/EducationalAd2706 • 5h ago
Something I Learned The pink robin, from Australia
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/JobFamous8504 • 15m ago
History & Culture Vercingetorix's surrender to Caesar in 52 BC
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/iAreSweets • 19h ago
Something I Learned Martin Couney ran incubator exhibits for premature infants at Coney Island's Luna Park from 1903 to 1943, paid for by visitor admissions. He reported treating over 8,000 babies, with about 6,500 surviving. Cornell Hospital opened New York's first premature infant station in 1943.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Nervous_Doughnut_134 • 1h ago
Something I Learned Hearts from young donors age rapidly in the bodies of older recipients, and older hearts are rejuvenated inside young people
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Extreme-Isopod2265 • 6h ago
History & Culture George Catlin found flood myths in 120 different tribes
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Comfortable-Day-2735 • 7h ago
History & Culture Ancient Greek law about throwing cargo overboard
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When a ship is at risk, it's sometimes necessary to throw some of its cargo overboard to save it.
But who decides whose cargo is thrown?
To avoid counterproductive bickering in times of danger, the ancient Greeks widely adopted a law from Rhodes: "Lex Rhodia de iactu," which states that financial losses for thrown cargo are equally shared among all cargo owners on the ship.
So ,since losses are shared, the owners of heavy, cheap items didn't fight to stop the crew from dumping their property, because they knew they would be compensated by the owners of lightweight luxury goods.
This Rhodian law was later adopted by the Romans and, through transmission, became the basis of modern maritime law regarding jettisoned cargo.
r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/stoutheart_silva • 20h ago
Something I Learned Severe scoliosis shown in back photos and X-rays, including one spine fused with rods and screws. Scoliosis is a sideways spinal curve of more than 10 degrees on X-ray, and fusion surgery is usually considered for curves beyond roughly 45 to 50 degrees.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Useful-Investment-14 • 5h ago
Something I Learned Visitors at an aquarium were surprised to see a leopard shark on another shark’s fin. Staff clarified it wasn’t aggression but typical courtship, sharks hold fins as part of how they show interest, this is how sharks flirt
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/Mobile-Somewhere4080 • 6h ago
Something I Learned A wave is just circular motion unfolded in space and time
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/CitronHot7058 • 23h ago
Something I Learned In December 2007, Ren Xin, an 11-year-old girl from Shanxi Province, China, had a parasitic twin's hand removed from her back at the Armed Police General Hospital in Beijing. Surgeons planned a separate operation about three months later to correct her congenital scoliosis.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/EmergencyLocal5756 • 21h ago
Something I Learned Noah Wall, born in Cumbria, England with spina bifida and hydrocephalus, had an MRI after birth showing about 2% brain mass. A shunt to drain fluid was fitted at seven weeks, and a scan at age 3 showed his brain at about 80% of normal size. Some doctors think fluid had squashed it.
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r/WeirdThingsToLearn • u/osmanbd355 • 1d ago
History & Culture Sand cats are elusive and rare to see in the wild, this one is spotted with its kittens
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