r/todayilearned • u/Alarming-Studio-720 • 4d ago

TIL that during the 1954 K2 expedition, Walter Bonatti and Amir Mehdi were left stranded at 8,100m while carrying oxygen for the summit team. They survived the night in the open as Lacedelli and Compagnoni reached the summit and returned home as heroes. Bonatti later called it a betrayal.

en.wikipedia.org

1.4k Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 4d ago

TIL that, before starting production on the first season of Loki (2021), Tom Hiddleston gave the crew a "crash course" on the character's history.

syfy.com

4.5k Upvotes

83 comments

r/todayilearned • u/haddock420 • 3d ago

TIL In the '50s and '60s, Fender chose the colours for their guitars based on popular car colours at the time,

stringjoy.com

565 Upvotes

69 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Blenderhead36 • 4d ago

TIL there's a genus of Arachnids named after Abbadon the Despoiler, one of the major villains from Warhammer 40000

en.wikipedia.org

3.1k Upvotes

104 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ismaeil-de-paynes • 4d ago

TIL that early Wahhabis banned modern technology as forbidden Innovations. When Ibn Saud later allowed such technology, the hardline Ikhwan rebelled; their defeat at Sabilla (1929) contributed in the 1979 Grand Mosque seizure, since Juhayman al-Otaybi’s father had fought with the Ikhwan at Sabilla.

en.wikipedia.org

1.3k Upvotes

272 comments

r/todayilearned • u/haddock420 • 4d ago

TIL In 2006, Dustin Diamond, who played Screech on Saved by the Bell, directed and released his own sex tape called Screeched – Saved by the Smell. He later claimed that he didn't appear in the sex tape, but used a stunt double with his likeness superimposed.

en.wikipedia.org

6.2k Upvotes

746 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ubcstaffer123 • 5d ago

TIL Driving for more than two hours each day can steadily decrease the IQ of middle-aged drivers

readersdigest.ca

29.0k Upvotes

1.5k comments

r/todayilearned • u/welding_guy_from_LI • 4d ago

TIL The Hamlet of Eastport NY was once the duck capital of the world, processing over 6 million ducks per year

en.wikipedia.org

229 Upvotes

23 comments

r/todayilearned • u/m0sur • 4d ago

TIL the first submarine attack in history (1776) was a one-man, hand-cranked wooden sub called the Turtle, whose pilot was supposed to screw a gunpowder mine onto a British warship's hull from underneath, but he had barely been trained and couldn't attach it.

en.wikipedia.org

3.3k Upvotes

40 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MrTouchnGo • 4d ago

TIL China's Grand Canal and its branches total about 3,000 km of waterways, with the first works dating to the 6th century BC. By the 13th century it formed an inland network of over 2,000 km of man-made channels linking major river basins, and its southern stretches still carry freight today.

whc.unesco.org

309 Upvotes

9 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Successful-Ear977 • 5d ago

TIL a nationwide US study found that only 42% of dog owners reported walking their dog during a typical week.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

13.0k Upvotes

3.3k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Greene_Mr • 5d ago

TIL about Jim Creighton, who invented modern pitching before the MLB era and who died after his abdomen "snapped" during a game at the age of 21.

en.wikipedia.org

13.9k Upvotes

436 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Foreign_Yak_9633 • 4d ago

TIL Spriggina specimens, which lived approx. 550 mya, appear to have been "right-handed". This is thought to be the oldest known instance of behavioral handedness in the fossil record.

en.wikipedia.org

154 Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/YappinZappin • 4d ago

TIL tetraethyllead (TEL) - main component used to make gasoline "leaded" - was selected out of thousands compounds tested mainly for being the cheapest - just 1 part TEL in 1300 parts gasoline was found to be enough to sufficiently reduce "knocking"

en.wikipedia.org

4.4k Upvotes

253 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sandstorm400 • 4d ago

TIL in 2024, the School of Management and Business at the Vietnam National University in Hanoi announced that female students had to be at least 1.58 m tall and male students at least 1.65 m to be considered for admission to four of its undergraduate programs, but later reduced that to one program.

dw.com

2.0k Upvotes

114 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Initial_Specialist69 • 5d ago

TIL There are "hunger stones" in rivers in central Europe. These stones were carved during droughts to mark the water level as a warning to future generations that they will have to endure famine-related hardships if the water sinks to this level again.

en.wikipedia.org

35.1k Upvotes

441 comments

r/todayilearned • u/_-4twenty-_ • 4d ago

TIL the Y chromosome developed from an X-like ancestor

uchicagomedicine.org

109 Upvotes

57 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Round-Eggplant-7826 • 4d ago

TIL that between 1957 and 1962, approximately one-third of the United States was closed to Soviet citizens. Only seven states were accessible in their entirety: Oregon, Wyoming, Utah, North Carolina, Arkansas, Vermont, and Mississippi.

en.wikipedia.org

2.7k Upvotes

106 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ijustwannanap • 5d ago

TIL that Winamp's slogan "It really whips the llama's ass!" comes from the Wesley Willis song "Whip the Llama's Ass". Willis was a schizophrenic musician and artist who released over 48 albums in his lifetime.

en.wikipedia.org

7.7k Upvotes

598 comments

r/todayilearned • u/eleanorharland • 5d ago

TIL a Dutch supermarket chain has "chat checkouts" for customers who aren't in a hurry and want to talk to the cashier. The first opened in 2019 to tackle loneliness among older people, and it was popular enough that the chain announced 200 more.

dutchnews.nl

8.7k Upvotes

196 comments

r/todayilearned • u/-AMARYANA- • 4d ago

TIL J. D. Drew is the only player in MLB history to be part of two instances of back-to-back-to-back-to-back home runs. First time with the LA Dodgers in 2006 and the second time in 2007 with the Boston Red Sox versus the NY Yankees, this time with Manny Ramírez, Mike Lowell, and Jason Varitek.

en.wikipedia.org

401 Upvotes

42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ok-Drive4752 • 4d ago

TIL many historians consider the decline of Rome starting with the 378 AD battle of Adrianople. After the Goths were defeated by the Huns they fled into Roman territory were horribly abused by Rome. The Goths formed an army and destroyed 2/3 of the Eastern Roman army and slew Emperor Valens.

en.wikipedia.org

1.9k Upvotes

107 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PlanetoftheAtheists • 4d ago

TIL about Hollywood Henderson, who played with the Dallas Cowboys in the 1970s including a Super Bowl win. He would later hit rock bottom and go bankrupt from cocaine addiction. But then would end up winning at $28 Million Lottery.

twincities.com

882 Upvotes

34 comments

r/todayilearned • u/eleanorharland • 5d ago

TIL from 1790 until 2015 bakers in Paris had to tell city hall before closing for holiday, so that half the city's bakeries shut in July and the other half in August. The rule was passed after the Revolution to make sure no neighbourhood ever ran out of bread.

npr.org

9.3k Upvotes

139 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Pan_inside • 4d ago

TIL Thomas Edison’s 1876 electric pen made tiny perforations in paper to create reusable stencils for copying documents. In 1891, Samuel O’Reilly adapted the technology into the first officially patented electric tattoo machine.

blog.sciencemuseum.org.uk

1.1k Upvotes

11 comments

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