25 fresh facts from the series “Today I learned” (26 photos)

Here's a list of fascinating and fun facts that members of the Today I Learned subreddit have recently shared. It's always interesting to know something new!





1. The Irish Supreme Court does not classify Subway bread as bread, but classifies it as muffins due to sugar content.



2. The judges at Wimbledon learned a huge number of swear words in different languages in order to mark and fine any athlete who violated the “no swearing” rule.





3. Alice Kober Helped Decipher the Ancient Greek Writing System Known as Linear B



For 20 years, she meticulously recorded the results of her research, amassing a collection of 180,000 index cards. The writing was deciphered in 1952, shortly after her death. It remains the only Bronze Age Aegean script that can still be read today.

4. William Wrigley initially offered free baking powder as a gift with his soap, but the powder turned out to be more popular



Then he switched to selling the powder and added gum sticks as gifts. Chewing gum became incredibly popular, forcing him to make the switch and become the world's leading gum manufacturer.

5. About 100,000 people die every year in India due to the decline in the vulture population.



Vultures play a vital role in the ecosystem, and their near extinction due to accidental poisoning has led to an increase in the number of carcasses in the local environment, an increase in rabies and a decrease in water quality.

6. Many people hear voices and music in white noise. This phenomenon is known as auditory pareidolia or musical ear syndrome.



7. Birds can breed



More than 90% of bird species form socially monogamous pairs, but they can break these bonds by mating with another partner after a so-called “divorce.” The frequency of divorce increases with the increase in the “promiscuity” of males and the distance of migration.

8. Horses became extinct in North America about 10,000 years ago. They were then reintroduced to the continent by the Spanish in the 1550s



9. Of the five known assassination attempts on Elizabeth II, the closest to success was carried out by a 17-year-old New Zealander.



He shot her with a .22 caliber rifle, but missed so badly that no one even realized the shots had been fired.

10. Due to very poor consumer reviews and negative press attention, Haribo discontinued sugar-free gummy bears in 2014.



The composition included maltitol, a sugar alcohol that is not completely absorbed and is fermented in the intestines. It can cause increased flatulence, loose stools and diarrhea.

11. More than 98% of Korean households have a special refrigerator for kimchi.



12. In some countries, camouflage clothing is prohibited for civilians



13. From the 1950s to the 1970s, attempts were made to establish bus services between London and India



The trip took about 50 days, cost more than a hundred pounds, and the buses had separate sleeping places and even a kitchen.

14. Until 2001, Disneyland employees were given underwear along with their costumes because regular underwear would bunch up and become visible.



After several outbreaks of pubic lice, performers turned to the Teamsters union, and Disney finally agreed to have workers wear their own underpants.

15. Saturn’s moon Titan contains hundreds of times more liquid hydrocarbons than all known oil and natural gas reserves on Earth



16. The world's largest kidney stone, removed from a patient from Sri Lanka, weighed 757.5 g and broke two world records



17. There is a rare disease called Epidermodysplasia Verruciformis, which causes people's skin to turn into tree-like bark with warts caused by HPV.



Also known as tree-man disease, the disease is inherited when a person inherits one copy of the defective gene from each parent.

18. China consumes the most salt per capita by a wide margin.



19. Sigmund Freud dissected hundreds of eels in search of male genital organs



He was forced to admit failure in his first major published scientific work, and in frustration turned to other problems.

20. Otto von Bismarck posthumously insulted Wilhelm II by ordering the words “Loyal German servant of Emperor Wilhelm I” to be inscribed on his sarcophagus.



21. Psychiatrist Henry Cotton sometimes removed all of a patient’s teeth because he believed that mental illness was caused by infected teeth.



If this did not help, he removed the testicles, ovaries, gall bladder, stomach, spleen, cervix and colon.

22. Deborah Sampson (born 1760) disguised herself as a man to join the Continental Army as Robert Shirtliff and fought in the American Revolutionary War.



She was shot twice, but, fearing that someone would find out her secret, she removed one bullet with a pocketknife and carried the second in her leg all her life.

23. Isha, known as the “last wild Indian,” is not his real name.



In Yahi culture, you cannot say your name until another Yahi introduces it. When this Indian was asked what his name was, he said: “I have no name because there were no people who could give it to me.”

24. The US Federal Witness Protection Program has a 100% success rate for those who follow its guidelines.



25. Grasshoppers are almost 200 million years older than the grass they jump on.