Facts that prove it's never too late to learn (30 photos)

The day is not in vain if you learned something new on this day, so quickly quit all your boring things and fall for an informative selection of posts from the “Today I learned” community, where more than 26 million users regularly share interesting facts about Just read it yourself.





1. Today I learned that 110 years ago, Dr. Charles Campbell built a 9-meter bat tower to fight malaria. The bats ate all the mosquitoes, and within four years the municipality of Lake Mitchell was completely free of malaria.



2. Today I learned that the world's first child welfare organization came into existence after the founder of the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals realized that the laws protecting animals from cruelty were stricter than the laws protecting children.





3. Today I learned that Mexico was the only country that opposed the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany. So, in gratitude for the support, the Mexikoplatz square appeared in Vienna.



4. Today I learned that in 1982, a man shot a protected saguaro cactus with a shotgun. The cactus fell on him and crushed him to death.



5. Today I found out that Star Wars has a Navajo dub. This was the first time a popular film was translated into a Native American language.



6. Today I learned that the song "Scary Monsters and Nice Sprites" by Skrillex repels mosquitoes due to its low-frequency vibrations. The scientists also found that mosquitoes that heard the song had sex “much less often” than mosquitoes without the music.



7. Today I learned that British army soldiers stop marching when they cross bridges. This is because in 1831 the suspension bridge collapsed due to all the soldiers marching toe to toe.



8. Today I learned about two Chinese officers in 209 BC who were facing execution for being late. They realized that the punishment for rebellion was the same as for being late, so they decided to rebel and began an uprising that eventually led to the fall of the Qin Dynasty.



9. Today I learned that the US Federal Trade Commission is urging organizations not to routinely change passwords because it forces users to create simple, easy-to-remember passwords that they then complete in predictable ways.



10. Today I learned that the singer Enya lives in a castle in Ireland, and when Bo Burnham wanted to include the song Orinoco Flow in his film, he had to send her a handwritten letter.



11. Today I learned about Lady Lucy Houston, a British philanthropist who, after the First World War, realized the need for a strong air force. When the British government refused her offer, she financed the development of the fighter we now know as the Supermarine Spitfire. She died before World War II and never saw how that investment paid off.



12. Today I learned that pear cider is called “perry” (pear = pear).



13. Today I learned that singer James Blunt contracted scurvy while he was at university. For two months, “out of principle,” he ate only meat in order to piss off his vegetarian classmates.



14. Today I found out that one guy droveand his Volvo has 5.2 million kilometers - he bought the car in 1966 and drove it until his death in 2018.



15. Today I learned that US President Richard Nixon, his wife Pat and Henry Kissinger spent months practicing eating with chopsticks and even taking special lessons in preparation for a banquet during their visit to China in 1972.



16. Today I learned that the sex of future alligator cubs depends solely on the temperature during incubation. At 30°C and below, females hatch from eggs; at 33°C and above, males hatch.



17. Today I learned that in 1939, an experiment was conducted on orphans at the University of Iowa to induce stuttering in children without speech impairments. As a result of this experiment, which is now called a “monstrous study,” some of its participants suffered from psychological disorders throughout their lives.



18. Today I learned that the Vatican has its own astronomical observatory, staffed by priests, and has won several awards for scientific research.



19. Today I learned that to build churches in the Philippines during the Spanish colonial period, egg whites were added to concrete to make it stronger. That's why Filipino desserts use so many egg yolks—many of these recipes were created to waste millions of extra yolks.



20. Today I found out that Charlie Chaplin didn't actually have a mustache - it was makeup.



21. Today I learned about “garden hermits.” In the 18th century, the rich hired them to live in caves and grottoes on their estates as garden decorations. Hermits were supposed to dress like druids and remain in place at all times so that guests could gaze at them, seek advice or feed them. One such “garden hermit,” who had signed up for seven years of service, was fired after three weeks when he was caught in a local pub.



22. Today I learned that one day on Venus lasts longer than a year. This planet rotates around its axis longer than it takes one revolution around the Sun, that is, one day on Venus lasts 243 Earth days, and a year lasts 225 Earth days.



23. Today I learned that pepperoni was invented in America. Peperoni is similar to the spicy salami of southern Italy, but also shares characteristics with German sausages. In Italian, "peperoni" simply means "capsicum."



24. Today I learned that during Stalin’s medical examination, psychiatrist Vladimir Bekhterev diagnosed him with “severe paranoia.” Soon after this, Bekhterev died from poisoning.



25. Today I found out that there is a whole stuffed whale in the Swedish museum. Previously, visitors were allowed to climb into it, but one day museum workers caught a couple making love inside the stuffed animal, and access to it was restricted.



26. Today I learned that the ancient Egyptians gave crying babies opium to calm them down. This method was also used in the Victorian era, but sometimes it led to infants dying of starvation because they were in a constant state of acute intoxication.



27. Today I learned that half the time pandas give birth to twins, but most often only one newborn survives, since pandas almost always abandon the second cub.



28. Today I learned that opossums and gliders are different animals. Opossums live in North America, and gliders live in Australia andSouth-East Asia.



29. Today I learned that in 1457 King James II banned the Scots from playing golf because he felt that young people spent too much time on this activity and too little on archery. In 1502, King James IV repealed the law because he himself became interested in golf.