30 interesting facts from the series “Today I learned” (31 photos)

It's never too late to learn something new, but you shouldn't put it off, otherwise your brain will completely stick together. So quickly dive headfirst into a selection of various facts from the popular “Today I Learned” community and get ready to absorb the knowledge!





1. “Today I learned that in 1907, when Yoshitaro Shibasaki and his team completed their ascent of Mount Tsurugi, believed to be the last unclimbed mountain remaining in the Japanese archipelago, they found an ancient sword on the summit, which was later determined to have been left behind there more than 1000 years ago."



2. “Today I learned about Lauren Stratford (Wilson), who wrote a book about being in a satanic cult and sacrificing her own child to it. When reporters from a magazine discovered that she had never had children, she changed her name and this time claimed to be a victim of the Holocaust. She was exposed again by the same magazine.”





3. “Today I learned that in 1872, Victoria Woodhull of the Equal Rights Party became the first woman to vote in the US presidential election, even though almost all women were not even allowed to vote. Black abolitionist Frederick Douglass ran with her.”



4. “Today I learned that in the 90s, a company made pencils with an anti-drug slogan (“Too cool to take drugs”), but was forced to recall them because after sharpening the message turned into “Take drugs.”



5. Today I learned that George Lucas not only gave his blessing to the creators of the Space Eggs parody, but also gave the film to his company Industrial Light and Magic for space special effects and post-production.



6. “Today I learned that the only children who survived the Titanic without their parents were two brothers aged 2 and 4 years. Their father stole them from his ex-wife and boarded the ship under a false name. The father did not survive, and for the next few weeks the boys were known as the "Orphans of the Titanic" until their mother was found."



7. “Today I learned about a 2019 study that showed that evening primrose can “hear” the sound of a nearby bee buzzing and produce sweeter nectar in response.”



8. “Today I learned that Nabby, the beloved daughter of US President John Adams, had cancer and underwent a complete mastectomy without anesthesia while tied to a chair.



9. “Today I learned that, despite its size, it only takes 39-40 digits of pi to calculate the size of the visible Universe to within 1 hydrogen atom. Because of this, NASA uses only 15 digits of pi even in calculations that require maximum precision."



10. “Today I learned that the boy whose exorcism inspired The Exorcist became a NASA engineer when he grew up. He was involved with the Apollo mission in the '60s."



11. “Today I learned that the French intelligence services blew up the Greenpeace ship Rainbow Warrior to prevent Greenpeace from disrupting underwater nuclear tests in 1985.”



12. “Today I learned that about 50-60 blue faience figurines of hippopotamuses have been preserved from the times of Ancient Egypt. Because of the danger hippos posed in the wild, figurines often had their legs broken off before being placed in tombs to prevent the hippos from eating the soul of the deceased.”



13. “Today I learned that episodes five and ten of the 1960s Doctor Who series “Master Plan of the Daleks” were long thought lost until they were found in the basement of a Mormon church in Wandsworth. No one ever knew how they got there."



14. “Today I learned that during World War II, the United States published a spy manual encouraging middle managers in enemy territory to sabotage their employers by raising irrelevant issues, promoting bad employees, squabbling over petty issues, and conducting unnecessary meetings."



15. “Today I learned that in 2008, the British rebelled against the tradition of the X Factor winner topping the charts at Christmas, and began actively buying Rage Against the Machine's album to prevent this.”



16. “Today I learned about corn sweat, which is when corn plants release water into the air. One acre of corn can produce 3,000 to 4,000 gallons of water per day and increase moisture levels by up to 10%.”



17. “Today I learned about the ancient Greek athlete Theagenes. After his death, one of his rivals, who harbored a grudge against Theagenes, hit his statue. The statue fell on the angry athlete, killing him. The statue was then tried, found guilty of murder, and thrown into the sea.”



18. “Today I learned that dandelions are edible, very nutritious, and can be eaten raw.”



19. “Today I learned about Louis Remm, who in 1855 rode horseback from Sacramento to Portland (about 500 miles) to beat a ship carrying news of a bank failure so he could pick up his money from another office.”



20. “Today I learned that a professional bowler once beat a robot programmed to throw only strikes.”



21. “Today I learned that traditional grass lawns originally began as a status symbol for the rich. Neatly trimmed lawns, used purely for beauty, became a status symbol because they demonstrated that the owner could afford to maintain grass that was not used for food.”



22. “Today I learned that consumers lose $3 billion a year on unused gift cards, and Starbucks has $140 million worth of unused gift cards.”



23. “Today I learned that the surgeon Auguste Beer tested on his assistant a form of anesthesia that consisted of injecting cocaine directly into the spine, and, to test how effective it was, stuck a needle in his leg, hit him on the shin with a hammer, tore out a shred of it pubic hair and even squeezed his testicles.”



24. “Today I learned that Sigmund Freud was addicted to cocaine and personally prescribed it to his wife and friends.”



25. “Today I learned that Quentin Tarantino directed an episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation in 2005 after the producers heard rumors that he was a fan of the show.”



26. “Today I learned about the 16th century “Fountain of Female Breasts” in Treviso, Italy. It is a statue of a topless woman squirting water from each nipple. During celebrations, red and white wine flows from it, which you can drink for free.”



27. “Today I learned that when Emperor Nero’s mistress became pregnant, he divorced his wife Octavia and banished her. When this caused a public outcry, he executed her instead.”



28. “Today I learned that the Ignalina Nuclear Power Plant, located in eastern Lithuania, is identical to the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant in Pripyat. It remained open until 2009 and served as the set for the HBO miniseries Chernobyl.



29. “Today I learned about the “shooter effect” (also “Bohr’s law” or “shooter’s dilemma”). Quantum physicist Niels Bohr came to the conclusion that in a duel, the one who draws his revolver first loses.”



30. “Today I learned that cigars contain beetle larvae. Given the right temperature and humidity, they can hatch and infest entire boxes of cigars.”