r/todayilearned • u/Proboyhuh • 10h ago

TIL the Earth has a "heartbeat" every 26 seconds. Scientists have detected a rhythmic microseismic pulse coming from somewhere in the ocean, and its exact cause is still unknown.

good.is

24.3k Upvotes

1.3k comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 12h ago

TIL Steven Spielberg made up that he got his start at the age of 21 by sneaking into Universal Studios dressed in business attire and commandeering an unoccupied office. Spielberg's entree to the Universal lot was gained while he was a 16-year-old in high school on break & was arranged by his father

snopes.com

14.8k Upvotes

544 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ICanStopTheRain • 21h ago

TIL that the Catholic Church runs a secretive facility outside St. Louis, Missouri where it sends abusive priests. At its peak, it operated 23 such facilities around the world.

en.wikipedia.org

9.7k Upvotes

262 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PM_ME_YOUR_FAV_HIKE • 10h ago

TIL that in the 1400s, China, after building the world’s most advanced navy, turned inward under a form of Chinese isolationism called Haijin (sea ban). Fearing foreign influence, leaders banned private trade, large ships, and dismantled the fleet, missing centuries of growth.

en.wikipedia.org

3.9k Upvotes

100 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 7h ago

TIL Michael Keaton blocked Michelle Pfeiffer from being cast as Vicki Vale, his romantic lead, in Batman (1989) because they had previously been in a relationship & at the time he was trying to get back with his ex-wife. Pfeiffer went on to replace a pregnant Annette Bening as Catwoman in the sequel

hollywoodreporter.com

3.5k Upvotes

223 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TirelessGuardian • 10h ago

TIL When aluminum was first discovered, in the early 1800s, it was worth more than gold. Originally, it was hard to separate from other materials. The Washington Monument was capped with it. When a reliable method was finally found to purify it, prices plummeted from $16 ($419 today) a pound to $2.

npr.org

2.9k Upvotes

90 comments

r/todayilearned • u/funkyflowergirlca • 19h ago

TIL Napoleon Hill, who wrote Think and Grow Rich, was a lifelong scammer. He lied about meeting Andrew Carnegie, never advised any presidents, and even inspired a cult that tried to raise an immortal baby. His whole career was built on fake stories, fraud, and constant reinvention.

gizmodo.com

2.6k Upvotes

120 comments

r/todayilearned • u/blankblank • 22h ago

TIL that the rate at which new words are added to languages has slowed in the digital era, and it's partly because the advent of automatic spell-checkers has given words recognized by these tools a "reproductive fitness" advantage, while non-standard spellings decline.

nature.com

2.2k Upvotes

75 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 7h ago

TIL Rob Lowe was uncredited in Tommy Boy (1995) despite having a major speaking role because at the time he was contractually obligated to a miniseries of The Stand. Instead of going through legal hoops to get out of it, he essentially agreed to be in the film as a favor to his friend, Chris Farley.

screenrant.com

1.8k Upvotes

35 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sanch0panza • 6h ago

TIL that in 2023, the seed companies got their pepper seeds mixed up and people across the USA grew different peppers than intended. The mix up is referred to as “peppergate”.

cbsnews.com

2.0k Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/slurpdwnawienperhaps • 22h ago

TIL the oldest person to receive their doctorate is attributed to Ingeborg Rapoport. She was 102 years old when she received her medical doctorate from the University of Hamburg in 201 5. She was denied a medical degree 70+ years earlier because her mother was of Jewish descent.

wikipedia.org

813 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CrashRiot • 19h ago

TIL that Bethesda bought the Fallout IP for just 5.75 million dollars.

gamedeveloper.com

493 Upvotes

49 comments

r/todayilearned • u/onwhatcharges • 15h ago

TIL that Alberta King, Martin Luther King Jr's mother was shot and killed while playing the organ at a church service. Her killer was sentenced to death, however, the King family—consistent in their commitment to nonviolence—successfully campaigned to have his sentence commuted to life in prison.

dannydutch.com

454 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/JEBV • 21h ago

TIL a snowy owl once flew from the Artic to Honolulu, and was seen flying around the international airport. It would be shot the same day by wildlife services.

civilbeat.org

416 Upvotes

88 comments

r/todayilearned • u/1998199888 • 16h ago

TIL about Fregoli delusion a rare disorder in which a person holds a delusional belief that different people are in fact a single person who changes appearance or is in disguise.

en.wikipedia.org

372 Upvotes

41 comments

r/todayilearned • u/SuperMcG • 5h ago

TIL the Swedish Air Force built roads to serve as emergency airfields in case of a war, even putting aprons at the ends of the backup runways.

en.wikipedia.org

397 Upvotes

17 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Super_Goomba64 • 1d ago

TIL that in the United Kingdoms Parliament, there is a box of snuff (smokeless tobacco) that's been around since the 1600s, it is free for government officials to use, but the last time it was used was 1989. It is still kept to this day

en.wikipedia.org

305 Upvotes

55 comments

r/todayilearned • u/amateurfunk • 4h ago

TIL that during the height of the French Revolution, Notre Dame was rededicated to serve as a Temple of Reason in the course of Catholicism being banned in France.

artifactstravel.com

275 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jacknunn • 1d ago

TIL Heard Island and McDonald Islands contain Australia's only two active volcanoes

en.wikipedia.org

165 Upvotes

22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Accurate_Cry_8937 • 3h ago

TIL that Kenya's Agnes Jebet Ngetich set the 10 km run world record in Valencia, breaking the previous record by 28 seconds. En route to this time, she also broke the 5 km run world record by 6 seconds and also holds the second fastest half marathon mark in history, at 1 hour 3 minutes and 4 sec.

en.wikipedia.org

187 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Extension-Mastodon67 • 5h ago

TIL in 1972 a meteor grazed the earth atmosphere and in doing so changes its trajectory, scientist predicted the meteor would come back to earth in 1997 but never did, so the object's trajectory and position remains unknown.

en.wikipedia.org

187 Upvotes

19 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TriviaDuchess • 12h ago

TIL during mating season, clam worms transform. Their muscles grow for swimming, and their bodies engorge with sperm or eggs. When ready, they swim to the surface in a frenzy and explode, releasing their gametes into the sea. The adults don’t survive mating.

en.wikipedia.org

137 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CosmicMando • 18h ago

TIL that not all clumps of twigs and leaves in trees are bird nests — some are actually squirrel nests called "dreys."

en.wikipedia.org

110 Upvotes

18 comments

r/todayilearned • u/JustLookingForMayhem • 9h ago

TIL a FBI agent in a gorilla costume was part of a sting operation that arrested two Mexican zoo officials in 1993.

latimes.com

149 Upvotes

15 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ok_Being_2003 • 16h ago

TIL New York State contributed about 465,000 soldiers to Union armed forces during the American civil war more than any other state. Over 50,000 of them died. The highest of any northern state

247wallst.com

96 Upvotes

10 comments

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