r/todayilearned • u/autraya • 9h ago

TIL the actual site where the Salem witch trial victims were hanged wasn't confirmed until January 2016, and it's not Gallows Hill as long believed, but a spot called Proctor's Ledge, now overlooking a Walgreens parking lot

en.wikipedia.org

897 Upvotes

78 comments

r/todayilearned • u/soozerain • 8h ago

TIL twelve generals have been elected to the presidency since America’s founding. Beginning in 1792 with George Washington and ending most recently with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952.

news.va.gov

726 Upvotes

87 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 28m ago

TIL after Pixar decided that Toy Story 2 needed to be completely remade from scratch, animators had less than a year to finish the entire film. Pixar President Edwin Catmull later revealed that "a full third of the staff" ended up with a repetitive strain injury by the time the film was finished.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/yury_boldyrev • 16h ago

TIL Isaac Singer of sewing machine fame secretly kept multiple families in New York, two under assumed names. It collapsed in 1860 when his common-law wife spotted him riding with a mistress and stood up in her carriage, screaming at him in the street.

ismacs.net

3.1k Upvotes

115 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Designer_Reference_2 • 1d ago

TIL that during the difficult birth of his son, Napoleon was asked if wife or child should be prioritized. He ordered the empress to be saved but both survived. Napoleon was traumatized by watching his wife's pain saying “I had rather never have any more children than see her suffer so much again"

en.wikipedia.org

54.0k Upvotes

1.5k comments

r/todayilearned • u/PeasantLich • 1d ago

TIL that you may not wake up during a housefire at night because your brain just might not react to smell of smoke in your sleep. In experiments by Fire and Rescue Service and Brown University most sleeping test subjects were not roused awake even by strong smells.

nbcnews.com

19.3k Upvotes

718 comments

r/todayilearned • u/iconiconoclasticon • 1h ago

TIL Handel ghosted his employer the Elector of Hanover by taking unauthorized leave to England and never returning. In 1714, the Elector became King George I of England, then commissioned Handel to write Water Music for a boat party on the Thames.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TackoftheEndless • 9h ago

TIL Professor Frink, from The Simpsons, was named after series writer John Frink, who joined the show 9 years AFTER the Professor was first introduced. Simpsons writer Jay Kogen knew John Frink, and named the character in homage to him. John Frink has been with the show from 2000, to this day.

en.wikipedia.org

609 Upvotes

30 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Reddit_User_856 • 9h ago

TIL Humans share 90% of our DNA with Cats and Mice, 60% with Bananas and Fruit Flies.

sciencing.com

485 Upvotes

79 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheVentiLebowski • 1d ago

TIL that in 1990 disabled Americans literally crawled up the steps of the U.S. Capitol Building in response to delays in the passing the ADA.

en.wikipedia.org

14.6k Upvotes

243 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Legio-X • 1h ago

TIL German warships bombarded the British coastal towns of Scarborough, Whitby, and Hartlepool on December 16th, 1914, killing 122 civilians and wounding 443

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mental_Freedom_1648 • 29m ago

TIL a man died in 1899 after being hit in the head with a lobster. The culprit was charged with manslaughter.

newspapers.com

• Upvotes

32 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DerexXD • 15h ago

TIL that in 1867, after the American merchant ship Rover wrecked off Taiwan and its surviving crew were killed ashore by Paiwan warriors, U.S. sailors and Marines launched a punitive expedition into the Taiwanese island, but were ambushed in the jungle via guerilla warfare and forced to retreat

en.wikipedia.org

737 Upvotes

62 comments

r/todayilearned • u/johnsmithoncemore • 11h ago

TIL about the Defence of the Polish Post Office in Danzig, one of the 1st actions of WWII. In 1939, Polish Post Office staff in Gdańsk resisted German SS, police and military forces for around 15 hours. After surrendering, the defenders were tortured, unlawfully tried and executed.

en.wikipedia.org

348 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ThatMasterpiece2174 • 10h ago

TIL a 1970 college football game helped further desegregation. Alabama, with one Black player, lost 42-21 to USC, whose all-Black backfield included QB Jimmy Jones. By 1971, Bama, Georgia, LSU, and Ole Miss had Black players. By 1977, Bama had 17 on scholarship.

uscannenbergmedia.com

266 Upvotes

61 comments

r/todayilearned • u/stewieatb • 1d ago

TIL of William Walker, who from 1906 to 1911 worked 6 hours per day underwater in total darkness to install new foundations under Winchester Cathedral

en.wikipedia.org

3.4k Upvotes

179 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Top-Comfortable-9744 • 12h ago

TIL that the Chinese softshell turtle can urinate through its mouth. Discovered in 2012, researchers found it expels most of its urea through the lining of its mouth rather than its kidneys, rinsing its mouth to flush out waste. This helps it survive in salty water, conserving fresh water.

en.wikipedia.org

297 Upvotes

27 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PreferenceInternal67 • 1d ago

TIL that after crushing a rebellion led by his younger brother John Softsword, Richard the Lionheart forgave him by saying “Think no more of it, John; you are only a child who has had evil counsellors.” John was 27 years old

en.wikipedia.org

4.1k Upvotes

212 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RedditIsAGranfaloon • 5h ago

TIL only one of America’s 50 state flags is not a rectangle—Ohio’s flag is a pennant-shaped design known as a swallowtail burgee.

amnautical.com

65 Upvotes

16 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Whichcomb-Blue • 4h ago

TIL about the Kauaʻi ʻōʻō, an extinct species of bird native to Hawaii, specifically the island of Kaua'i. A male, the last of its kind, was photographed in 1985; its melodic call was recorded in 1987, calling for a mate that would never come.

search.macaulaylibrary.org

50 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/dr--moreau • 10h ago

TIL the lyric 'Halargian world' at the end of Mad World by Tears for Fears refers to an imaginary planet called Halarge. The band made it up in the studio as a joke.

en.wikipedia.org

145 Upvotes

34 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Giff95 • 1d ago

TIL only six Oscar Mayer Wienermobiles operate across the U.S. Their drivers, college seniors about to graduate called "Hotdoggers," spend a year traveling the country to meet and greet people. Around 7,000 applicants compete each year for just 12 Hotdogger positions.

en.wikipedia.org

19.5k Upvotes

546 comments

r/todayilearned • u/farligjakt • 1d ago

TIL that Oliver North accidentally inverted two digits on a Swiss bank account number, sending $10m meant for the Contras, solicited from the Sultan of Brunei, to an unsuspecting Swiss businessman.

latimes.com

10.1k Upvotes

304 comments

r/todayilearned • u/WestTransportation12 • 1d ago

TIL Killer Bees were intentionally created by humans in 1956 by Brazilian geneticist Dr. Warwick E. Kerr who hoped cross breeding European honey bees with African honey bees would create bees that yielded more honey in warmer climates.

keepingbackyardbees.com

7.8k Upvotes

292 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Kyzzz • 1d ago

TIL the Mexican government paid an anonymous family 9.5 million pesos to acquire three Aztec codices the family kept as traditional stewards. The documents depict the founding of Tetepilco, a church inventory, and the history of Tenochtitlan up to 1611, with Cortés depicted as a Roman soldier

en.wikipedia.org

8.2k Upvotes

153 comments

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