Today I Learned 🎓

04 March 2026 03:49

TIL about Parakaryon myojinensis, a single-celled organism that is apparently distinct from all prokaryotes and eukaryotes. It is the only known species with a completely unknown position within the tree of life. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

04 March 2026 00:49

TIL that the descendants of Muhammad Ali Jinnah, who is credited as the founding father of Pakistan, have remained in India after the partition of British colonial India into India and Pakistan in 1947, after his only child, Dina Wadia's decision to stay back in India for her marital life. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 23:49

TIL Charles Darwin was invited on the HMS Beagle voyage as a companion to the captain, Robert FitzRoy, who feared the isolation of a five-year journey might drive him to suicide [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 22:49

TIL about the Minnesota Starvation Experiment. All 36 men of the study lost 25% of their body weight eating 1,560 calories daily, proving that a calorie deficit alone causes weight loss. These starvation conditions produced a severe physical and mental decline in the subjects. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 20:49

TIL the rivers are so clean in Bern and Basel in Switzerland that many people commute to work by swimming. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 18:49

TIL chicken sold in supermarkets are often "plumped" with a salt water solution to increase sell weight, making up as much as 30% of the total weight. A serving of plumped chicken can contain between 200 and 500mg of sodium while non-plumped chicken generally contains 45 to 70mg. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 13:49

TIL of Sabbatai Zevi who in the 17th century claimed he was the Messiah, leading to a significant portion of Jews world wide believing him. Only for him to end up converting to Islam. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 09:49

TIL that the Persian "Immortals" weren't called that because they couldn't die, but because their number was kept at exactly 10,000 at all times. If a soldier was killed or fell ill, he was immediately replaced, creating the illusion that the army never suffered casualties. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 04:49

TIL a woman named Lydia Abate has been "funeral tracking" for nearly 6 years — she scours obituaries to find recently deceased people, then offers grieving families a free estate clean-out service in exchange for keeping their dead relatives' vintage clothes. She hasn't bought clothes in years. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 01:49

TIL the “Democracy Manifest” meme guy was a prison escape artist and was involved in a love triangle between his wife and “Australia’s Charles Manson,” the latter of whom killed his wife [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 23:49

TIL there is a still (somewhat) active mafia group based in Kansas City [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 22:49

TIL that in the U.S., most paper money lasts less than 7 years before being destroyed and replaced due to wear. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 21:49

TIL the 2015 short "Kung Fury" had a full-length theatrical sequel that included Michael Fassbender and Arnold Schwarzenegger. It finished filming in 2019 but has been stuck in post-production ever since. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that over third of people who called the Massachusetts Problem Gambling Hotline in 2023 were calling because they were having a technical problem with their betting apps and mistakenly believed that calling the Mass hotline would get them IT help. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that Dolly the Sheep was NOT the first cloned animal. Scientists had been cloning amphibians like frogs since the 1950s, 40 years before Dolly was born. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

04 March 2026 02:49

TIL the late Senator Strom Thurmond’s father shot and killed a man who called him a “dog and a scoundrel”. A jury acquitted William Thurmond of murder. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

04 March 2026 00:49

TIL about William Price, a Welsh physician and Neo Druid who after the death of his infant son Iesu Grist in 1884, performed one of the first modern cremations in the UK, burning the body on a pyre. He was arrested though acquitted as their was no law against cremation. He was 84...his wife was 18. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 23:49

TiL Women are less likely to receive bystander CPR than men due to fears of 'inappropriate touching' [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 21:49

TIL that Goerge Wendt, who played Norm on the TV show Cheers, was expelled from Notre Dame for a 0.00 GPA [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 19:49

TIL a married Czech couple born on the same day both won gold medals at the 1952 Olympics [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 17:49

TIL that the last time the United States authorized a private person to conduct war (granting a letter of marque) was during the Second Barbary War (1815) [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 12:49

TIL that Johnny Cash would create a snare drum effect in the studio by putting a dollar bill under the strings of his guitar [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 09:49

TIL about the Carnation Revolution where military officers organized a coup against their corporatist government, transforming Portugal into a democracy. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 02:49

TIL that before becoming an actor, Danny DeVito worked as a cosmetologist for dead bodies at a morgue, styling the hair of the deceased. He began this after a client of his died where he worked as a beautician at his sister's salon, and her family asked him to do her hair for her funeral. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

03 March 2026 00:49

TIL: "Working cats" programs help unadoptable cats live a productive life as mousers [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 23:49

TIL There is a fatal disease called Kuru that causes uncontrollable laughing and is transmitted through ritual cannibalism. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 21:49

TIL In 1651, Jan De Doot, a man who disliked surgeons decided to take a knife and remove his own bladder stone with just some help from his brother. The feat made him famous across the Netherlands and he even had his portrait painted with him holding the egg-sized stone, which he had coated in gold [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 20:49

TIL that the original pilot for “It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia” (which later became “Charlie Has Cancer”) was shot on handheld camcorders on a budget of $200, though Charlie Day has since claimed it was essentially filmed for free. The show was later picked up by FX and has aired for 2 decades. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that Hot Wheels and Matchbox — the two biggest rival toy car brands — are actually both owned by Mattel. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

02 March 2026 18:49

TIL that the original iPhone that Steve Jobs famously showed on stage in 2007 barely worked and could only just get through the keynote. A stable, final version of the iPhone was not developed until just weeks before global release. [Source]