Today I Learned 🎓

08 March 2026 00:49

TIL in 1935, there was a proposed amendment to the US constitution which would make it law to hold a national referendum before the United States could enter a war, except in cases of invasion or attack on U.S. soil. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 23:49

TIL Wrexham Lager was one of only two beers served on the Titanic, brewed in Wales but advertised as from 'Wrexham, England' to appeal to American passengers [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 20:49

TIL in 1984 Lisa McVey was held captive & assaulted for 26 hours by a serial killer, however she convinced him to let her go by telling him (among other things) that she had sick dad only she could care for. Many key details she'd memorized while blindfolded helped lead to his capture & conviction. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 19:49

TIL in episodic television, there are some episodes called "bottle episodes", which are produced cheaply and restricted in scope to use as few actors, effects and sets as possible. Notable shows that have these episodes are Star Trek: The Next Generation, Friends, Breaking Bad, Community, and so on. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 18:49

TIL Over 80% of the population of Hong Kong uses seawater for toilet flushing. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 16:49

TIL that over 4,000 Google employees signed a petition refusing to build AI for the US military, forcing Google to abandon a Pentagon contract. Palantir took it, won a $480 million Army contract, and is now deployed across five combatant commands and NATO. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 14:49

TIL Mexico is officially called the United Mexican States. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 11:49

TIL Vicks VapoInhalers contained an optical isomer of Methamphetamine until 2016 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 07:49

TIL about Sarajevo Safari, where wealthy foreign men paid huge monetary fees to hunt civilians in the city with sniper rifles for entertainment purposes during the Bosnian war. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 02:49

TIL that in 1453, Henry VI fell into an 18-month long catatonic stupor. Likely triggered by the news of a military defeat, Henry was unable to speak or move, and even failed to respond respond to the birth of his son. His illness was likely inherited from his maternal grandfather, Charles VI. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 00:49

TIL that an individual who shoots a bear in self-defense in Alaska outside hunting season must present the skull and the entire hide with claws to the state. Failure to do so is a criminal offense. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 22:49

TIL in 2013 three Berkeley Law Students pled guilty to killing and beheading Turk the flamingo in Vegas [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 21:49

TIL weeds can evolve to mimic the crops they grow among because farmers remove the obvious weeds, unintentionally selecting for look-alikes. The phenomenon is called “Vavilovian mimicry.” [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 20:49

TIL Costco is responsible for 50% of the cashews sold worldwide. The company sources from, and supports, independent nut farmers in at least 20 countries including an estimated 2.5 million independent cashew farmers in Africa alone. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 19:49

TIL F1 wheel guns cost $20,000–$30,000 [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 23:49

TIL in the the United States, you can go to ssa.gov to see your entire wages history [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 22:49

TIL that a reliable way to determine longitude at sea was not discovered until the 1773 with John Harrison's H4 watch, which worked at sea thus allowing sailors to know the exact time and make proper calculations. Before that, ships mostly had to rely on latitude and guesswork [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 19:49

TIL In 1979, the movie 'The China Syndrome' was released, a fictional story about a potential nuclear plant meltdown. The nuclear industry called it "sheer fiction and a character assassination of an entire industry". 12 days later, 3 Mile Island suffered a nuclear meltdown. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 18:49

TIL One theory suggests that the famous prehistoric “Venus figurines” might actually be self-portraits made by women looking at their own bodies [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 16:49

TIL: Hundreds of Giant Sequoia saplings are being planted in Detroit, Michigan. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 15:49

TIL about Dixy Lee Ray, the first woman governor of Washington. A Democrat, she climbed Mt. Rainier at age 12, changed her name from "Marguerite" to reference Robert E. Lee, ran the Atomic Energy Commission under Nixon, never married, and ran off hippies with a whistle when she was a museum curator [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 13:49

TIL that before 1993 women were rarely included in clinical medical trials in the US, and are still "substantially underrepresented in clinical trials for leading diseases." [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 09:49

TIL that the United States Coast Guard has only one member, SM1 Douglas Munro, who has been awarded the Medal of Honor. SM1 Munro used his Higgins boat as a shield to protect Marines being evacuated during the Battle of Guadalcanal, dying in the process. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 03:49

TIL that singer Peter Yarrow (of the famous folk group Peter, Paul and Mary) served only three months in prison of a potential three year sentence after being convicted of molesting a 14-year-old girl. He was later granted a full pardon by Jimmy Carter in 1981. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

07 March 2026 01:49

TIL that the quotes "No man is an island" and "For whom the bell tolls" are both taken from the same brief passage by poet John Donne. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 23:49

TIL that in 1961, 90% of doctors surveyed said they would not tell a cancer patient their diagnosis, but by 1977 that had reversed, with 97% saying they would. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 21:49

TIL that Grape-kun, a Humboldt penguin in Japan, was rejected by his mate Midori and the rest of the colony, after which he formed a deep bond with a cardboard cutout of an anime character, who stayed by his side until his death. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 20:49

TIL researchers found that for an average-sized living room a 4K or 8K screen offers no noticable benefit over a similarly sized 2K screen of the sort often used in computer monitors and laptops. In other words, there is no tangible difference when it comes to how sharp an image appears to our eyes. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 20:49

TIL in 2021 a woman in a hurry checked her scratch-off ticket "real quick" and then gave to the store owners to throw out because she thought it wasn't a winner. Ten days later, the owners returned it to her after scratching off the last number for her and discovering it was a $1 million winner. [Source]

Today I Learned 🎓

06 March 2026 19:49

TIL that at least four times as many active duty personnel and war veterans of post-9/11 conflicts have died of suicide than in combat. [Source]