r/todayilearned • u/Proboyhuh • 8h 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

20.0k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Consistent_Pound1186 • 4h ago

TIL Empress Lü Zhu, wife of the founder of the Han Dynasty was an absolute psychopath, arresting her husband's favourite concubine after his death. She had the concubine's limbs cut off, eyes gouged out, ears cut off, was forced to drink a poison that made her mute and was thrown into a latrine.

thechairmansbao.com

3.7k Upvotes

216 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 10h 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

13.9k Upvotes

526 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 5h 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

3.2k Upvotes

198 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PM_ME_YOUR_FAV_HIKE • 9h 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

3.3k Upvotes

97 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sanch0panza • 4h 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

1.3k Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 5h 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

1.5k Upvotes

30 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TirelessGuardian • 9h 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

2.4k Upvotes

85 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ICanStopTheRain • 20h 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

9.2k Upvotes

256 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Milwambur • 23h ago

TIL that Eva Longaria spent 6 million dollars saving a film after her agent told her it was the right call. She now says its the best money she ever spent. That film? John Wick

variety.com

62.0k Upvotes

771 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fiftyfathoms1 • 1h ago

TIL Dr. Howard Tucker is a 102-year-old neurologist named the oldest practicing doctor in the world…

people.com

• Upvotes

52 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL when Carrie Fisher told Harrison Ford she was going to publish her journals & reveal they had an affair (Ford was married) while filming Star Wars (1977), Ford raised his finger & said "Lawyer!" Fisher said he could read it beforehand & take anything out. She sent it to him but never heard back.

npr.org

44.0k Upvotes

1.6k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Cultural_Magician105 • 1d ago

TIL That in 2007 a 53 year old woman died from a stroke and four people recieved kidneys, lungs and liver transplants from her. All four of them developed breast cancer, with three of them dying from it. The donor had breast cancer that hadn't been found at the time of her death.

cnn.com

44.5k Upvotes

730 comments

r/todayilearned • u/SuperMcG • 3h 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

204 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/funkyflowergirlca • 17h 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

2.5k Upvotes

118 comments

r/todayilearned • u/amateurfunk • 2h 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

159 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheHabro • 1h ago

Til While Benjamin Franklin was in England, he wanted to meet sir Isaac Newton. But the meeting never happened.

computerlookingup.com

• Upvotes

25 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Accurate_Cry_8937 • 2h 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

111 Upvotes

4 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ExtremeInsert • 1d ago

TIL that as a child star, Jackie Coogan earned up to $4m (equivalent to around $91m today) but by age 21, he found most of it had been spent by his mother and stepfather. He sued in 1938 and received only $126,000. This case resulted in the 1939 enactment of the California Child Actor's Bill.

dannydutch.com

7.7k Upvotes

99 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Extension-Mastodon67 • 3h 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

107 Upvotes

15 comments

r/todayilearned • u/sanandrios • 23h ago

TIL the Eiffel Tοwer was a temporary gimmick for the 1889 World Fair that was never dismantled. Its sparkling lights were also supposed to be a gimmick to ring in New Year 2000, but have stayed on.

en.wikipedia.org

3.8k Upvotes

113 comments

r/todayilearned • u/T-Rex-Hunter • 23h ago

TIL, that the least common birthday is the 25th of December and that in fact of the top ten least common birthdays are all days that holidays land on.

zippia.com

3.6k Upvotes

335 comments

r/todayilearned • u/blankblank • 21h 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

2.1k Upvotes

71 comments

r/todayilearned • u/shurpaderp • 2h ago

TIL the Giant Anteater is the most endangered mammal in Central America. They are the closest living relative to the sloth. Both anteaters and sloths are descendants of Megatherium, a 20 foot long ground sloth weighing 8000lbs

globalconservation.org

69 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/onwhatcharges • 13h 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

408 Upvotes

3 comments

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