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50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
CuriositiesAUG 6, 2024

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”

Gabija Saveiskyte
Adelaide May Ross
Gabija Saveiskyte and Adelaide May Ross
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As Albert Einstein famously said, “The more I learn, the more I realize how much I don't know.” But that’s no reason to stop your education. In fact, that’s all the more reason to keep learning as much as you possibly can!
If you’re dedicated to being a lifelong learner, we’ve got the perfect list for you down below, pandas. We gathered some of the best posts of all time from the Today I Learned subreddit, so you can find out plenty of new fun facts that you’ve probably never heard before. So enjoy scrolling through this wealth of information, and keep reading to find a conversation with Dan Lewis, creator of the popular trivia newsletter Now I Know!

#1

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL: A park bench in Bristol was given an official postal address so doctors could register the homeless as patients.
diacewrb, Jakub Hlavaty
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356points

#2

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL Judith Love Cohen, who helped create the Abort-Guidance System which rescued the Apollo 13 astronauts, went to work on the day she was in labor. She took a printout of a problem she was working on to the hospital. She called her boss and said she finished the problem and gave birth to Jack Black.
holyfruits
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324points

#3

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that March 12th, 1990, over 60 disability rights activists abandoned their mobility aids and climbed, crawled, and edged up the 83 stone steps of the U.S Capitol, demanding the passage of the Americans with Disabilities Act, which had been stalled in Congress. It was called the 'Capitol Crawl'.
ewokiee
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303points

To find out more about why it’s so important to be a lifelong learner, we reached out to Dan Lewis, creator of the popular newsletter Now I Know, which brings fun facts to readers' inboxes every day.

First, we wanted to know what inspired Dan to start this newsletter. “I'm a digital native who built my first website in the late 1990s, and I've always been decent at building online audiences,” he told Bored Panda. “While between jobs a decade or so ago, I consulted with an email newsletter startup – they were looking for help building their subscriber base. And I figured hey, I've done this for websites and blogs, how different could email be? But I realized that no, it's a lot different, and I failed miserably.”

#4

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL of Elouise Cobell (“Yellow Bird Woman”) who founded the first Native American owned bank. As treasurer of the Blackfeet Nation she tried to resolve accounting discrepancies regarding leases on Indian Land which led to a $3.4 Billion dollar class action settlement against the US government.
intentsman
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284points

#5

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL of an Australian diver who befriended a baby shark. For years afterwards, whenever the shark would see him, she would swim up to him and demand cuddles.
gasping4meaning
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278points

#6

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL of Bessie Coleman, the first African American and Native American female pilot who would only perform if the crowds were desegregated and entered thru the same gates.
sundog925, George Rinhart
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266points

“A few months later, that failure was still bugging me, so I decided to give it another go, this time on my own,” Dan continued. “I've always loved random trivia, so I went that route.”

“I started Now I Know in June 2010, sending it to 20 friends/family, and just kept at it, growing it slowly over the days, weeks, months, and years ahead. This Monday's went to more than 50,000 readers!”

#7

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL Hours after being adopted from an animal shelter, 21-pound cat Pudding saved her owner's life. While suffering a diabetic seizure, Amy Jung's newly acquired cat pounced his weight on her chest and began swatting her face and biting her nose until she gained consciousness.
LazyFlamingosss
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259points

#8

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL there is a group of wolves in British Columbia known as "sea wolves" and 90% of their food comes from the sea. They have distinct DNA that sets them apart from interior wolves and they're entirely dedicated to the sea swimming several miles everyday in search of food.
BirdPlan
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252points

#9

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL US Airways kicked a blind and his dog off a plane in 2013 after the Dog repositioned itself during a two hour delay. They cancelled the flight after passengers disembarked in protest saying the flight attendant responsible be kicked off instead of the man and his service dog.
therealpetejm, \Amanda Fultz
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237points

As far as why we should keep learning our entire lives, Dan says, “I think it's important to be curious about the world around us and open minded about what we think we know. Learning should be lifelong and fun facts are a great entry point – it keeps you humble and keeps you growing, intellectually.”

#10

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that during WW1, the MI5 used Girl Guides to deliver secret messages. They used Girl Guides instead of Boy Scouts because they found out that Boy Scouts weren't efficient enough, boisterous and talkative.
sylviette_pancakes, Wikimedia Commons
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236points

#11

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that Muhammad Ali went to Iraq in 1990 against the then president George H.W. Bush's wishes and secured the release of 15 american citizen hostages held in Iraqi prisons, and brought them home.
azahran1790
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234points

#12

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that even though Edward Bannister won 1st prize for painting at the 1876 Philadelphia centennial international exhibition, after discovering Bannister's identity, the judge wanted to rescind his award because he was black. However this wasn't possible due to protests from the other competitors.
LogicBomb69
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230points

We also wanted to know if the trivia expert had any fun facts that he’s partial to. “My favorite fun fact is one I haven't learned yet,” Dan shared. “I titled the newsletter ‘Now I Know’ (instead of ‘Now You Know’) for a reason – it's my effort to learn more and share more.”

“For me, the joy of the fun fact comes from the discovery of something new that I didn't think possible or realistic,” he added. “I really liked most of the ones I've shared before for the same reason!”

#13

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL after a chance encounter, Charles-Michel de l'Épée was taught to sign by the deaf. Believing the deaf should be able to receive the sacraments, he founded a school in 1760 to teach sign language. His public advocacy enabled deaf people to legally defend themselves in court for the first time.
Brutal_Deluxe_
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224points

#14

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that a cow escaped from a Polish farm and was spotted months later living with a herd of wild bison.
TBTabby
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218points

#15

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL Agatha Christie has outsold Stephen King and J.K Rowling combined by about 2 billion books.
shallowblue
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217points

And if you’re looking to start learning something new every day, Dan recommends subscribing to Now I Know. “It's easy,” he says. “Next time you learn something new, if it brings you joy, figure out how you found that out – and do that again, and again, and again.”

#16

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that ravens and wolves have formed a mutually beneficial relationship out in the wild. Ravens have been observed calling wolves to the site of dead animals so that the wolves will then open up the carcass and leave the scraps for the ravens once they're finished.
C**kGoblinReturns
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208points

#17

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that Fermilab used to clean its particle accelerators with a ferret named Felicia, who would run through the tubes with cleaning supplies attached and be rewarded with hamburger meat.
HeyoGuys, christels
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204points

#18

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL that all beaches in Mexico are property of the federal government. There are no privately owned beaches in the whole country, all of them are open to public use.
SplittingHares
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203points

#19

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL the clearest lake in the world is the Blue Lake located in Nelson, New Zealand. Visibility in the lake is up to 80 metres meaning the water is considered almost as optically clear as distilled water.
Pazluz
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200points

#20

50 Of The Most Interesting Facts Ever Posted On “Today I Learned”
TIL a woman quit her job to search for her border collie who escaped from a hotel room during a thunderstorm while on vacation in Kalispell, Montana. After 57 days of searching and posting hundreds of flyers around town, she finally found ‘Katie’ who was starving, but otherwise OK.
LurkmasterGeneral
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190points
160
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