Curiosities,Interesting FactsJUL 6, 2025

50 Unusual And Cool Facts About The World People Just Learned This June

Evelina Šiukšterytė, Jonas Grinevičius and Ilona Baliūnaitė

Life’s a lot better when you stay curious and open-minded about the world. That’s easier said than done, however. Adult responsibilities, work, studies, chores, and stress all get in the way. But if you have a few minutes to spare, some corners of the internet reward you with newfound knowledge.

To share some of that knowledge with you, we’re showcasing some of the most intriguing and unusual facts shared by members of the ‘Today I Learned’ (TIL) online community this June. Scroll down to expand your mind. Hopefully, these facts will pique your curiosity and inspire you to spend more time reading about topics you never knew you were interested in.

#1

50 Unusual And Cool Facts About The World People Just Learned This June

TIL that when his son Xinzhen was abducted by a child trafficker in 1997, Guo Gangtang spent 24 years, his life savings and 10 motorbikes on a search for him across China. They were finally reunited in 2021 and his efforts helped the Chinese authorities find over 100 more abducted children.

ShabtaiBenOron, BBC News

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128points

#2

TIL that Ken Allen, an orangutan at the San Diego Zoo, became famous for his many successful escapes. During his escapes, he would peacefully stroll around the zoo looking at other animals. He never acted aggressively toward patrons, but would throw rocks at Otis, another orangutan he “despised”

bnrshrnkr, CBS 8 San Diego

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123points

#3

TIL in 1976, Jaime Sin was appointed a Cardinal in the Catholic Church, being formally known as "Cardinal Sin". He would greet guests to his home with "Welcome to the house of Sin".

EastSignal, Channel 82/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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110points

According to Leon F. Seltzer, PhD, curiosity seems to improve your cognitive functioning. In other words, it helps your mind work more logically and efficiently.

Seltzer explains that being curious can make us more intelligent, “enhancing our critical thinking skills and making us more likely to question assumptions, challenge beliefs, assess evidence, and so make better, more informed decisions.” On top of that, curiosity can also boost your imagination and creativity.

Furthermore, curiosity can also increase your:

Confidence
Self-esteem
Sense of pride
Purpose
Life direction

#4

TIL that in 1999, 11-year old Mitchell Schop wrote to his favorite band, Cake, and asked if they would play his Bar Mitzvah. After Schop sang his favorite song of theirs to the band over the phone, Cake agreed and made Schop's party the first stop on their 1999 world tour

MrMojoFomo, CAKE

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106points

#5

TIL that Australian convicted criminal, gang member and author Mark Brandon "Chopper" Read refused a liver transplant, saying, "I'm 55-years-old; I'm not going to put my name down against some 10-year-old kid."

mubukugrappa, 60 Minutes Australia

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104points

#6

TIL the old Danish criteria for common law marriage was that" If anyone has a mistress in his home for three winters and obviously sleeps with her, and she commands lock and key and obviously eats and drinks with him, then she shall be his wife and rightful lady of the house."

watchful_tiger, Cent Collins/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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95points

In a recent article, UCLA points out that curiosity tends to wane as you get older. That being said, one type of curiosity—state curiosity—can increase into old age.

“State curiosity is what psychologists call the kind of momentary feeling of curiosity people experience when they are asked about specific topics. Trait curiosity [your general level of curiosity], on the other hand, is a personality trait. Some people, for example, might not be very inquisitive by nature, being content to accept things more or less at face value (trait curiosity), but have a passionate thirst for knowledge in specific topics or hobbies (state curiosity). All people possess varying degrees of both trait and state curiosity.”

Individuals who maintain their curiosity as they age can offset or even prevent Alzheimer’s disease. The reverse is also true. People who aren’t curious or interested in the world can be at greater risk of dementia.

#7

TIL that although intensely private, Joe DiMaggio allowed a children's hospital to use his name and image on condition that they never turn away a child because of inability to pay. The deal was struck with a promise and a handshake.

Overall-Register9758, MFC 1858

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92points

#8

TIL after a woman put $40 into a lottery vending machine with the intention of buying multiple cheaper tickets, "some rude person" bumped into her & caused her to accidentally select a $30 ticket. She was annoyed until she started scratching that ticket & realized she'd won the $10 million jackpot.

tyrion2024, Artist Istanbul/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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87points

#9

TIL that, in the first printed attestation of orangutans in western sources, Malays claimed the ape could talk but preferred not to “lest he be compelled to labour”

bnrshrnkr, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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86points

The ‘Today I Learned’ group, boasting 41 million members, is one of the largest communities on Reddit. Originally, it was created in late 2008. The premise is simple: you share interesting facts about something that you only recently found out.

These aren’t random opinions or biased posts either. If you want to share something you learned on the TIL sub, you must back up the facts you post with reliable, objective sources. The high bar set by the moderators is one of the reasons why the subreddit continues to be so incredibly successful.

#10

TIL that a sunfish in a Japanese aquarium became so lonely after the aquarium closed to visitors for renovations that it stopped eating. Only after staff placed photos of people’s faces near its tank did the sunfish perk up and start eating again

Prior-Student4664, WCCO - CBS Minnesota

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80points

#11

TIL 15-year-old Shyam Lal in India decided to take his spade and dig a pond to quench the thirst of people and cattles. Fellow villagers laughed at him. Lal identified a spot in the forest in and kept digging — for 27 years. The result was a one-acre 15-feet deep pond.

SuvenPan

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80points

#12

TIL Humans are not the only species that has discovered agriculture. Ants have been practicing agriculture for at least 50 million years. The domestication of plant, fungus, and animal species by ants is well documented.

lnfinity, Allison Saeng/Unsplash

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74points

A penny for your thoughts, Pandas. Which of the TIL facts that we’ve featured here today genuinely surprised you? Which ones got you thinking about the topic so much that you actually want to do more research?

On the other hand, which of these facts did you actually know before? What do you do to stay curious about the world, no matter what life throws at you? We’re always happy to hear from you! Share your thoughts in the comments below.

#13

TIL that Jeremy Clarkson’s mother, Shirley Clarkson, designed and created the very first Paddington Bear toy in the early 1970s, prototypes that she made for Jeremy and his sister later became a licensed product that funded his education and helped launch his TV career

dtdowntime, Alex Stone/Unsplash

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71points

#14

TIL there’s a philosophy that believes humans shouldn’t procreate and should eventually go extinct and it’s called antinatalism

AlmostMidnight_, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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71points

#15

TIL in the 1980s, a woman bought a ring at a car boot sale for £10 & proceeded to wear it regularly under the assumption it was a piece of costume jewelry. However when she had it appraised decades later, it was identified as a real 26-carat diamond ring from the 1800s, which she then sold for £656K

tyrion2024, Brett Wharton/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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66points

#16

TIL Ireland's population peaked in the census of 1841 with over 8 million people. It never recovered from the long lasting effects of the potato famine. Was at 4 million for half a century. Today, it's at 7.2 million, having not fully recovered almost 2 centuries post famine

lemelisk42, Planet Volumes/Unsplash

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66points

#17

TIL that all diseases known as transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, such as Creutzfeldt–Jakob and fatal insomnia, have a perfect 100% mortality rate. There are no cases of survival and these diseases are invariably fatal.

exophades, Curated Lifestyle/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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55points

#18

TIL People with social anxiety disorder have a different gut microbiome - transplanting their microbiome to mice causes the mice to suffer from increased social fear

FissileAlarm, Getty Images/Unsplash (not the actual photo)

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55points

#19

TIL at the luxurious French brothel One-Two-Two there were themed rooms. One of the rooms, the Orient Express was a replica of a train car. It had sound effects and shook and bounced like a real train in motion. You could even have an intrusive conductor barge into the room and join in.

TheMadhopper, marechaldefrance

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53points

#20

TIL that in 2003 Hideo Kojima designed a Game Boy Advance game with a light sensor built into the cartridge. The player's in-game weapon is charged by taking the game outside and playing it in natural sunlight, and game mechanics change when it's dark out in your area

Smaptimania, Scott's Stash

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52points

50 Unusual And Cool Facts About The World People Just Learned This June

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Poll Question

Which type of world fact would you enjoy learning the most from such articles?

Poll Question

Which type of world fact would you enjoy learning the most from such articles?