When browsing the internet, not only do we rarely learn anything, but we often also forget things. Think of our long-gone attention spans that social media has cut to the brim, and ask yourself when was the last time you scrolled through something seriously beneficial.
While you wonder, let me tell you there’s the internet’s beloved corner of Reddit which makes karma, or rather our brain levels, even because it actually teaches us something. We’re talking about the 'Today I Learned' online group that celebrates curiosity by sharing some of the most interesting and lesser-known things, facts, and bits of knowledge we all appreciate.
#21
TIL that SNL called Phil Hartman "The Glue" because his professionalism and comedy skills held together so many sketches
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154points
#22
TIL in 2009 British people rebelled against the ongoing trend of X Factor victors winning Christmas number one by purchasing copies of Rage Against the Machine
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152points
#23
TIL The professional bowler Chris Barnes once beat a robot optimized to throw strikes
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150points
#24
TIL that dandelions are edible and are actually really nutritious and can be eaten raw
147points
#25
TIL traditional grass lawns originated as a status symbol for the wealthy. Neatly cut lawns used solely for aesthetics became a status symbol as it demonstrated that the owner could afford to maintain grass that didn’t serve purposes of food production.
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145points
#26
TIL Story Musgrave is the most formally educated astronaut with seven academic degrees and only astronaut to have flown on all five space shuttles.
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142points
#27
TIL Consumers lose $3 billion a year in unspent gift cards, with starbucks itself having $140 million in unused gift cards.
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141points
#28
TIL Quentin Tarantino directed an episode of CSI in 2005 after word of him being a fan of the show got back to the show's producers.
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133points
#29
TIL that the surgeon August Bier tested on his own assistant a form of anesthesia consisting of injecting cocaine directly into the spine, and to check how effective it was, he stuck a needle in his leg, hit him in the shins with a hammer, ripped off his pubic hair and even squeezed his testicles.
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130points
#30
TIL that Sigmund Freud was a Cocaine Addict, and he personally prescribed it to his wife and friends
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126points
#31
TIL in 1962 boxer Emile Griffith fought Welterweight Champion Benny Paret. At the weigh-in, Paret infuriated Griffith, a bisexual man, by touching his buttocks and making a homophobic slur. Griffith won the bout by knockout; Paret never recovered consciousness and died in the hospital 10 days later.
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120points
#33
TIL of the Fontana delle Tette in Treviso, North Italy, a XVI century topless statue of a woman sprinkling water from each nipple. During celebrations, it spouts red and white wine, free to drink.
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117points
#34
TIL that the highest-ranking US military officer of Vietnamese descent is the only survivor of a family whose killer was photographed being shot in the head in a Pulitzer-winning photograph.
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98points
#35
TIL When Emperor Nero got his mistress pregnant, he divorced and banished his wife Octavia. When this led to a public outcry, he instead had her executed.
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91points