People say that every day you learn something new. And while that sounds like a cliche, it’s very much true, especially if you’re a regular user of the internet or an avid reader (in a world where people’s interest in reading is, unfortunately, declining). It’s no secret that both are an infinite source of all sorts of random facts and material on basically every topic there is, so it’s really up to you to decide how much you want to learn each day.
If you’re looking to learn something new on a regular basis, chances are you are already part of the subreddit fittingly titled ‘Today I Learned’, which is where we want to shed light on this beautiful day. On the list below, you will find numerous facts and stories, as shared by said community, so if you’re eager to scratch that itch in your brain, wait no longer and start reading, and make sure to upvote the pieces of information that intrigued you the most.
Below you will also find Bored Panda’s interview with an assistant professor in the Faculty of Education at Lakehead University, Dr. Tanya Kaefer, who was kind enough to answer a few of our questions on learning.
#21
In a feat of rage, Emperor Hadrian once stabbed a slave in the eye with a pen. Feeling regretful whe he calmed down, Hadrian called the slave and told him to ask for literally anything as compensation. The slave replied "i just want my eye back"
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76points
#22
Charles de Gaulle was not told about the D-Day landings until 2 days before as the British and French leaders did not believe the French could keep the information secret
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76points
#23
20% of scientific genetics research papers have errors due to Microsoft Excel's auto-formatting of gene names into dates
72points
#24
A young couple in Japan divorce and remarry each other every 3 years to take turns using their family names, all because they can't come into agreement on which last name to use
71points
#25
DJ scratching was invented in 1975 when Grand Wizzard Theodore was playing records loudly, making his mother to enter his room to scold him. This caused him to hold the record still, accidentally moving it back and forth and liking the sound it made
71points
#26
The 2010 Flash Crash, during which the US stock market temporarily lost $1 trillion in value, was partly caused by Navinder Sarao, an autistic man living in his parents' London home. In a span of 5 years, Sarao made a profit of $40 million by tricking high frequency traders with custom software
67points
#27
71 year old Bernard Gore was supposed to meet his wife and daughter in a mall in Sydney after first doing a little shopping himself. Instead, he exited a mall door leading to a stairwell labyrinth and was found dead 3 weeks later failing to find his way out
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65points
#28
The Goths besieging Constantinople in 378 AD were left stunned when one of the defenders stormed out of the city completely naked, decapitated one of the attackers and proceeded to drink the blood from his neck
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55points
#29
Until earlier this year it was legal for apartments in Austin, Texas to have no windows, and that landlords often didn't disclose this in advertisements
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54points
#30
The Last Of Us accidentally contains an IRL phone number, that leads directly to an adult hotline service
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51points
