We learn something new every day. Sometimes completely by chance. For example, did you know that French newborns cry with a rising melody, while German newborns cry with a falling melody? Or that people living within one mile of a golf course have a 126% higher risk of a Parkinson's Disease diagnosis than those living further away?
If you're looking for some new gems to add to your wealth of knowledge, you might want to join a community of like-minded individuals over at the Today I Learned page. More than 5.2 million people pop in every week to devour and share fascinating and fun facts. Every now and again, Bored Panda compiles a list of the page's best posts and we're giving you another round right now...
#61
TIL after a shopping mall in South Korea collapsed in June 1995, the last survivor who was discovered buried in the rubble was a 19-year-old woman named Park Sung-Hyun who was found after 16 days. Although she thought she'd only been buried for 5 days.
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18points
#62
TIL while attempting to land a role in The Wire, Idris Elba hid his English accent from series creator David Simon to prove he was "American enough" for the part. In his 4th audition, Simon found out. However, by that time Elba had already impressed Simon enough to convince him to give Elba the role
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17points
#63
TIL that Hebrew is the only successful attempt at a large-scale linguistic revival. After having largely been replaced by other languages between the 2nd and 4th centuries. It was revived as a language beginning in the late 19th century
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16points
#64
TIL that the oldest active organization affiliated with New Orleans Mardi Gras hasn't marched in the parade since 1991 because it refuses to let non-white people join.
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15points
#65
TIL that Japanese meteorologist Wasaburo Oishi was the first person to discover jet streams in the atmosphere, but his discovery was largely unrecognized outside of his home country because he published it in the constructed language of Esperanto
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15points
#66
TIL during the Battle of France, one month before he became the leader of the Vichy regime, Philippe Pétain coincidentally found himself dining at the same restaurant at Charles de Gaulle. They shook hands in silence and never saw each other again.
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15points
#67
TIL in the Vietnam war in the classified Operation Popeye, the US spread lead and silver iodide by aircraft to extend the monsoon season. The increased heavy rainfall was to soften roads, cause landslides, wash out river crossings, and maintain saturated soil conditions (Kissinger was involved).
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14points
#68
TIL in 2007 Katherine Heigl won an Emmy for Outstanding Supporting Actress in a Drama for her role on Grey's Anatomy. But in 2008 she removed herself from Emmy consideration because she said the material she was given on Grey's that year wasn't good enough; this comment led to her leaving the show.
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13points
#69
TIL that at the Beatles last stadium concert at Candlestick Park, there were 7,000 unsold tickets and the promoter lost money. They played for just 33 minutes.
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12points
#70
TIL that American ginseng is so valuable ($300-$500 a pound) that poachers risk jail time to steal roots from the Appalachia mountains
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11points
#71
TIL about a highly mysterious company called JCM Farming, which owns an unusually fortified 80-acre "olive farm" in California protected by massive walls and armed guards and successfully sued several ballooners and ballooning companies out of business back in 2011
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10points
#72
TIL that in 2018, singer Akon announced the development of "Akon City," a planned community in Senegal which he claimed would be a "real life Wakanda," using blockchain and cryptocurrency technology. Construction began in 2023, but as of 2025 the site sits abandoned
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10points
#73
TIL of the “spirit effect”, whereby spirit airlines entering a new route would cause other carriers to drop prices, making prices more affordable for regular Americans
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8points
#74
TIL that the SpongeBob episode "Mid-Life Crustacean" was removed from the Nickelodeon rotation and Paramount+ because it included a "panty raid" scene.
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8points
#75
TIL that the name "Khaleesi" has been in the top 1,000 list of popular names used for newborns since 2014. Though the popularity has decreased since "Game of Thrones" ended, there are about 120 girls names Khaleesi each year
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8points
#76
TIL about the "Endless Eight" arc of the anime The Melancholy of Haruhi Suzumiya. The arc, which featured the characters of the show trapped in a time loop, featured the same episode eight times in a row with minute differences, all animated and recorded from scratch each time.
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7points
#77
TIL Cheeseface, the dog on National Lampoon's infamous 1973 "If you don't buy this magazine, we'll kill this dog" cover, was shot and killed by an unidentified hunter on his owner's farm three years after it came out.
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-3points