Think about the most recent interesting thing that you learned about the world. The odds are that fewer people know what you know than you realize. Luckily, there are friendly, top-quality online communities like ‘Today I Learned’ that encourage internet users to openly share all the new knowledge they’ve acquired.
Today, we’re featuring some of the freshest, most fascinating TIL facts about the world to help keep your mind sharp and wake your curiosity up. Keep scrolling to learn something new to impress your friends with.
#21 Humans Are Among The Very Top Mammals For Endurance Running
While we aren't the best sprinters, our slow-twitch muscles and unique ability to sweat allow us to run steadily for long distances in hot weather to outlast prey
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41points
#22 That When You Remember Something You're Not Accessing The Original Memory
Your brain reconstructs it from scratch every time and slightly rewrites it in the process which is why memories change over time
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41points
#23 The Author Of The Original "The Outsiders" Novel Began Writing The Book When She Was Just 15, And Was Published When She Was 18
She released it using her initials and not her full name so the book wouldn't be dismissed offhand by male book reviewers
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40points
#25 That Alaska Airlines Worker John Liotine Had His Recommendation To Replace An Aging Jackscrew On An MD-83 During Routine Maintenance Overruled In 1997
On January 31st, 2000 the same MD-83, Alaska Airlines Flight 261 crashed mid flight over the Pacific Ocean due to the jackscrew failing
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38points
#26 That A 7-Year-Old Discovered He Could Make Free Long-Distance Phone Calls In The 1950s By Whistling At Certain Frequencies
Born blind and with perfect pitch, Joe Engressia a.k.a. Joybubbles was an early "phreaker" whose exploits inspired Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak during his college years.
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37points
#27 That 45 Years Ago, Saudi Arabia Built A 1,200-Kilometer Oil Pipeline From The Persian Gulf To The Red Sea, Just In Case The Strait Of Hormuz Ever Got Blocked
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37points
#28 Nearly 80% Of Us Workers Report That They Have Been Victims Of 'Career Catfishing’ From Employers
Which in this context, the term describes when a company misrepresents a job, their company culture, or compensation to lure in candidates
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36points
#29 Karl Patterson Schmidt. A Renowned Herpetologist, Schmidt Was Accidentally Bitten By A Young Boomslag Snake While In His Lab
Once he started noticing symptoms, he meticulously wrote down what he was experiencing until he passed away
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36points
#30 A Missionary Noticed A Pot (Actually A Ship's Bell) Used In A Maori Village To Boil Potatoes, Had An Unfamiliar Script On It
The language was later identified to be Tamil, spoken in India, Sri Lanka and Singapore. Recent dating suggests the bell was cast in the 17th or 18th century
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36points
#31 The Person In Charge Of The Kamikaze Defence Of Okinawa, Admiral Matome Ugaki, Flew The Last Kamikaze Flight Himself
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36points
#32 In 1385, A Portuguese Army Of 6,600 Men Defeated A Massive Castilian Army Of 31,000 In The Battle Of Aljubarrota
The victory was so decisive it secured Portugal's independence for the next 200 years
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35points
#33 Kaiser Wilhelm II Was On Vacation When WW1 Started. Upon His Return Kaiser Was Furious At Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg Over Ultimatum Saying "How Did It All Happen?"
He offered resignation as apology but Wilhelm refused to accept it stating "You've made this stew, now you're going to eat it!"
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35points
#34 Georg Gaertner, A Pow Who Escaped A Camp In New Mexico In 1945, Lived As A Fugitive For 40 Years And Eventually Got Citizenship
Because he had been brought to the US involuntarily and escaped the camp after the war, he was not charged with a crime and lived in the US for the rest of his life.
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35points
#35 Chicken Sold In Supermarkets Are Often "Plumped" With A Salt Water Solution To Increase Sell Weight, Making Up As Much As 30% Of The Total Weight
A serving of plumped chicken can contain between 200 and 500mg of sodium while non-plumped chicken generally contains 45 to 70mg
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34points
#36 Danny Devito And Robert Reich Are So Short Because They Both Suffer From Multiple Epiphyseal Dysplasia, A Rare Genetic Disorder That Slows Bone Growth
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34points
#38 That In 1997, A Full-Scale Replica Of The Simpsons House Was Built In Henderson, Nevada, As A Contest Grand Prize, But The Winner Opted To Take The Cash Instead Of The House
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33points
#39 The Eruption From A Coke And Mentos Geyser Isn't Caused By A Chemical Reaction, But Rather A Physical One
The surface of the Mento has millions of cavities which serve as nucleation sites for carbon dioxide to desaturate from.
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30points
#40 That Half Of The Earth's Subsurface Heat Comes From Radioactive Decay, While The Other Half Is Still Left Over From When The Earth Formed
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29points
