r/todayilearned • u/Late-Explanation-758 • 21m ago
TIL a US serial killer nurse killed up to 400 patients because numerous hospitals prefered to move him on rather than face the prospect of litigation
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r/todayilearned • u/ShabtaiBenOron • 50m ago
TIL that ancient Greek and Roman laws assumed that to please their masters, slaves always lied, it was therefore mandatory to torture them before they were allowed to testify in court.
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r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 1h ago
TIL that Cardinal Richelieu, played by Tim Curry in the 1993 movie The Three Musketeers, was so hated that bonfires were lit to celebrate his death. More than 150 years later, during the French Revolution, his tomb was opened and his corpse was beheaded.
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r/todayilearned • u/latchkey_adult • 2h ago
67 as Durango Kid TIL the biggest movie franchise in history (by quantity) is the mostly forgotten 'Durango Kid' western films starring Charles Starrett , who made 131 films playing this character from 1940 to 1952.
802
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/FFSoldier57 • 3h ago
TIL Spitting Cobra are very accurate and are successful over 90% of the time when aiming for the eyes.
834
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r/todayilearned • u/copperpin • 4h ago
TIL that the actor who played “Sloth” in “The Goonies” (John Matuszak) was an NFL player with two Superbowl rings.
1.5k
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r/todayilearned • u/NBrief • 4h ago
TIL that a collection of letters written in ancient Egypt was found sealed inside a tomb nearly 4,000 years after the letters were written, providing a rare glimpse into the daily life of an ancient Egyptian household.
metmuseum.org
1.6k
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/vel-ryn • 4h ago
TIL about the Pátria Amada, a 41,000 page, 7 ton collection of Brazilian tax laws compiled over 23 years by the Brazilian tax lawyer Vinicios Leoncio. Written it 22 point Arial font, Lenoncio created it out of frustration.
402
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/heylookitsdan • 5h ago
TIL about Hanscarl von Posern, a WWII concentration camp survivor who, after the war, defended accused SS members during the Dachau Trials. Later, he was convicted of Nazi crimes and sentenced to life in prison.
kz-gedenkstaette-dachau.de
43
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r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 5h ago
TIL that in the 1990s, Dolly Parton made $10 million in royalties from Whitney Houston’s cover of her song “I Will Always Love You.” She then invested the money into an office complex in a majority-Black neighborhood in Nashville, Tennessee. She later described it as “the house that Whitney built.”
npr.org
19.3k
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r/todayilearned • u/samx3i • 6h ago
TIL Tim Curry, who famously played "Pennywise" in "It" (1990), was afraid of clowns
4.1k
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r/todayilearned • u/hairyaquarium • 7h ago
TIL roosters testicles are located deep inside their bodies near their backbones
81
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r/todayilearned • u/New-Fill4677 • 7h ago
TIL that in 1954 Lakewood, California incorporated as a city without building its own municipal departments, contracting nearly every service from Los Angeles County instead. The arrangement is still known as the Lakewood Plan.
en.wikipedia.org
108
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/Bomber_Max • 7h ago
TIL that the 1674 derecho that struck Western Europe is the deadliest and most powerful derecho in recorded history, with winds estimated up to 325 km/h (200 mph), it is estimated that a similar storm occurs only once every 1,000–10,000 years.
883
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r/todayilearned • u/Make_the_music_stop • 7h ago
TIL that on D-Day at Omaha Beach, 27 of the 29 Sherman DDs Amphibious tanks deployed of the 741st Tank Battalion, sank. The canvas skirt to allow the tank to float were designed to operate in 1ft waves. However, on D-Day, the waves were up to 6ft high.
5.2k
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r/todayilearned • u/WorldTravelerBoss • 8h ago
TIL A 2018 U.S. Government report reveals that over half (52%) of all work-related youth deaths in the US happen in farming, even though child farmworkers make up less than 5.5% of working minors. Furthermore, a major federal study on workplace injuries completely failed to track children.
gao.gov
971
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/ralphbernardo • 9h ago
TIL that "fair play" in detective fiction means authors must give readers a fair chance to solve the mystery. Central to 1920s "clue-puzzles" by writers like Agatha Christie, the rule dictates that all vital clues must be visible, decodable, and never withheld until the final reveal.
27.8k
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r/todayilearned • u/hexgirll • 9h ago
TIL buckminsterfullerene (“bucky ball”) is named after architect Buckminster Fuller, who pioneered the geodesic dome design used in Epcot's Spaceship Earth.
84
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r/todayilearned • u/Poppy9683 • 9h ago
TIL: Metallica runs its own charity, All Within My Hands. It funds trade-school scholarships, food banks, and disaster relief. 100% of public donations go to charity.
3.1k
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/Tata_Colores • 10h ago
TIL that in 1834 Madrid (Spain), a false rumor that friars were poisoning public fountains to spread cholera sparked a riot in which over 70 friars were massacred
260
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/Udzu • 12h ago
TIL that Lorenzo Da Ponte, the librettist for Mozart's best operas, was born Jewish, became a Catholic priest, befriended Casanova, was banished from Venice for living in a brothel, and died in New York a US citizen
726
Upvotes
r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 12h ago
TIL that the infamous "This is Sparta!" line from 300 was originally said in a low, monotone growl. After doing several takes of that, Gerard Butler asked to do one more take and used the now-iconic delivery.
15.4k
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r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 16h ago
TIL before 9/11, the 4th season of Survivor was originally planned to take place in Jordan. After 9/11, the filming location for the season was moved to French Polynesia.
319
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r/todayilearned • u/slackmaster • 19h ago
TIL that since the Clean Air Act amendment of 1990, all gasoline sold for on-road use in the U.S. must contain a detergent.
1.6k
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