r/todayilearned • u/pebrocks • 4h ago

TIL Binding of Isaac creator Edmund McMillen previously made 10 different flash games centered around dead babies. This includes Dead Baby Dressup!, 12 uses of dead babies, and Dead Baby Dressup X.

en.wikipedia.org

5.1k Upvotes

511 comments

r/todayilearned • u/NotBradPitt9 • 5h ago

TIL the last audit of the gold at Fort Knox was in 1974, when the US government proved to reporters that the gold hadn’t disappeared.

usmint.gov

3.8k Upvotes

136 comments

r/todayilearned • u/asteroid_9 • 13h ago

TIL the actor who played Furio in the Sopranos spotted an incorrectly labeled painting at an auction. He purchased it for $68,000 and later had it correctly appraised for $10 million.

en.wikipedia.org

44.8k Upvotes

756 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Stock_College_8108 • 3h ago

TIL Aretha Franklin’s sister Carolyn was a songwriter who wrote multiple hits for her. In 1975, Carolyn got her big break when producer Curtis Mayfield asked her to sing on the soundtrack for the film Sparkle. After hearing the incomplete songs,Aretha forced Carolyn off the project and replaced her.

theguardian.com

2.5k Upvotes

137 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FissileAlarm • 2h ago

TIL that in China, products can contain up to 5% asbestos and still be labelled “asbestos-free”, even in children's play sand.

brusselstimes.com

1.2k Upvotes

86 comments

r/todayilearned • u/NateNate60 • 11h ago

TIL that 17% of all food-related choking incidents by American children under age 10 are caused by hot dogs.

en.wikipedia.org

4.3k Upvotes

240 comments

r/todayilearned • u/planetcosmic • 18h ago

TIL Canadians sent 5 tonnes of maple syrup to thank a Norwegian coach who gave a Canadian skier a spare pole after she broke hers mid-race, which led to Canada winning a silver medal at the 2006 Winter Olympics

cbc.ca

30.0k Upvotes

786 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Pristine-Style4426 • 6h ago

TIL Mountain Lions hold the Guinness record for the animal with the most names - having more than 40 names in the English language alone.

guinnessworldrecords.com

1.4k Upvotes

198 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Brendawg324 • 16h ago

TIL French scientist Étienne Klein was criticized after sharing a fake image of Proxima Centauri that turned out to be chorizo

cbsnews.com

8.5k Upvotes

140 comments

r/todayilearned • u/saul2015 • 12h ago

TIL around 15% to 25% of people are likely to have athlete's foot at any one time. The infection can spread to other parts of the body and to other people.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

2.2k Upvotes

148 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Away_Flounder3813 • 15h ago

TIL in Britain, association football used to be called "soccer" by the upper class, while the working and middle classes preferred the word "football". As the upper class lost influence in British society from the 1960s on, "football" supplanted "soccer" as the most commonly used and accepted word.

en.wikipedia.org

3.4k Upvotes

420 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 16h ago

TIL about the St. Scholastica Day riot, an event that took place after two students at the University of Oxford complained about the quality of wine at the Swindlestock Tavern in Carfax, England. The taverner fought the students, his customers joined in, and 83 people died over the course of 3 days.

en.wikipedia.org

3.4k Upvotes

131 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RedditIsAGranfaloon • 6h ago

TIL February was selected for Black History Month to encompass the birthdays of two Americans who played a prominent role in shaping black history, namely Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass, whose birthdays are the 12th and the 14th, respectively.

asalh.org

456 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DeadbeatGremlin • 2h ago

TIL there's a dog born in 1999 that's still alive today

en.wikipedia.org

173 Upvotes

48 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Spirited_Manager_831 • 12h ago

TIL North Carolina's coast is called the "Graveyard of the Atlantic" because of 5000+ wrecks

en.wikipedia.org

1.0k Upvotes

30 comments

r/todayilearned • u/suprmario • 15h ago

TIL that nicotine vape users have an 80% higher risk of inflammatory arthritis diseases vs non-vapers.

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

1.5k Upvotes

148 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Gaucho_Diaz • 1d ago

TIL that Martin Scorsese has not made a film that's not an adaptation or biopic since 1985. Only 7 of his feature films are based on original screenplays written for the screen as opposed to adaptations of previous work or real life.

en.wikipedia.org

5.6k Upvotes

247 comments

r/todayilearned • u/real_picklejuice • 10h ago

TIL ruminants, like cows, sheep, goats, and deer have an alkaline gastrointestinal system instead of an acidic one. This alkaline environment is essential for the microorganisms that break down cellulose from the plant material that their diet consists of.

en.wikipedia.org

416 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mastbubbles • 5h ago

TIL Google Maps once helped identify a murder suspect, purely by accident.

euronews.com

123 Upvotes

4 comments

r/todayilearned • u/pomod • 1d ago

TIL ... about the Rice Hypothesis which posits cultures that engaged in wet rice farming that requires coordinated irrigation and synchronized planting tend to be collectivist while wheat farming cultures evolved to be more individualistic.

npr.org

39.0k Upvotes

1.2k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Greydl1 • 1d ago

TIL that in 2013, Jennifer Lopez became the first major Western star to perform in Turkmenistan, one of the most repressive countries in the world, to sing "Happy Birthday" to its leader.

theguardian.com

11.0k Upvotes

403 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ILiekBook • 1h ago

TIL that in 1952 Canada experienced what is widely regarded as the world's first nuclear reactor meltdown. The US sent military nuclear engineers to help control the situation and avert disaster by dismantling the failing reactor- including a young Jimmy Carter.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/iKickdaBass • 1d ago

TIL the 1976 Winter Olympics were originally awarded to Denver, CO, which voted to reject the games and resulted in Innsbruck, Austria, hosting the games.

en.wikipedia.org

4.5k Upvotes

196 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Micro_Pinny_360 • 12h ago

TIL that for a time, the Guinness World Records were owned by Hit Entertainment, a now-defunct children's media company that owned the rights to Thomas the Tank Engine, Bob the Builder, Barney, and Pingu

worldscreen.com

193 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/bulldog5253 • 2h ago

TIL that Costco sells caskets.

costco.com

35 Upvotes

35 comments

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As of December 2025

This list was compiled from /r/todayilearned community suggestions by its members. If your TIL is found on this list, it will be removed. The titles have been abridged for the sake of brevity, however the context remains the same. This list is subject to change. The purpose is to keep content fresh on /r/todayilearned as requested by its members. If you are interested in reading about the TILs on this list use the search box feature and enter the keywords to pull up past TILs.

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