35 Interesting Facts We Bet You Didn't Know

It is never late to learn something new

Damjan

• Published in Interesting
• August 28, 2022

The Internet gave us an incredible opportunity to have all this knowledge and information at our fingertips, but it has also created a big problem. Because any information is easily and instantly available, we take knowledge for granted.

Before the internet, you would have to go through tons of books and encyclopedias to find the info you were looking for. it stimulated your neurons, and it made you remember the info much longer. Now, we just scroll, without really paying attention, and Google serves us the information without telling us how it got it.

And when we don't see the things and information connecting, we won't remember them for long. We rarely learn anything new when we browse the internet, and we frequently forget what we have already learned.

When was the last time you glanced through something helpful? Consider our long-gone attention spans that social media has slashed to the bone.

Well, there is a way to fight that. One of the best ways is to visit the online community "Today I Learned," which promotes curiosity by disseminating some of the most fascinating and little-known items, facts, and knowledge that we all value.

Pull your seat closer and indulge in the trip guilt-free because this is the day for the newest TIL batch.

1. Exorcism and Apollo 11

TIL the boy whose exorcism was the inspiration behind The Exorcist grew up to be a NASA engineer. His work contributed to the Apollo mission in the '60s.

2. Starbucks gift cards

TIL Consumers lose $3 billion a year in unspent gift cards, with starbucks itself having $140 million in unused gift cards.

3. Exiled statue

4. Robot bowler

TIL The professional bowler Chris Barnes once beat a robot optimized to throw strikes

5. Painful tests

TIL that the surgeon August Bier tested on his own assistant a form of anesthesia consisting of injecting cocaine directly into the spine, and to check how effective it was, he stuck a needle in his leg, hit him in the shins with a hammer, ripped off his pubic hair and even squeezed his testicles

6. A suicide square in The Game of Life

7. Ridiculing always ends badly

8. Brave woman...

TIL US President John Adam’s beloved daughter Nabby developed breast cancer and underwent a complete mastectomy without anesthesia while strapped to a chair.

9. Amazing connection

10. The Titanic Orphans

TIL The only children to survive the Titanic without a parent were two brothers aged 2 and 4. Their father kidnapped them from his ex-wife and boarded the ship with a fake name. The father didn’t survive and for weeks the boys were known as the Titanic Orphans until their mother was found.

11. Story Musgrave

12. Sigmund Freud had an addiction

TIL that Sigmund Freud was a Cocaine Addict, and he personally prescribed it to his wife and friends

13. Joe Delaney - a true hero

TIL in 1983, NFL Chiefs running back Joe Delaney sacrificed his life in an attempt to save three children from drowning. His number is unofficially retired by the team and a statue was put up in his hometown.

14. Nero and his wives...

TIL When Emperor Nero got his mistress pregnant, he divorced and banished his wife Octavia. When this led to a public outcry, he instead had her executed.

15. Hormel Foods has a hatemail file

TIL that Hormel Foods keeps a file of hatemail they've received from American soldiers who had to eat the notorious food product while at war overseas

16. A thousand-year-old sword on top of the mountain

TIL that when Yoshitaro Shibasaki and his team completed their 1907 ascent of Mount Tsurugi — thought to be the final unclimbed mountain remaining in the Japanese archipelago — they found an ancient sword at the summit that was later determined to have been left there more than 1000 years earlier.

17. A swimming champion with bad lungs

18. Some people really want attention

TIL of Lauren Stratford (Wilson) who wrote a book claiming that she was in a Satanic cult in which she sacrificed her own child. After magazine reporters exposed her as never having a child, she changed her name and claimed to be a holocaust survivor, and was exposed again by the same magazin

19. Quentin Tarantino directed an episode of CSI

TIL Quentin Tarantino directed an episode of CSI in 2005 after word of him being a fan of the show got back to the show's producers.

20. Blue hippos from Ancient Egypt

TIL that there are around 50-60 blue faience hippopotamus statuettes that survived from Ancient Egypt. Due to the danger hippos posed in the wild, they often snapped off the legs of hippopotamus statuettes before placing them in tombs, so the hippos wouldn’t be able to eat the soul of the deceased.

21. Greenpeace ship bombing

TIL French secret service agents bombed the Greenpeace ship "Rainbow Warrior in order to stop Greenpeace from disrupting underwater nuclear testing in 1985.

22. The Hebrew Hammer

23. Tasty dandelions

TIL that dandelions are edible and are actually really nutritious and can be eaten raw

24. Victoria Woodhull was the first woman nominated for US presidential election. This was in 1872

TIL: As far back as 1872, despite practically no women being allowed to vote, Victoria Woodhull of the Equal Rights Party became the first woman nominated for a US Presidential election. Frederick Douglass, a black abolitionist, was even chosen as her running mate

25. Primrose plants and bees

TIL that a 2019 study showed that evening primrose plants can "hear" the sound of a buzzing bee nearby and produce sweeter nectar in response to it.

26. Rage against the X Factor

TIL in 2009 British people rebelled against the ongoing trend of X Factor victors winning Christmas number one by purchasing copies of Rage Against the Machine

27. So, that's how it all started...

TIL that during World War II, the United States published a spy manual urging middle managers in enemy territory to sabotage their employers by bringing up irrelevant issues, promoting bad workers, haggling over petty details, and holding unnecessary meetings.

28. Go, Spaceballs!

TIL George Lucas not only gave his blessing to make Spaceballs, he also handed the movie over to his effects company, Industrial Light and Magic, to provide the space effects and postproduction

29. Doctor Who missing episodes...

TIL Episodes Five and Ten of 1960s story The Daleks' Master Plan were long considered missing until they were found in the basement of a Mormon church in Wandsworth. Nobody has found out how they got there.

30. "Do Drugs" pencils

TIL A company in the 90's made pencils with the anti-drug slogan "Too Cool to Do Drugs" but had to recall them because, when sharpened, they read "Do Drugs"

31. 15 is enough

TIL, despite its vastness, it only takes 39-40 digits of pi to calculate the size of the observable universe to an accuracy of 1 hydrogen atom. Because of this, NASA uses only 15 digits of pi in even their highest accuracy calculations.

32. The Glue

TIL that SNL called Phil Hartman "The Glue" because his professionalism and comedy skills held together so many sketches

33. Grass lawns were a way for people to say they are rich

TIL traditional grass lawns originated as a status symbol for the wealthy. Neatly cut lawns used solely for aesthetics became a status symbol as it demonstrated that the owner could afford to maintain grass that didn’t serve purposes of food production.

34. Corn sweat

TIL about corn sweat, where corn plants release water into the air. One acre of corn can release 3,000-4,000 gallons of water per day, and can raise the humidity level up to 10%.

35. Interesting statue

TIL of the Fontana delle Tette in Treviso, North Italy, a XVI century topless statue of a woman sprinkling water from each nipple. During celebrations, it spouts red and white wine, free to drink.

It is a big and interesting world out there, and it would be a shame to know only what social media and influencers are serving us. There are so many interesting stories waiting to be discovered and told.

And there is a benefit - besides expanding your knowledge, you are also putting your brain to work. Sounds good.

Damjan