Score

Title

3419

TIL that crows are one of the smartest non-primate animals on earth, with the intelligence of a 7-year-old human. They use and manipulate tools, they have long-term memory including facial recognition, and they understand analogy.

10440

TIL humans live closer to the time of the T-Rex than the T.rex lived to the time of Stegosaurus

1229

TIL of sensimilla which is a female cannabis plant that has been prevented from being fertilized and thus grows without seeds. The plant produces flower with a higher THC content since it is no longer putting energy into producing seeds.

1115

TIL Humans are not descendents of apes but are apes. They are more closely related to chimps and bonobonos than the African elephant to the Indian elephant

757

TIL that it's been more than 45 years since any human being has traveled far enough from our planet to capture a whole-Earth portrait like the famous "Blue Marble" photograph. 45 years!

1459

TIL Humans are the only primates with white in their eyes, which makes it easier to follow another human's gaze

4019

TIL that Winston Churchill was known to wander off somewhere in London and have conversations with people, to find out what they were thinking about the state of the war.

410

TIL that NASA is developing a clockwork rover that uses no electricity to survive the harsh climate of Venus. It's powered by a wind turbine, springs, and gears, and transmits data via a Morse code shutter.

335

TIL a bidet is considered a key green technology and uses significantly less water, electricity, and wood than a single roll of toilet paper

64410

TIL the Looney Toons Golden Collection DVDs have a disclaimer at the beginning given by Whoopi Goldberg explaining that the cartoons are a product of their time and contain ethnic stereotypes that have not been censored because editing them would be the same as denying the stereotypes ever existed

65508

TIL When Princess Diana went to Disneyland she made her sons Harry and William wait in line just like everyone else.

374

TIL you would need 76 work days to read all the privacy policies you agree to each year

348

TIL: New-born human infants can differentiate between genders, showing a clear preference for females. They're especially attracted to their own mother's face. They're also better at adults when recognizing features on a monkey's face.

183

TIL fruit flies enjoy having sex, and will resort to alcohol if they can’t get it.

248

TIL that Polaris, the 'North Star' was not used by ancients for navigation. It only became the closest naked-eye star to the celestial pole in Medieval times. Before that, the Ursa Minor constellation was used for navigation.

166

TIL that Frank Sinatra did not serve in the military during WWII, classified as F4 (Registrant not acceptable for military service) because the US Army considered him "not acceptable material from a psychiatric viewpoint".

1473

TIL that a 95-year-old war veteran saved his abandoned village in Taiwan from demolition by covering the entire settlement with colorful painted-characters. "Rainbow Village" is now a protected cultural site and tourist destination.

1186

TIL More than 10,000 shipping containers are lost at sea every year.

1048

TIL In honor of the Space Shuttle Challenger disaster, the Soviet Union named a crater on Venus after Christa McAuliffe, who was supposed to be the first teacher in space but died in the disaster.

1699

TIL: Veterinary doctors have a high suicide rate and experience psychological distress at a rate nearly double that of the general public

75

TIL that in 1410, King Martin of Aragon died from a combination of indigestion and uncontrollable laughter triggered by a joke told by his favourite court jester.

111

TIL that Pizza Hut released their signature perfume "Eau de Pizza Hut" in Canada in 2012, and the intended fragrance was of "a box of Pizza Hut pizza being opened."

178

TIL screensavers were originally created as a way to prevent burn-in on old CRT screens, where if the image stayed the same for too long it would get burnt into the screen.

14966

TIL an Applebee's Waitress in Colorado had her ID stolen on her night off. 2 weeks later while working, a woman orders a drink, and hands the waitress the waitresses stolen ID.

268

TIL CD/DVD data is contained in the plastic not the shiny part. The shiny part is just so the laser bounces back.

64

TIL that Jack's nude sketch of Rose in the movie Titanic was actually drawn by director James Cameron himself on set.

6575

TIL since 2011, NOAA has required the use of thinner, weaker hooks, in the Gulf of Mexico, that straighten to release large bluefin tuna before they die of exhaustion on the line, which resulted in 75% less dead, discarded fish in the Gulf.

1639

TIL of "The Immortal Game", a casual match between chess grand masters in the interim of the first international chess tournament. Despite not being an official match, it is considered one of the most famous matches of all time.

53

TIL that when Niels Bohr escaped from Denmark, he was smuggled out in the bomb bay of a Mosquito bomber. Because he didn't wear his helmet, he didn't hear the pilot instructing him to put on his mask, causing him to pass out from oxygen starvation for most of the flight.

55057

TIL that in 1973 the Who’s drummer Keith Moon passed out mid-show. The band continued without him for several songs before Townshend asked, "Can anyone play the drums? – I mean somebody good?" 19 year old Scot Halpin, who had bought scalped tickets came up and played the rest of the show.

43

TIL if you invested $1 each in stocks and gold in 1801, by 1998 you'd have over $500K in stock and 78 cents in gold.

2162

TIL there's an auditory illusion named the Shepard Tone, where multiple octaves are looped in such a way that it sounds like it's a sound rising in tone for infinity.

113

TIL of "Rolling Coal", the practice of modifying a vehicle's diesel engine in order to emit large amounts of black or grey sooty exhaust fumes into the air

58

TIL that maggots can be used to help wounds heal, as they only eat dead tissue

626

TIL Elves in middle earth are immortal. If their body is killed their spirit is given a choice to either stay in middle earth or move to a higher plane. Almost none return after death.

6487

TIL M'lady/Fedora guys is Jerry Messing. Before his internet stardom he was the child actor who played Pugsley in Addams Family Reunion as well as Gordon Crisp, the smelly kid in Freaks and Geeks.

25

TIL the official units of measure in the USA are metric units like meters & kilograms, & it has been like this since 1875 when the US signed the Convention of the Meter. This was reinforced by the 1975 Metric Conversion Law & a 1991 Presidential Executive Order.

43

TIL that the average male ejaculates at a speed of 28mph (40kph), which is faster than the speed limit in most school zones.

83

TIL that the Discovery Channel will be opening a $1B Eco-Tourism resort in Costa Rica.

45

TIL you weigh less the closer you are to the equator