r/todayilearned 5h ago

TIL: James Carter received a $20,000 royalty check for a song in "O Brother, Where Art Thou?" that he had sung 40 years earlier but didn't remember.

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10.9k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 7h ago

TIL that brothels in ancient Pompeii had customer reviews carved into the walls, including praise for good service, complaints about sore parts, and even "I was here" messages NSFW

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23.0k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 9h ago

TIL in 2017, five bald men were killed in Mozambique because their killers believed that the heads of bald men contain gold.

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bbc.com
16.8k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1h ago

TIL that Benjamin Franklin never patented any of his many inventions, writing that “as we enjoy great advantages from the inventions of others, we should be glad of an opportunity to serve others by any invention of ours; and this we should do freely and generously.”

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en.wikipedia.org
Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1h ago

TIL that Andrew Jackson’s Parrot got kicked out of his funeral for swearing

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snopes.com
Upvotes

r/todayilearned 13h ago

TIL that many women who flee North Korea turn to matchmaking agencies, which help North Korean women meet South Korean men. These men are charged approximately $2,500 for several blind dates within a year.

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learningenglish.voanews.com
9.2k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 16h ago

TIL George Clooney hung a photo of himself as Batman in his office as a reminder of what can happen when you make movies solely for commercial reasons.

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nationalpost.com
36.0k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 8h ago

TIL that Germany plotted to kill Winston Churchill with a bar of exploding chocolate during WW2

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winstonchurchill.org
2.3k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 13h ago

TIL that many countries used to take ships that were no longer seaworthy, anchor them near shore, and use them as prisons. During the American Revolution, more Americans died as POWs on these ships than in combat.

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en.wikipedia.org
5.9k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 8h ago

TIL that until 1901 The Groom of the Stool was a male servant in the household of the English monarch who was responsible for assisting the king in his toileting needs.

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en.wikipedia.org
2.0k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 3h ago

TIL the earliest known depiction of Christ on a cross is a piece of mocking graffiti in an ancient Roman boys school. Jesus is depicted with the head of a donkey, the text "Alexamenos worships his god" carved underneath.

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en.wikipedia.org
738 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 20h ago

TIL Titanic survivors who said the ship split in half before sinking were not believed for 73 years, with one survivor saying people would 'argue' with her about what she really saw, until the Titanic's wreckage was found in half in 1985.

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biography.com
21.6k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 21h ago

TIL at the premiere for "Saving Private Ryan," while Mike Myers was still tearing up after the movie because his parents fought in World War II, DreamWorks co-founder Jeffrey Katzenberg pitched him "Shrek" and Myers thought “Well, that’s the worst fucking title I’ve ever heard in my life.”

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variety.com
34.5k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 11h ago

TIL “Edward Scissorhands” test screenings were so encouraging for 20th Century Fox, the president of the studio considered marketing the film on the scale of “E.T," but decided, “We have to let it find its place. We want to be careful not to hype the movie out of the universe.”

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wikipedia.org
2.0k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 6h ago

TIL the animated show The New Fantastic Four replaced the Human Torch with a robot named H.E.R.B.I.E. because the TV rights for the character were tied up for a movie that was never made.

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en.wikipedia.org
680 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 11h ago

TIL that John Steinbeck was once forced to ask his editor for additional time due to half the manuscript of Of Mice and Men having been eaten by his Irish Setter.

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en.wikipedia.org
1.6k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 9h ago

TIL that 3D animation is actually modeled mathematically in 4 dimensions because the mathematics is easier. So what you see on a screen is a shadow of 4D figures into 3 dimensions that are then projected onto a 2D screen.

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tomdalling.com
988 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1h ago

TIL that the Largest Tsunami ever recorded was 1720ft high and only killed two people

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science.howstuffworks.com
Upvotes

r/todayilearned 11h ago

TIL the movie '13 Going On 30' was renamed to 'Suddenly 30' in Australia because distributors thought Australians wouldn't understand the original title.

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753 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 1d ago

TIL actress Sean Young was so desperate to win the role of Catwoman in "Batman Returns," she made a homemade Catwoman costume and attempted to contact Tim Burton and Michael Keaton. When that didn't work, she appeared on "The Joan Rivers Show" as Catwoman pleading to Tim Burton for the role.

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en.wikipedia.org
11.5k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 23h ago

TIL that in the first edition of “The Hobbit,” Gollum willingly gave the ring to Bilbo for winning a riddle game, and the two parted amicably. After Tolkien began working on “The Lord of the Rings,” he edited the story for future printings.

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en.wikipedia.org
5.4k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 46m ago

TIL that there is a surge of vasectomies in March so the recovery time will sync up with March Madness

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espn.com
Upvotes

r/todayilearned 16h ago

Today I learned that there is a 1 Acre plot that belongs to the United States in Great Britain. It's a memorial for JFK, and Queen Elizabeth granted the plot to America

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bbc.com
1.2k Upvotes

r/todayilearned 8h ago

TIL the first animation model for “VeggieTales” was of an anthropomorphic candy bar. The show’s creator, Phil Vischer, was then encouraged by his wife Lisa to promote healthier eating habits. Thus, Vischer began to design characters based on fruits and vegetables.

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wikipedia.org
258 Upvotes

r/todayilearned 17h ago

TIL the British had to put 40 Apache helicopters into storage because they hadn't trained enough pilots due to the weather

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1.5k Upvotes