r/todayilearned • u/signaldecoderr • 5h ago

TIL that Thomas Edison created talking dolls in 1888, and a recording made for one of them remained unheard for 123 years until scientists digitally recovered it in 2011.

home.nps.gov

1.5k Upvotes

51 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MikeW86 • 1h ago

TIL James Dyson's first original invention was the Ballbarrow, which uses a Sphere instead of a wheel.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

78 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dahliaridge • 2h ago

TIL that after Binance lost about 7,000 BTC (roughly $40 million) in a 2019 hack, it covered every user's losses from an emergency insurance fund it had set up the year before, called SAFU (Secure Asset Fund for Users). Binance had been putting aside 10% of all trading fees into it since 2018.

thehackernews.com

780 Upvotes

125 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 14h ago

TIL the first recorded separation of conjoined twins took place in the Byzantine Empire in the 900s. One of the conjoined twins had already died, so the doctors attempted to separate the dead twin from the surviving one. The remaining twin lived for three days after separation.

en.wikipedia.org

7.8k Upvotes

114 comments

r/todayilearned • u/pangea1430 • 10h ago

TIL The largest Cavalry charge in history occurred at the Battle of Vienna in 1683 when 18,000 horsemen, including 3,000 of the famed Polish “Winged Hussars”, charged into battle against 80,000 Ottomans.

en.wikipedia.org

3.5k Upvotes

400 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dizzy-Cartoonist3011 • 18h ago

TIL that the Hessians were confused by the American cause during the War of Independence after observing the level of wealth in America, with one soldier quoting "A colonist on Staten Island lived as comfortably as a German country gentleman"

smithsonianmag.com

20.1k Upvotes

1.2k comments

r/todayilearned • u/AetheriaNox • 19h ago

TIL Cow tipping, the purported activity of sneaking up on any unsuspecting or sleeping upright cow and pushing it over for entertainment, is considered an urban legend. Estimates suggest it would take 4-14 people to achieve this.

en.wikipedia.org

15.8k Upvotes

1.6k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dramatic_Parsley_121 • 13h ago

TIL Robert Wilson was an American surgeon who treated survivors during the Nanjing Massacre in 1937. He was one of the few doctors who stayed after the Japanese took control of the city. He returned to the US in 1940 and never went back to China.

scholarworks.uni.edu

2.6k Upvotes

36 comments

r/todayilearned • u/T_A_T_N • 23h ago

TIL that ancient Egypt had its own "Egyptologist"—Prince Khaemweset (c. 1281–1225 BCE), who spent his life identifying and restoring monuments that were already over 1,000 years old in his lifetime.

en.wikipedia.org

18.0k Upvotes

366 comments

r/todayilearned • u/mahrogamers • 1d ago

TIL that an ancient Egyptian tomb painting from around 1900 BC shows a man pouring water on sand in front of a sledge carrying a huge statue, and in 2014 physicists found that wetting the sand halves the force needed to pull it

iop.uva.nl

20.6k Upvotes

854 comments

r/todayilearned • u/pigeon-in-greggs • 18h ago

TIL the ps3 still gets updates, 20 years after its release

ign.com

3.3k Upvotes

95 comments

r/todayilearned • u/LeviBrown55 • 1d ago

TIL Salivating before vomiting is a way for your body to protect your teeth from thr incoming stomach acid

columbiatribune.com

26.5k Upvotes

823 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Not_so_ghetto • 14m ago

TIL. Most Americans still support space programs and 67% support going back to the moon

pragmaticpapers.com

• Upvotes

36 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 20h ago

TIL that in 1874, Congress passed legislation to stop the slaughter of American bison but President Ulysses S. Grant vetoed it. Ultimately hunters slaughtered 4.4 million bison.

en.wikipedia.org

4.6k Upvotes

238 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Equivalent-Peanut-23 • 17h ago

TIL by tonnage of enemy ships sunk, the most effective Allied aircraft in WWII was an open cockpit biplane which carried a single torpedo.

en.wikipedia.org

2.2k Upvotes

148 comments

r/todayilearned • u/EssexGuyUpNorth • 16h ago

TIL about The Manual, a tongue-in-cheek book by The Timelords (AKA The KLF) about how to achieve a No.1 single with no money or musical skills. The Austrian band Edelweiss used it to to sell 5m copies of their song Bring Me Edelweiss.

en.wikipedia.org

1.7k Upvotes

102 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 19h ago

TIL India after independence initially intended to keep the English as an official language before transitioning to Hindi 15 years after adopting the 1950 constitution. Southern Indians, which spoke Dravidian languages like Tamil were opposed to this and the status continued.

en.wikipedia.org

2.6k Upvotes

281 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Crocs_of_Steel • 19h ago

TIL the first ever radio communication from an aircraft in flight: “Roy, come and get this ---damn cat.”

airandspace.si.edu

2.0k Upvotes

31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 15h ago

TIL about the "Maunder Minimum", a period between 1645 and 1715 when sunspots became exceedingly rare. In the 28 years between 1672 and 1699, only 50 sunspots were observed, while a similar time period today would see around 40,000–50,000 sunspots.

en.wikipedia.org

1.0k Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ManagerGames • 7h ago

TIL that Peru has a naturally purple variety of corn that's been used for centuries to make traditional drinks, desserts and soups. Unlike the yellow or white corn most of us are used to, its color comes from anthocyanins, like the colors of blueberries, blackberries, and red cabbage

cimmyt.org

196 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TwinStickDad • 1h ago

TIL that in 1855, then- Secretary of War Jefferson Davis approved plans for the United States Army Camel Corps, a project that would purchase camels for use as pack animals in the United States campaigns against Native Americans in the southwestern deserts

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Zimmonda • 20h ago

TIL That in WW2 Japanese draftee's were referred to by their commanders and veteran soldiers as "Issen Gorin" or "Penny Postcard" in English. Because the value of their lives was seen as being worth less than the postage on their draft notice.

en.wikipedia.org

1.5k Upvotes

114 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ForgingIron • 22h ago

TIL that there is one more Roman numeral: S, used to represent 1/2.

en.wikipedia.org

1.8k Upvotes

105 comments

r/todayilearned • u/delano1998 • 1h ago

TIL of the halldorophone, an electro-acoustic string instrument built around the deliberate use of audio feedback. Instead of avoiding feedback, it uses internal speakers to vibrate the strings, creating haunting, organic drone sounds. It was famously used for 2019’s Joker movie score.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Smartstift • 1d ago

TIL in an Irish folk tale, Stingy Jack tricks the Devil twice, is refused by both heaven and hell, and must wander the twilight world with an ember from hell, which he puts in a carved turnip as a lantern.

en.wikipedia.org

2.0k Upvotes

100 comments

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