r/todayilearned

▲ 1.5k r/todayilearned

TIL when producer Jon Peters was working on a new Superman movie in 1996, he wanted Superman to fight a giant spider in the third act. The film was cancelled in 1998, and Peters reused his giant spider idea the next year in "Wild Wild West."

en.wikipedia.org

u/WouldbeWanderer — 3 hours ago

🔥 Hot ▲ 42.9k r/todayilearned+2 crossposts

TIL that after Christopher Eccleston left his role as the Doctor in Doctor Who, the BBC made a false statement about his reasons for leaving, and subsequently blacklisted him. Eccleston has since said he would not return to the show unless the producers responsible were sacked.

en.wikipedia.org

u/Jaymdh224 — 7 hours ago

▲ 543 r/todayilearned

TIL your metabolism doesn't actually decline steadily from your 20s onward — research suggests it stays flat from age 20 to 60, and only starts dropping after that

nbcnews.com

u/Lina2158 — 2 hours ago

▲ 4.2k r/todayilearned+2 crossposts

TIL the main dining hall at CU Boulder is named after Alferd Packer, Colorado’s only convicted cannibal. Students voted for it in 1968, and the original slogan was “Have a Friend for Lunch”

denver7.com

u/Anwallen — 5 hours ago

▲ 127 r/todayilearned

TIL the famous "War of the Bucket" wasn't actually fought over a bucket. The 1325 conflict between Modena and Bologna was driven by political and territorial rivalries, while the stolen wooden bucket became a symbolic war trophy that's still preserved in Italy today.

en.wikipedia.org

u/Prosperr_support — 2 hours ago

🔥 Hot ▲ 34.0k r/todayilearned+1 crossposts

TIL that most restrooms are free in the USA due to activism efforts in the 70s by the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America. Membership in the Committee cost $0.25, and members received a newsletter, the Free Toilet Paper.

en.wikipedia.org

u/Anwallen — 11 hours ago

🔥 Hot ▲ 12.2k r/todayilearned

TIL that Alan Napier had never read comic books and did not know about Batman. He told his agent "It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of. He said, 'It may be worth over $100,000.' So I said I was Batman's butler". Napier played Alfred on 111 episodes of the 1966 TV show.

birminghammail.co.uk

u/TMWNN — 10 hours ago

▲ 668 r/todayilearned

TIL In 1995 it was reported that Microsoft paying $3M for the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up was the first use of the band’s music for ads because of their reluctance for licensing. However it was the 2nd time as they were paid £400 in 1964 to write and perform a jingle for a Rice Krispies commercial.

en.wikipedia.org

u/NextRace6 — 6 hours ago

▲ 574 r/todayilearned

TIL that in 2024, a new species of spider from China was named after the American brand and media franchise of model cars Hot wheels and Sisyphus, a king from Greek mythology. Its scientific name is Hotwheels sisyphus.

en.wikipedia.org

u/Apart_Ambition5764 — 6 hours ago

▲ 839 r/todayilearned

TIL that during the War of 1812, about 1,500 Canadian militia, Indigenous allies, and British soldiers used bugle calls, war cries, and deception to convince an invading American force of about 4,000 to retreat before reaching Montreal at the Battle of the Châteauguay.

en.wikipedia.org

u/WorldTravelerBoss — 8 hours ago

▲ 239 r/todayilearned

TIL El Tráfico is the Los Angeles Derby soccer match between the two MLS clubs- LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC. It refers to the notorious traffic congestion in Los Angeles, among the worst in the United States and the world, while also serving as a pun on Spain's "El Clasico"

en.wikipedia.org

u/electroctopus — 5 hours ago

▲ 1.2k r/todayilearned

TIL a practical joke created a real book: annoyed at how bestseller lists were made, radio host Jean Shepherd urged listeners to ask bookstores for "I, Libertine"—a novel that didn't exist. Fans spread the hoax so widely that Ballantine Books hired Theodore Sturgeon to write it, publishing in 1956.

en.wikipedia.org

u/ralphbernardo — 8 hours ago

▲ 133 r/todayilearned

TIL Opabinia, a 508-million-year-old animal, had five eyes, a backward-facing mouth, and a claw-tipped proboscis; when its reconstruction was first shown at a scientific meeting, the audience laughed.

lindahall.org

u/ItsRehok — 4 hours ago

▲ 172 r/todayilearned

TIL that the Kool & the Gang song "Celebration" was inspired by a passage in the Quran in which God creates Adam and the angels rejoice

stereogum.com

u/mbelinkie — 6 hours ago

▲ 1.7k r/todayilearned

TIL that a man has won the lottery four times. David Serkin won $1M in May 2025 in the Western Canada Lottery, $500K in August 2024, $1M in November 2023, and $250K about 10 years earlier.

nowtoronto.com

u/TMWNN — 10 hours ago

▲ 99 r/todayilearned

TIL that all mute swans in England are the property of the British Monarch

en.wikipedia.org

u/carlos4068 — 5 hours ago

▲ 830 r/todayilearned

TIL at the Armstrong limit (18–19 km above sea level), water and other fluids such as saliva, tears, urine and liquids inside the lungs boil at the normal temperature of the human body

en.wikipedia.org

u/Johannes_P — 9 hours ago

🔥 Hot ▲ 6.4k r/todayilearned

TIL in 1913, a roulette wheel at the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco spun black 26 times in a row, which had an approximately 1 in 68 million chance of happening. Gamblers lost millions of francs betting against black thinking that after so many black spins, a long red streak must follow.

en.wikipedia.org

u/NateNate60 — 13 hours ago

▲ 270 r/todayilearned

TIL During the peak of its stoke value in 1720, the South Sea Company sponsored "the bubble act", a law that was supposed to prevent the formation of fraudulent stock bubble companies without Royal approval. The SSC itself, was a stock bubble: The act was meant to prevent competitors from emerging

en.wikipedia.org

u/Mors_Acerba — 7 hours ago

▲ 2.9k r/todayilearned

TIL in the 1960s and 70s, a German doctor analysed thousands of roulette spins at European casinos and realised that wheel imbalances caused certain numbers to land more often than others. He took the casinos for over a million dollars and was called "a menace to every casino in Europe".

en.wikipedia.org

u/NateNate60 — 13 hours ago

r/todayilearned

TIL when producer Jon Peters was working on a new Superman movie in 1996, he wanted Superman to fight a giant spider in the third act. The film was cancelled in 1998, and Peters reused his giant spider idea the next year in "Wild Wild West."

TIL that after Christopher Eccleston left his role as the Doctor in Doctor Who, the BBC made a false statement about his reasons for leaving, and subsequently blacklisted him. Eccleston has since said he would not return to the show unless the producers responsible were sacked.

TIL your metabolism doesn't actually decline steadily from your 20s onward — research suggests it stays flat from age 20 to 60, and only starts dropping after that

TIL the main dining hall at CU Boulder is named after Alferd Packer, Colorado’s only convicted cannibal. Students voted for it in 1968, and the original slogan was “Have a Friend for Lunch”

TIL the famous "War of the Bucket" wasn't actually fought over a bucket. The 1325 conflict between Modena and Bologna was driven by political and territorial rivalries, while the stolen wooden bucket became a symbolic war trophy that's still preserved in Italy today.

TIL that most restrooms are free in the USA due to activism efforts in the 70s by the Committee to End Pay Toilets in America. Membership in the Committee cost $0.25, and members received a newsletter, the Free Toilet Paper.

TIL that Alan Napier had never read comic books and did not know about Batman. He told his agent "It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of. He said, 'It may be worth over $100,000.' So I said I was Batman's butler". Napier played Alfred on 111 episodes of the 1966 TV show.

TIL that in 2024, a new species of spider from China was named after the American brand and media franchise of model cars Hot wheels and Sisyphus, a king from Greek mythology. Its scientific name is Hotwheels sisyphus.

TIL that during the War of 1812, about 1,500 Canadian militia, Indigenous allies, and British soldiers used bugle calls, war cries, and deception to convince an invading American force of about 4,000 to retreat before reaching Montreal at the Battle of the Châteauguay.

TIL El Tráfico is the Los Angeles Derby soccer match between the two MLS clubs- LA Galaxy and Los Angeles FC. It refers to the notorious traffic congestion in Los Angeles, among the worst in the United States and the world, while also serving as a pun on Spain's "El Clasico"

TIL Opabinia, a 508-million-year-old animal, had five eyes, a backward-facing mouth, and a claw-tipped proboscis; when its reconstruction was first shown at a scientific meeting, the audience laughed.

TIL that the Kool &amp; the Gang song "Celebration" was inspired by a passage in the Quran in which God creates Adam and the angels rejoice

TIL that a man has won the lottery four times. David Serkin won $1M in May 2025 in the Western Canada Lottery, $500K in August 2024, $1M in November 2023, and $250K about 10 years earlier.

TIL that all mute swans in England are the property of the British Monarch

TIL at the Armstrong limit (18–19 km above sea level), water and other fluids such as saliva, tears, urine and liquids inside the lungs boil at the normal temperature of the human body

TIL in 1913, a roulette wheel at the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco spun black 26 times in a row, which had an approximately 1 in 68 million chance of happening. Gamblers lost millions of francs betting against black thinking that after so many black spins, a long red streak must follow.

TIL During the peak of its stoke value in 1720, the South Sea Company sponsored "the bubble act", a law that was supposed to prevent the formation of fraudulent stock bubble companies without Royal approval. The SSC itself, was a stock bubble: The act was meant to prevent competitors from emerging

TIL in the 1960s and 70s, a German doctor analysed thousands of roulette spins at European casinos and realised that wheel imbalances caused certain numbers to land more often than others. He took the casinos for over a million dollars and was called "a menace to every casino in Europe".

TIL that the Kool & the Gang song "Celebration" was inspired by a passage in the Quran in which God creates Adam and the angels rejoice