TIL David Goggins went from a 297-lb exterminator to losing 106 lb in under 3 months, enduring Navy SEAL Hell Week 3 times, graduating Ranger School as Honor Man, and becoming the only U.S. servicemem
TIL Fred Dibnah was a UK steeplejack who became a TV celebrity after being filmed repairing Bolton Town Hall nearly 250 feet up. He demolished industrial chimneys without explosives by propping them w
TIL energy content of food are measured by burning a dehydrated food in an oxygen filled canister surrounded by water. The burning of the food item gives off energy that heats the surrounding water. T
TIL that, according to a nationwide cross-sectional study in the Netherlands, stool withholding was reported by 71.4% of high school students, mainly due to privacy, hygiene, and taboo. There were no
TIL, a man who drank 8 liters of Ruby Red Squirt every day for a few months developed skin lesions from bromine toxicity stemming from brominated vegetable oil used as an additive back then
TIL that before they had even settled on the name Nirvana, Kurt Cobain and Krist Novoselic recorded 10 songs in about 6 hours for just $152.44, then played a show that night.
TIL Pink noise is a constant sound in the background but has a lower pitch than white noise. Examples include wind rustling through trees or waves on a beach. Brown noise makes a rumbling sound that’s
TIL that in 1936, a 10-year-old boy was one of the first people to review "The Hobbit". His father was Tolkien's publisher, and his favourable verdict was instrumental in getting the book published.
TIL The British Stevenson Plan (1922–1928) restricted natural rubber supply to raise prices. While initially successful, the artificial price hike motivated competitors—especially the Dutch—to boost t
TIL Dionysios the Philosopher revolted against Ottoman rule in 1611. Captured and reportedly flayed alive, his skin was stuffed with straw, dressed in his robes, and paraded through Ioannina. Ottoman
TIL that in some places trains must possess a metal token to travel on the line. The conductor will grab a loop with the new token and drop off the old token while the train is moving. A token can be
TIL that diatoms generate about 20 to 50 percent of the oxygen produced on the planet each year, and take in over 6.7 billion tonnes of silicon each year from the waters in which they live.
TIL the final battle in Avengers: Endgame was originally much longer, with its own three-act structure. One planned scene had the battle stopping for about three minutes so 18 characters could discuss
TIL the Ritonavir crisis of 1998, an event where the life-saving HIV medication (Form I) became insoluble in water, happened when a more stable, insoluble form of the drug (Form II) was discovered. As
TIL that production on Cast Away was halted for about a year so Tom Hanks could lose weight and grow his hair and beard. During the hiatus, director Robert Zemeckis made What Lies Beneath with most of
TIL that in ancient times, labdanum, the resin that is the main ingredient of the amber scent in perfumery, was collected by combing it from the beards and thighs of goats and sheep that had grazed on
TIL when Harambe was 2 years old, his mother, his 11-month-old brother, and his two-year-old half-sister died of chlorine gas poisoning after a container of chlorine solution left too close to a space
TIL that in 1928, up to 2,000 United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) workers and their families were massacred by Colombian troops in the town square of Ciénaga, allegedly to prevent an invasion by U.S.
TIL that Pink Floyd's The Wall is implied to be an endless loop. The final song, Outside the Wall, ends with the words "Isn't this where...", and the album begins with the words "... we came in?" with
TIL that the ancient Egyptians had their own “Egyptologist” — a prince who lived around 1,200 BCE and deliberately restored monuments that were already more than 1,000 years old.
TIL that before alarm clocks were cheap and reliable, Britain had a real profession called "knocker-uppers" who were paid to wake up workers by tapping on their bedroom windows with long bamboo sticks
TIL the Mimizuka monument in Japan houses thousands of ears and noses of Korean people that Japanese warriors sliced off during Toyotomi's invasion of Korea (1590s). Generally, most Japanese people do
TIL that In 2022, a man won a free drink in a contest while on a cruise. This was his last memory before waking up overboard in the Gulf of Mexico without the ship in sight. He treaded water for 18 ho
TIL a man who ate between 6-9 pounds of cheese, sticks of butter, and hamburgers a day for about 8 months developed xanthelasma and raised yellow lesions caused by cholesterol appeared on his eyelids.
TIL prion disease, which is 100% fatal and has no cure, can survive in soil for years, spread to growing plants or wildlife, and can be reliably destroyed through sustained heat of at least 900°F for
TIL mathematician Leonhard Euler's right eye started going blind in 1738, and his left eye went blind as well in 1766. His blindness did not seem to have a major impact on his productivity, and in 177
TIL that a tiny mummy found with the ancient Egyptian high priestess Maatkare Mutemhat was long thought to be her baby, until X-rays revealed it was a mummified monkey.
TIL about The Battle of Evarts, a gunfight between striking coal miners and anti-union gunmen in 1931 during the Harlan County Coal Wars in southeastern Kentucky, which left four dead. The coal wars i
TIL Blue Peter is the longest-running children's TV show in the world, having been broadcast since October 1958.The "Blue Peter" is used as a maritime signal, indicating that a vessel flying it is abo
TIL that in 1900, a physician named Jesse William Lazear wanted to prove that yellow fever was transmitted by mosquitoes. He allowed an infected mosquito to bite him, and he became infected with yello
TIL that in parts of Afghanistan, the number 39 is looked down upon due the number's association with prostitution. People who had car plates with the number had difficulty selling them.
TIL that around 40% of Yemen’s total renewable water resources are used to grow khat, a mildly amphetamine-like drug widely consumed across the country and of major importance to its economy, despite
TIL about Pablo’s Group. Mountain gorillas usually have 5-10 in a group, but Pablo’s Group consisted of a historic 65 gorillas in 2006, partly due to the dominant silverback leaders forming an allianc
TIL that a British Royal Marine and Liverpool FC fan had the club's motto 'You'll Never Walk Alone' tattooed on his leg. After standing on a mine, his leg was amputated and lost the word 'alone' in th
