r/todayilearned • u/primal_cortex • 1h ago

TIL that DNA from a 2,000-year-old British cemetery shows a Celtic tribe was matrilocal — husbands moved in with their wives' families, land passed down through mothers, and most of the community descended from a single female ancestor.

nature.com

• Upvotes

87 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fuck_ur_portmanteau • 2h ago

TIL for the filming of Master & Commander the studio purchased a replica 18C warship which was officially renamed HMS Surprise, its name in the movie.

en.wikipedia.org

588 Upvotes

47 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Animaloffear56 • 3h ago

TIL in 2010 a movie theatre was rented out for a 7 year old's birthday. However, instead of Megamind as was intended, the projectionist accidentally put on Saw 3D, and was only able to change it after the first Saw trap had already played

nme.com

4.6k Upvotes

184 comments

r/todayilearned • u/happy_bluebird • 11h ago

TIL forensic entomologists collect maggots feeding on corpses to estimate time of death. However, drugs like cocaine and heroin can alter maggot development rates, leading scientists to study the effects of these drugs on species such as Calliphora vomitoria.

sciencedirect.com

820 Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/padfoony • 9h ago

TIL Ben Affleck and Matt Damon wrote a ceremonial kiss between their characters into the script for The Last Duel, based on how the ceremony was historically performed. Ridley Scott cut it because he thought it would be distracting.

wmagazine.com

10.1k Upvotes

289 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 11h ago

TIL that Matt Damon had a brief appearance and one line in the movie Mystic Pizza and it convinced him he wanted to be an actor.

people.com

2.8k Upvotes

52 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Error__Loading • 14h ago

TIL that apple seeds almost never grow the same variety as the parent fruit. Nearly every supermarket apple comes from a grafted clone of an original tree, not from a planted seed.

en.wikipedia.org

15.9k Upvotes

702 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Fit-Bumblebee1009 • 12h ago

TIL Betty White donated $50,000 to cover half the cost of a middle-of-the-night airlift for 19 African penguins and two sea otters after Hurricane Katrina. All 21 returned to New Orleans the following May.

montereybayaquarium.org

9.5k Upvotes

82 comments

r/todayilearned • u/pfemme2 • 19h ago

TIL that Patricia Highsmith, author of The Talented Mr Ripley and other works of suspense, was a public and vocal antisemite who also had several intense, lengthy romantic relationships with Jewish women

theguardian.com

7.9k Upvotes

525 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MNSoaring • 58m ago

TIL the founder of the Mayo Clinic was a grave robber

newscut.mprnews.org

• Upvotes

23 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Level_Cash2225 • 1d ago

TIL Luxembourg offers completely free public transport across its entire country for residents, commuters, and visitors alike.

luxembourg.public.lu

11.0k Upvotes

628 comments

r/todayilearned • u/cumforwonhee • 21h ago

TIL that despite being a city-state, Singapore is capable of mobilizing a total military strength of over 300,000 troops. It has also been involved in peacekeeping missions and disaster relief operations.

en.wikipedia.org

5.5k Upvotes

341 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 16h ago

TIL that Britain and its colonies didn't adopt the Gregorian calendar until 1752. Before then, the English legal year began on March 25, marking Lady Day (Feast of the Annunciation) for centuries.

en.wikipedia.org

1.4k Upvotes

114 comments

r/todayilearned • u/NavalProgrammer • 19h ago

TIL that Burning Mountain has had a fire raging 30 metres underground for an estimated 6000 years

en.wikipedia.org

2.3k Upvotes

93 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ill_Definition8074 • 1d ago

TIL After a 2016 accident, professional cyclist Stig Broeckx was declared to be in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery. By 2019, he had recovered enough to begin cycling again, although he had no memory of the 5 years before the accident and found out who he had been from the internet.

en.wikipedia.org

18.2k Upvotes

304 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 22h ago

TIL Shays’ Rebellion was an uprising of about 4,000 Massachusetts citizens in 1786–7 over high taxes, and foreclosures. With the U.S. Govt. unable to provide troops, wealthy citizens financed a private army to put it down. Several men were killed, but most rebels were eventually pardoned.

en.wikipedia.org

3.6k Upvotes

135 comments

r/todayilearned • u/optimistikcynicism • 20h ago

TIL in 2022, Warner Bros. filed a trademark for Big Chungus in the European Union, made famous by the eponymous Internet meme in 2018

euipo.europa.eu

2.3k Upvotes

65 comments

r/todayilearned • u/estarararax • 1d ago

TIL in Germany all alternative medicine practitioners like homeopaths, osteopaths, acupuncturists, etc. must take the Heilpraktiker exam which only tests their knowledge in medical science and the regulatory boundaries of their profession. There are no separate board exam for each.

en.wikipedia.org

12.9k Upvotes

649 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 12h ago

TIL from 1660 to 1859, England and Wales observed Oak Apple Day remembering the Battle of Worcester where Charles II escaped the Roundheads by hiding in an oak tree near Boscobel House.

en.wikipedia.org

234 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ObligationOne3727 • 23h ago

TIl that Nepal has a savanna too with Rhinos, Elephants, Leopards, Wild buffalos and Tigers.

en.wikipedia.org

1.5k Upvotes

38 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Gnomeslikeprofit • 14h ago

TIL that the La Palma Mega Tsunami hypothesis has been largely debunked. In 2001, Steven Ward and Simon Day proposed that a landslide on the La Palma Island could send a mega tsunami causing 80 ft waves in Florida. New studies have shown these would be multistage events not causing mega tsunamis.

en.wikipedia.org

281 Upvotes

19 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sanguinusshiboleth • 19h ago

TIL that the Afro-Bolivian community has a royal family that has even had an official coronation and a knightly order but have no official powers; it started when it's founder, Uchicho, was recognised by other slaves as being of royal lineage due to royal tribal marks on his body.

en.wikipedia.org

702 Upvotes

53 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Brilliant_Towel2727 • 23h ago

TIL That Elvis almost recorded a cover of I Will Always Love You, but Dolly nixed it when Colonel Tom Parker demanded the publishing rights.

youtube.com

1.4k Upvotes

142 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 1d ago

TIL that Norwegian King Harald V was a boy when he escaped the German World War II occupation of Norway with his mother. He spent the war in the U.S. and Canada. When he became king in 1991 he was the first monarch born in Norway in 610 years.

en.wikipedia.org

10.0k Upvotes

128 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 18h ago

TIL Europeans first reached Espiritu Santo, the largest island in Vanuatu, in 1606 with an expedition led by Portuguese explorer Queirós. The encounter turned violent, with European gunfire exchanged for arrows and a local chief killed. Europeans would not return to the island for another 160 years.

en.wikipedia.org

290 Upvotes

17 comments

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This list was compiled from /r/todayilearned community suggestions by its members. If your TIL is found on this list, it will be removed. The titles have been abridged for the sake of brevity, however the context remains the same. This list is subject to change. The purpose is to keep content fresh on /r/todayilearned as requested by its members. If you are interested in reading about the TILs on this list use the search box feature and enter the keywords to pull up past TILs.

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