/r/TodayILearned is a default subreddit on Reddit.com with over 13,000,000 subscribers. Redditors post things they have recently learned IRL as well as while browsing the web.
The subreddit is one of the older ones on Reddit at over 7 years old.
Submissions to TodayILearned must be verifiable and linked to a reliable source.
This is a recent very interesting one:
TIL With funds from ALS 2014 Ice Bucket Challenge, scientists found a gene called NEK1 and can now develop gene therapy to treat inherited ALS
The most upvoted TodayILearned post of all time is:
TIL most Japanese schools do not employ janitors or custodians. The Japanese education system believes that requiring students to clean the school themselves teaches respect, responsibility, and emphasizes equality.
with over 15,000 upvotes and over 2000 comments discussing this post.
The second most upvoted post of all time is :
TIL at a Marine Mammal Studies Institute, dolphins were trained to turn in trash that fell into the pools in exchange for fish. One dolphin was smart enough to hide pieces of paper under a rock, tearing off smaller pieces from the paper in order to get more fish out of it.
not far behind #1 with 14,600 upvotes and 1200 comments discussing it.
Rounding out the top 3 most popular post in TodayILearned is:
TIL that a newspaper posted a poll asking readers if watching Blackfish -- a documentary critical of SeaWorld for keeping orcas captive -- changed their opinions of SeaWorld. The results were "No." It was later revealed that 55% of the votes came from a single IP address . . . hosted by SeaWorld
with 14,200 upvotes and 2400 comments discussing this topic.
The most commented on post in the top 200 posts of all time is:
TIL during World War II, President Dwight D. Einsenhower predicted that people would try to deny the holocaust ever happened, and therefore ordered people to take as much photographs of the Nazi crimes as possible in order to avoid such attempts.
with over 4500 comments (this doesn't surprise me as this is a controversial topic, there is even a subreddit for holocaust deniers on Reddit)
Other interesting TodayILearned submissions include:
TIL: Leonardo da Vinci's Codex Hammer was purchased for $30,802,500 in 1994 by Bill Gates; 3 years later he released a digital version of the historic diary for all the world to enjoy.
TIL ABC has been cutting scenes from "A Charlie Brown Christmas", a movie about the excessive commercialization of Christmas, to make room for more commercials.
TIL millionaire Michael O'Leary, CEO of airline Ryanair, has his own taxicab company with just one cab so he can legally use the bus lanes and avoid traffic jams
(I love this one!!)
TIL a Russian mathematician solved a 100 year old math problem. He declined the Fields medal, $1 million in awards, and later retired from math because he hated the recognition the math community gives to people who prove things
TIL That the Sacramento Public Library started a "Library of Things" earlier this year, allowing patrons to check out, among other things, sewing machines and other items that patrons may find useful, but don't need to own long-term.
TIL blood donors in Sweden are sent a text message every time their blood is used to save a life.
TIL There were ancient stone tablets in Japan's recent tsunami struck areas with inscriptions "Do not build your homes below this point!"
TIL the number of vasectomies during March Madness goes up 50+% because guys schedule the procedure during that time so they can sit around and watch basketball for days during recovery.
TIL that in 2006, 75% of Chinese didn't know that sharks were killed to make shark fin soup. But now, 91% of Chinese support a nationwide ban, thanks to activism work by Yao Ming and others
TIL that a father was denied access to see his premature twins in the NICU when Beyoncé and Jay-Z had their daughter at the same time
TIL: Rice does not need to grow in water, but since it can survive it, is done so to control weeds and other pests- creating higher yields.
TIL a sailor who wishes to grow a beard in the Royal Navy has to submit a ‘permission to stop shaving’ form. He is then allowed two weeks to ‘grow a full set’ before he presents himself to the Master at Arms who will decide if his beard looks stupid or is respectably full enough to be permitted.
TIL Prosecutors tried to put wrongfully convicted Juan Rivera back in prison for murder by introducing new evidence of blood on shoes; defense proved the shoes were not available for sale until after the alleged murder, resulting in an evidence tampering investigation
TIL that in 2013, after more than 20 years of soda being America's number one beverage, water has taken over as Americans' favorite drink.
TIL: Dr Barry Marshal was convinced that H. pylori bacteria caused stomach ulcers, but no one believed him. Since it was illegal to test his theory on humans, he drank the bacteria himself, developed ulcers within days, treated them with antibiotics and went on to win a Nobel prize
Next time you learn something interesting drop by
https://www.reddit.com/r/todayilearned/
and share!! You'll get lots of fake internet points (known as Karma) and you might even get Reddit Gold!
When you are having a dinner party or BBQ you can check out /r/TodayILearned and share what you learned there for example:
Today I learned that once you become President of the United States of America you can no longer drive on public roads.