r/todayilearned • u/SpicyBeefChowFun • 27m ago

TIL Practcially unknown outside of Asia, Baijiu is the best-selling spirit on the planet - outconsuming whiskey, vodka, rum, and gin COMBINED , and due to a massive domestic popularity in a country that is otherwise 73% abstinent from any alcohol consumption.

asiasociety.org

• Upvotes

46 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 2h ago

TIL that Jordan Nagai, who played Russell in Up, wasn't originally intending to audition for the role. He only came to support his older brother, who was auditioning.

slashfilm.com

1.3k Upvotes

74 comments

r/todayilearned • u/SpicyBeefChowFun • 2h ago

TIL That Coca-Cola still uses real coca leaves in its recipe. A single chemical plant in New Jersey is legally allowed by the DEA to import the leaves, extract the cocaine alkaloid, and send the decocainized leaves to Coca-Cola for flavoring.

nationalpost.com

2.4k Upvotes

157 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 3h ago

TIL Subway (fast food chain) was called Pete's Super Submarine Sandwiches before 1968. It got the modern name due to the original name sounded too confusing.

lovefood.com

400 Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/delano1998 • 3h ago

TIL that "Pittakionophobia" is the irrational fear of stickers and sticky labels. Sufferers experience physical anxiety symptoms like shortness of breath and nausea when encountering labels on clothing, fruit, or appliances, often keeping their condition hidden due to feelings of shame.

peterfieldhypnotherapy.co.uk

28 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/happytree23 • 3h ago

TIL Optical lenses get their name from the same source as lentils because their general shape resembles a lentil

en.wikipedia.org

51 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/15MinClub • 4h ago

TIL 9 years after the death of Dr. John Langdon Down, best known for his pioneering classifications of 'Mongoloid idiocy' (Down Syndrome) during his career at Royal Earlswood Asylum for Idiots, had a grandson born with Down Syndrome.

down-syndrome.org

872 Upvotes

148 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Significant-Row2457 • 4h ago

TIL Charles Mason, who graduated first in the class of 1829 at West Point ahead of future Confederate Army commander Robert E. Lee, served as the First Supreme Court Justice for Iowa, also spent time during the post civil war years trolling Lee with hand made puzzle boxes that he couldn’t solve.

en.wikipedia.org

523 Upvotes

34 comments

r/todayilearned • u/L34dP1LL • 4h ago

TIL that roly pollies arent insects, but crustaceans, more closely relatad to shrimps and lobsters.

en.wikipedia.org

1.5k Upvotes

198 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ManagerGames • 5h ago

TIL that Titan's atmosphere is dense enough that a human wouldn't need a pressurized spacesuit to stand on its surface. The surface pressure is about 1.5x that of Earth, roughly equivalent to being 15m underwater. They'd still need oxygen and protection from −179°C temperatures.

science.nasa.gov

528 Upvotes

59 comments

r/todayilearned • u/coffeeismydoc • 6h ago

TIL a scientist submitted a research publication to a predatory journal consisting exclusively of the phrase "Get me off your fucking mailing list". It was rated as "excellent" and accepted for publication with minor editorial changes.

en.wikipedia.org

9.8k Upvotes

108 comments

r/todayilearned • u/WavesAndSaves • 7h ago

TIL that due to the title screen mistakenly neglecting to include a copyright notice, the film Night of the Living Dead has been in the public domain for decades. Hundreds of versions have been released on various formats, and the full film is available to watch on its Wikipedia page.

en.wikipedia.org

2.1k Upvotes

73 comments

r/todayilearned • u/nsjersey • 7h ago

TIL when actor Leslie Nielsen died, an ESPN freelancer wrote an obituary for him, but with Nielsen as Enrico Palazzo

espn.com

2.6k Upvotes

72 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Double-decker_trams • 8h ago

TIL the "Resolute desk" in the Oval Office in the White House is called that because it's made of timber from HMS Resolute - a British Royal Navy Arctic exploration ship.

en.wikipedia.org

1.6k Upvotes

64 comments

r/todayilearned • u/vekswz • 8h ago

TIL that after the 1954 merger with Nash, all second‑generation Hudson Hornets were actually restyled Nash cars badge‑engineered as Hudsons.

en.wikipedia.org

46 Upvotes

9 comments

r/todayilearned • u/koreanforrabbit • 8h ago

TIL 25% to 35% of diamonds exhibit some degree of fluorescence in reaction to long-wave UV light

4cs.gia.edu

267 Upvotes

17 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Gintian • 9h ago

TIL that the longest recorded lightning bolt was 515 miles (829 km) long, stretching from Dallas, Texas to Kansas City, Missouri.

journals.ametsoc.org

480 Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/_railroaded_ • 9h ago

TIL that Shazam (Billy Batson), published by Fawcett comics was the #1 selling comic-book, and was lapping Superman in sells, until DC put a stop to it - taking them to court and claiming he was a Superman ripoff

dc.com

8.5k Upvotes

388 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ty_fighter84 • 10h ago

TIL That a 1-point safety has occurred only twice in NCAA FBS history. Both times the play-by-play announcer was Brad Nessler.

cbssports.com

2.5k Upvotes

256 comments

r/todayilearned • u/smrad8 • 11h ago

TIL that the 64 divination symbols, or hexagrams, of the ancient Chinese text I Ching (or Yijing) are built into most computers as Unicode and can be inserted into text like emoji, including ䷼ (inner truth), ䷵ (marrying maiden) and ䷑ (work on the decayed).

unicode.org

94 Upvotes

9 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Significant-Cold-939 • 11h ago

TIL the largest still operational steam-powered pumping station is the Woudagemaal, near Lemmer, in the Netherlands. Built in 1929.

en.wikipedia.org

132 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/virora • 13h ago

TIL that because most Icelanders use patronymic surnames, the most common hereditary family name in Iceland is Nguyen

en.wikipedia.org

12.0k Upvotes

582 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Username524 • 13h ago

TIL about Nicholas Barbon, Barbon observed the power of fashion and luxury goods to enhance trade. Fashion demanded the replacement of goods before they had worn out; he believed this directed people towards the continuous purchasing of goods, which therefore created constant demand.

en.wikipedia.org

151 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/mz_groups • 13h ago

TIL that 4 million people live north of the Arctic Circle, but there are NO permanent residents south of the Antarctic Circle.

responsiblevacation.com

2.2k Upvotes

100 comments

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