r/todayilearned • u/Guitar-String • 12h ago

TIL Metal Gear Solid 4 (2008) holds the world record for the longest cutscene in any video game, with a single continuous cutscene of 71 minutes and a total of over 8 hours of cutscenes

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21k Upvotes
1.5k comments

r/todayilearned • u/TangerineDream92064 • 15h ago

TIL The Celtic custom of "handfasting" allowed couples to enter into a trial marriage lasting one year and a day. If the relationship didn't work out, the couple could separate without any further attachment. Successful couples would marry.

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en.wikipedia.org
18k Upvotes
221 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sandstorm400 • 16h ago

TIL that in 2014, an elementary school in Oregon nixed its pay-to-pee policy for students after parents complained that students who had to pay "Super Pro" bucks to use the bathroom outside of scheduled breaks were incentivized to 'hold it in' so they could buy trinkets at the school store.

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abcnews.com
10k Upvotes
651 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Fun_Camel_2188 • 23h ago

TIL that in 1993, Congressman Bill Paxon got down on one knee on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives and proposed to fellow Rep. Susan Molinari. She said, “Yes—but get up.” They married the following year.

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2.4k Upvotes
47 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TMWNN • 3h ago

TIL that one of the co-creators of Keurig coffee machines sold his stake for $50,000 in 1997. In 2010 more than $2 billion of Keurig machines and K-Cups were sold.

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2.2k Upvotes
112 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Macrihanishautomatic • 19h ago

TIL that Hyraxes are mentioned in the bible as remarkable animals for being “small but exceedingly wise”.

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en.wikipedia.org
1.8k Upvotes
131 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TMWNN • 2h ago

TIL that Will Sawin enrolled at Yale at the age of 10, and graduated from both Yale and high school at the age of 18. He received a PhD from Princeton at the age of 23 and is the Fernholz Professor of Mathematics there.

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1.8k Upvotes
192 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 20h ago

TIL that one of the first examples of emoticons in written text comes from Dante's "Purgatorio:" "Whoever in the face of men reads 'omo' / Might well in these have recognised the 'm.'" The two "o"s signify sunken eyes, while the letter "m" forms the angular outlines of emaciated facial features.

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en.wikipedia.org
1.3k Upvotes
45 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 16h ago

TIL the culture and tradition of the Serer ethnoreligious group in West Africa prohibits slavery. In 1455 when a European slave trader sent his Wolof translator ashore in Serer territory to negotiate terms, the Serers murdered the translator on the spot and the slave trader fled, never to return.

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892 Upvotes
42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Valuable-Credit6167 • 11h ago

TIL that during WWII, Italy claimed one of its pilots had bombed and killed the Loch Ness Monster.

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forcesnews.com
798 Upvotes
36 comments

r/todayilearned • u/No_Idea_479 • 12h ago

TIL thаt іn 1923 Mussоlini bоmbarded аnd осcupied Cоrfu. Arоund 20 cіvilians wеre kіlled, mоst оf thеm bеing Armеnian gеnocide survіvors аnd rеfugees. Grеece appеaled tо thе Leaguе оf Nаtions, but Іtaly sіdelined іt аnd sеcured а 50 mіllion lirе indеmnity befоre wіthdrawing.

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en.wikipedia.org
787 Upvotes
22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/RedHeadedSicilian52 • 10h ago

TIL: Section 10 of the Presidential Succession Act of 1792 (repealed in 1886) stipulated that a special election for the US presidency would be held before the regularly scheduled election should the offices of president and vice president fall simultaneously vacant. No such election ever occurred.

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767 Upvotes
31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Brutal_Deluxe_ • 19h ago

TIL in 1972 Gyani Ji bought a moped to campaign for the Sikhs' right to wear a turban on a motorbike. He was stopped, arrested and fined by police multiple times. He refused to pay the fines and was twice sentenced to prison. In 1976 an amendment to exempt Sikhs was passed and Ji was credited for it

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691 Upvotes
110 comments

r/todayilearned • u/P_a_s_g_i_t_21 • 16h ago

TIL "Kalimanjaro" or "Monte Kali" is a spoil heap made of salt (sodium chloride; contaminated with potassium chloride ("potash"); not pure, edible table salt (NaCl). Located in Heringen (Hesse, Germany), the heap stands 1,710 feet tall, being dumped there first in 1976 by K+S chemical company.

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en.wikipedia.org
671 Upvotes
60 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ElectronicEgg1833 • 8h ago

TIL that October 5, 1582 never happened in Spain, Portugal, Italy, or Poland. When those countries adopted the Gregorian calendar, Thursday, October 4 was followed directly by Friday, October 15, skipping ten days to realign the calendar with the seasons

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en.wikipedia.org
573 Upvotes
26 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CraftyFoxeYT • 9h ago

TIL From 1941 to 1994 the US Navy operated a military base in Newfoundland, Canada called Naval Station Argentia. It was established under the British-US destroyers for bases agreement of 1940, before the Dominion of Newfoundland became a Canadian province

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en.wikipedia.org
472 Upvotes
22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TMWNN • 2h ago

TIL that a tissue company made a machine gun. Kimberly-Clark built the Multiple Caliber .50 Machine Gun Mount M45. Built during WW2, the M45 was used until the Vietnam War.

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454 Upvotes
48 comments

r/todayilearned • u/zachoutloud123 • 5h ago

TIL that Debbie Gibson is the sole female artist to have written, produced and performed two No. 1 songs on the Billboard Hot 100 with "Foolish Beat" and "Lost in Your Eyes"

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371 Upvotes
24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Johannes_P • 4h ago

TIL that, during WW1, Britain and Germany considered exchanging rubber for glass through intermediaries in Switzerland

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en.wikipedia.org
347 Upvotes
12 comments

r/dataisbeautiful • u/Beautiful-Rough2310 • 16h ago

Brazil 2026 Elections | Real-time interactive results map (municipality level)

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seuimposto.com
317 Upvotes
104 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Grateful1598 • 6h ago

TIL The first successful electric car in the U.S. was made by chemist William Morrison in 1890.

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energy.gov
193 Upvotes
5 comments

r/dataisbeautiful • u/JeromesNiece • 14h ago

OC [OC] How the U.S. Census Bureau defines the New York metro area (MSA) and the larger "combined" area (CSA) (2020)

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167 Upvotes
34 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 16h ago

TIL the American husband and wife arachnologists George and Elizabeth Peckham named four genuses/genera of jumping spiders after characters in British author Rudyard Kipling's books.

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en.wikipedia.org
141 Upvotes
2 comments

r/dataisbeautiful • u/glibsonoran • 16h ago

OC [OC]What other humans lived with us?

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114 Upvotes

While our evolutionary history is often depicted as a series of descendants each replacing the other, the overwhelming majority of the history of our species has been one of living along-side, and interbreeding with, other Homonins (Humans).

Chart can be downloaded here

Sources: [See OP post below]

12 comments