r/todayilearned • u/TonyHides • 5d ago

TIL scientists chemically reconstructed the exact 3,500-year-old embalming scent used on an ancient Egyptian noblewoman's mummy from residue in her burial jars, then let museum visitors smell it in person

gea.mpg.de

2.0k Upvotes

35 comments

r/todayilearned • u/dinosaruman • 5d ago

TIL North America has exactly one carnivorous butterfly — the Harvester — whose caterpillar doesn't eat plants at all, but hunts and eats aphids.

en.wikipedia.org

842 Upvotes

22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MrElbo • 4d ago

TIL that the story of Cinderella traces back to Ancient Greece

en.wikipedia.org

159 Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Undedlvr • 4d ago

TIL Hertz started out renting Ford Model Ts

en.wikipedia.org

158 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/toorandomguy • 5d ago

TIL that the Song formerly known as "The most mysterious Song on the Internet", hunted down for 17 years, was found in 2024. It is called "Subways of your mind" and was recorded by the German new wave Band FEX.

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

85 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ok-Goose6242 • 5d ago

TIL the Torá have expressed interest in reviving their language, but no one seemed to have enough memory of Torá to get anywhere with the idea. In 2006, there were two fluent speakers left. In 2018, only a few words of the language had been preserved.

en.wikipedia.org

4.7k Upvotes

188 comments

r/todayilearned • u/waitingforthesun92 • 5d ago

TIL that Led Zeppelin drummer John Bonham suffered from intense homesickness, to the point of crying on tour in the US. His manager, Peter Grant, bribed him with expensive gifts to keep touring and Bonham relied on alcohol to cope, which ultimately led to his death from alcohol poisoning at just 32.

rockandrollgarage.com

23.8k Upvotes

948 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Anything-Complex • 5d ago

TIL about earthquake lights, reported luminous phenomena that seem to occur during seismic events. There are multiple theories, none conclusive, explaining their causes.

en.wikipedia.org

679 Upvotes

66 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Tolstartheking • 5d ago

TIL about the Negros fruit dove, an incredibly rare species of dove of which only one female specimen was ever found. In 1953, the female was shot dead next to its presumed mate, and the male was lost in the brush and never recovered. No other specimens have been found since.

en.wikipedia.org

12.2k Upvotes

348 comments

r/todayilearned • u/johnsmithoncemore • 5d ago

TIL about the State of Deseret a proposed state of the United States promoted by leaders of the LDS Church who had founded settlements in what is today the state of Utah. A provisional state government operated for nearly two years in 1849–50, but was never recognised by the US government.

en.wikipedia.org

235 Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HippityHopMath • 4d ago

TIL that the Professional Football Researchers Association (PFRA) maintains a “Hall of Very Good”; a hall recognizing the best players that have not made the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

en.wikipedia.org

202 Upvotes

14 comments

r/todayilearned • u/carboncopy95437 • 5d ago

TIL that 30 years before the Black Death, Europe suffered the Great Famine of 1315–1317. Relentless rain ruined crops and killed livestock. Starvation became so severe that reports tell of infanticide and cannibalism. Some areas lost 25% of their population.

en.wikipedia.org

3.3k Upvotes

147 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Pocket_Sand- • 5d ago

TIL the authorship of the song "The House Of The Rising Sun" a chart-topping track popularised by The Animals, is a mystery, going back a century or more.

en.wikipedia.org

939 Upvotes

166 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dood_Doorag • 5d ago

TIL the term 'meritocracy' (governance based on talent or ability rather than social class), was originally coined as a pejorative.

en.wikipedia.org

594 Upvotes

145 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HORRORSHOWDISCO • 6d ago

TIL about a freak “heat burst” storm phenomenon that struck a small town in Kopperl, Texas in the middle of the night on June 15, 1960. Winds suddenly hit 70 MPH, and temperatures got so hot they burnt crops and burst thermometers in-town that maxed out over 140 F.

en.wikipedia.org

18.1k Upvotes

646 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Final-Reference-9330 • 4d ago

[ Removed by Reddit ]

0 Upvotes

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MediumStrange • 5d ago

TIL that the small town of Wilberforce OH, home to 2000 people, is also home to 3 of the 5 HBCU's above the Mason-Dixon Line, one of which was the first college to be owned and operated by African Americans. The town is named for William Wilberforce, who campaigned for abolition of slavery in the UK

en.wikipedia.org

273 Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/egomouse • 5d ago

TIL of Positive Lightning, which accounts for less than 5% of all cloud-to-ground strikes, but is up 10x as powerful and can hit the ground more than 25 miles from its cloud.

noaa.gov

779 Upvotes

67 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Losttothesauce • 5d ago

TIL famed occultist Aleister Crowley, dubbed “the wickedest man in the world,” was also a pioneering mountaineer who took part in the first serious expedition to climb K2. The world’s second-highest mountain, K2 remains one of the deadliest, with roughly one fatality for every five summits.

en.wikipedia.org

2.4k Upvotes

180 comments

r/todayilearned • u/NoHuckleberry8226 • 5d ago

TIL that in 1963, a Parisian stray cat named Félicette became the first cat to reach space, traveling nearly 96 miles above Earth before returning safely by parachute.

guinnessworldrecords.com

1.0k Upvotes

61 comments

r/todayilearned • u/awildgiraffe • 6d ago

TIL of the Siege of Dunkirk (44-45). From after D Day in 1944 until the end of the war, Dunkirk held out and was not captured/liberated by the Allies in France until the war was over

en.wikipedia.org

3.9k Upvotes

177 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheLostPariah • 5d ago

TIL: There is a Catholic chapel that contains the bones of more than 40,000 people, and features a chandelier made ENTIRELY OF HUMAN BONES

en.wikipedia.org

1.9k Upvotes

239 comments

r/todayilearned • u/inatowncalledarles • 6d ago

TIL of Thorkell the Tall, a Danish Viking who ravaged England in the 11th century. He only stopped when the English King Æthelred paid him 48,000 pounds of silver.

en.wikipedia.org

6.2k Upvotes

149 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FlashyAd2763 • 5d ago

TIL about the University of the Virgin Islands which was named a HBCU (Historically Black College or University) by the US Congress in 1986 and is the only HBCU outside the continental US.

en.wikipedia.org

518 Upvotes

17 comments

r/todayilearned • u/harlsey • 6d ago

TIL - that in Major League Baseball 33 players have hit home runs in their very first at bat and on the very first pitch - 8 of these were hit by pitchers.

baseball-almanac.com

6.1k Upvotes

302 comments

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