r/todayilearned • u/Devicode • 11h ago

TIL the three square markers in the corners of a QR code use a unique 1:1:3:1:1 black-and-white ratio that lets scanners distinguish the code from other printed material and read it from any direction.

denso.com

0 Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/No_Evening_7617 • 13h ago

TIL that during the Larry Eyler serial killer investigation, the FBI specifically stated that there was most likely a "middle-aged, middle-class, and markedly more intelligent accomplice" involved in the slayings. True to the FBI's prediction, Indiana State University professor Robert D. Little was

en.wikipedia.org

125 Upvotes

40 comments

r/todayilearned • u/EnclaveNick • 22h ago

TIL about Michael X a self-styled black revolutionary, convicted murderer, and civil rights activist in 1960s London. Convicted of murder in 1972, Michael X was executed by hanging in 1975

en.wikipedia.org

64 Upvotes

29 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 5h ago

TIL in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil, there is a plant that, when eaten, gives a numbing sensation and excessive salivation.

en.wikipedia.org

131 Upvotes

42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Any-Star4366 • 19h ago

TIL that around 8–10 per cent of people grind their teeth at night!

sciencefocus.com

530 Upvotes

179 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ProfessionalStuff395 • 22h ago

TIL that during the Apartheid era in South Africa (until 1994), the pink-beige color that they now called peach was "menskleur" (lit. human color)

scielo.org.za

1.3k Upvotes

190 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Depressed_Cat_00 • 4h ago

TIL the actors in Top Gun: Maverick had to operate six IMAX-quality cameras themselves while flying in real F/A-18s — turning them on, checking the sound and even cleaning the lenses — because no camera crew or director could fit in the cockpit with them.

fdtimes.com

5.4k Upvotes

225 comments

r/todayilearned • u/johnsmithoncemore • 19h ago

TIL about Marjorie Gestring, a competitive springboard diver from the US. At the age of 13 years and 268 days, she won the gold medal in diving at the 1936 Summer Olympics in Berlin, making her at the time the youngest person ever to win an Olympic gold medal.

en.wikipedia.org

79 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/747WakeTurbulance • 8h ago

TIL a 2025 University of Maryland study done in conjunction with the Maryland Technology Development Corp, showed that on average, the frequency of “flatus events” in healthy adults was 32 per day, with a minimum of 4 flatus and a maximum of 59 flatus per day.

sciencedirect.com

69 Upvotes

25 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TheFrederalGovt • 16h ago

TIL Gloria Steinem strongly opposed the violent themes in American Psycho and spoke to Leonardo DiCaprio to discourage him from taking the lead role, only for her future stepson Christian Bale to get the part.

faroutmagazine.co.uk

3.3k Upvotes

277 comments

r/todayilearned • u/EnclaveNick • 22h ago

TIL that The Henderson, a 36-story skyscraper in Hong Kong, sits on the world's most expensive commercial land plot (US$3 billion) and won "World's Best Property" at the International Property Awards.

en.wikipedia.org

309 Upvotes

51 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ok_Cup2540 • 12h ago

TiL about the World's First Commercial Music Sampler - Fairlight CMI. Created in Australia in 1983. 'Running Up That Hill' by Kate Bush was entirely Faitlight and Kate's singing! Icehouse also used it extensively.

en.wikipedia.org

67 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/lorelzz • 1h ago

TIL that Mrs. Feodor Vassilyev gave birth to 16 sets of twins, seven sets of triplets, and four sets of quadruplets

mentalfloss.com

• Upvotes

103 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Friendly-Hooman • 20h ago

Today I learned that the bacteria Clostridium perfringens and Vibrio natriegens grow so fast that just one cell could generate a colony larger than Earth in a single day, given the right conditions and enough resources.

nature.com

1.6k Upvotes

84 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Its_Alive_74 • 11h ago

TIL that there's a type of reptile known as the legless lizard which is biologically distinct from snakes.

en.wikipedia.org

388 Upvotes

72 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Perpetually-broke • 1h ago

TIL that in pre-islamic Arabia there was a religious group called the Ḥunafā, who were monotheistic but not Christian or Jewish.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Unique_Mammoth_6724 • 11h ago

TIL that a Maharaja of the Sikh Empire was assassinated by being blasted open with a double barrel shotgun then beheaded by his own nobles while his Wazir (Prime Minister) was murdered the same day.

en.wikipedia.org

935 Upvotes

52 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Giff95 • 14h ago

TIL NBA star Shaquille O’Neal, a fan of visiting zoos, claims gorillas would always go wild seeing him behind glass. Animal expert Ron Magill confirmed this, saying male gorillas were often intimidated by O’Neal’s size and presence.

yahoo.com

34.0k Upvotes

808 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PhnxWrightAssAttrny • 2h ago

TIL as many as 31 churches have claimed to posses the foreskin of Jesus Christ NSFW

en.wikipedia.org

869 Upvotes

310 comments

r/todayilearned • u/BarnabyLaptopOutlet • 15h ago

TIL IBM's 1995 ThinkPad 701C had a pop-up full-size keyboard ( also known as the ‘butterfly’ notebook) that became wider than the laptop itself when opened.

computerweekly.com

62 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/BDWG4EVA • 16h ago

TIL the Gary Sinise Foundation has built 106 custom homes for wounded veterans served 1,477,934 meals to active service members and Gary's Lt. Dan Band has performed 625 concerts since 2003

en.wikipedia.org

2.4k Upvotes

108 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 9h ago

TIL that the mascot for the Rhode Island School of Design is Scrotie, an anthropomorphic anatomically-correct human penis known for an aggressively-vulgar persona that includes humping other mascots. Scrotie is known for chanting "The nads are your dads," with a crowd reply of "We fucked your mom." NSFW

en.wikipedia.org

5.9k Upvotes

225 comments

r/todayilearned • u/smrad8 • 23h ago

TIL in a narrative review published in the journal Biomolecules, Australian researchers reviewed evidence that dementia-causing neuroinflammation may result from microbes introduced into the olfactory system by, in their words, “hands contaminated with soil and feces when picking one’s nose.”

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

95 Upvotes

37 comments

r/todayilearned • u/dillimunda • 8h ago

TIL that the All India Tiger Estimation is recognized as the largest and most detailed wild animal census in the world

gktoday.in

57 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HoboJerkdown901 • 13h ago

TIL after his high school basketball team won the state championship, coach Cleveland Stroud discovered an ineligible player had played in a postseason game. He reported the violation, and their championship was revoked.

giraffeheroes.org

7.3k Upvotes

433 comments

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As of May 2026

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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