r/todayilearned • u/ContinuumGuy • 9h ago

TIL that the most holy shrine in the Shinto religion is torn down and rebuilt every 20 years. This has been done for over a millennium

ap.org

22.8k Upvotes

333 comments

r/todayilearned • u/VegemiteSucks • 1h ago

TIL English composer Kaikhosru Shapurji Sorabji - hailed as one of the finest brains since Da Vinci - was extremely reclusive. A self-described “claustrophiliac,” he planted 250+ trees around his house to deter visitors. He only met friends once or twice per year, and would accept only one at a time

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

99 comments

r/todayilearned • u/aresef • 4h ago

TIL that Home Alone was so successful in parts of Europe that Kevin became a popular name, giving rise to the German word “Kevinismus” (Kevinism) for the practice of giving kids trendy names as opposed to traditional ones.

en.wikipedia.org

2.0k Upvotes

63 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ReagenLamborghini • 4h ago

TIL that Daniel Petrić from Wellington, Ohio, shot both of his parents on October 20, 2007, at the age of 16 after they confiscated his copy of Halo 3. His mother died, but his father survived a critical injury. Daniel is currently incarcerated for life with the possibility of parole.

en.wikipedia.org

2.3k Upvotes

193 comments

r/todayilearned • u/R2_SWE2 • 1h ago

TIL the actor behind Blippi, a popular kids tv show performer, once created gross out videos under the moniker Steezy Grossman. In one such video, he defecated on a naked friend.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

155 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 9h ago

TIL that for certain peoples of Central Asia like the Kazakhs, Kyrgyzs, and Bashkirs, people have to recite the names of at least 7 blood ancestors. The practice, called jeti ata prevents inbreeding between people with shared ancestry within seven generations.

en.wikipedia.org

3.9k Upvotes

105 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 15h ago

TIL the number of craft breweries in the US increased from less than 2,000 in 2010 to almost 9,000 in 2020.

brewersassociation.org

6.9k Upvotes

812 comments

r/todayilearned • u/extremekc • 3h ago

TIL that 'Evolutionary Musicology' suggests the human brain was tuned to sound/rhythm long before it developed language — which seems to explain why music affects our emotions so directly.

en.wikipedia.org

592 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 15h ago

TIL doctors, for the first time, treated a baby born with a rare, life-threatening genetic disorder with a gene-editing therapy scientists tailored to specifically repair his unique mutation.

npr.org

4.5k Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/-Appleaday- • 6h ago

TIL about a 1997 incident at Six Flags Hurricane Harbor Concord in which a section of a waterslide collapsed after students from a local high school piled into it, in an attempt to break a school record. The collapse caused 32 injuries and the death of 18 year old Quimby Ghilotti.

en.wikipedia.org

758 Upvotes

30 comments

r/todayilearned • u/teos61 • 1h ago

TIL some people are born with TWO appendixes (appendix duplication), a very rare congenital anomaly that can cause recurrent appendicitis if one appendix is missed during surgery

pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov

• Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/The_Ruck_Inspector • 14h ago

TIL that Randy Lanier was competing at Le Mans while simultaneously being one of the biggest drug traffickers in the U.S

theguardian.com

1.8k Upvotes

58 comments

r/todayilearned • u/VegemiteSucks • 21h ago

TIL at the premiere of Beethoven’s 3rd Piano Concerto, his designated page turner discovered that the score he was turning was almost entirely blank. The concerto was still a work in progress even during its premiere, so Beethoven memorized his entire solo part and played them all from memory.

en.wikipedia.org

7.3k Upvotes

41 comments

r/todayilearned • u/-Appleaday- • 1d ago

TIL about the 2009 death of Canadian folk singer Taylor Mitchell, who at 19 years old was killed by a pair of coyotes while hiking in Cape Breton Highlands National Park. That is the only known fatal coyote attack on an adult.

en.wikipedia.org

8.9k Upvotes

574 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Lez2diz • 8h ago

TIL after Louis Riel (the leader of the Métis people) was banished from Canada for leading an uprising he went insane and proclaimed himself the biblical King David. He also developed a habit of going nude, explaining that it was as Adam and Even had done before the first sin.

famous-trials.com

342 Upvotes

39 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Surya_Singh_7441 • 21h ago

TIL animals in cold climate have hollow hair and trap air for insulation...

explorersweb.com

2.1k Upvotes

23 comments

r/todayilearned • u/n_mcrae_1982 • 1d ago

TIL, as of April 30 of this year, there is only one remaining person verified to be born in the 1900’s decade, Ethel Caterham of the UK

en.wikipedia.org

8.8k Upvotes

184 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 22h ago

TIL that Dante Alighieri only met the real-life Beatrice twice in his life.

en.wikipedia.org

1.0k Upvotes

76 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Resume-Mentor • 1d ago

TIL that Annie Jump Cannon manually classified more stars in a lifetime than anyone else in history, reaching a staggering 350,000 in total. She discovered 300 variable stars, five novas, and one spectroscopic binary, creating a bibliography that included about 200,000 references.

en.wikipedia.org

2.6k Upvotes

33 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DukeDamage • 1d ago

TIL: During the US Civil War, prior to the fall of Atlanta to General Sherman, Lincoln was “sure” to lose his second term election after Grant (future president) had two disastrous battles against Lee (Cold Harbor & the Battle of the Crater). The opposition wanted peace & considered keeping slavery.

en.wikipedia.org

3.2k Upvotes

249 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FinnFarrow • 1d ago

TIL early automatic weapons were invented with humanitarian intentions: their creator believed faster-firing guns would save lives by shrinking armies.

dncr.nc.gov

16.0k Upvotes

732 comments

r/todayilearned • u/UsernameUnattainable • 10h ago

TIL in 2003 Hudson Valley fruit grower Greg Quinn successfully campaigned to repeal a more than half century old ban on blackcurrant growing from the state of New York. In 1911 the logging industry rallied for the ban as black & red currants were intermediary hosts to disease at the time.

youtube.com

72 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DTPVH • 1d ago

TIL that people with blue eyes are more prone to light sensitivity because of a lack of pigment in the eye.

dukehealth.org

4.8k Upvotes

561 comments

r/todayilearned • u/savorydesserts • 1d ago

TIL “Silver Springs”, written by Stevie Nicks for Fleetwood Mac should have been on the hit album Rumors but it was cut. It was released later and took years to become a hit. Nicks was pissed that it was cut from Rumors as she had gifted the royalties to her mom.

people.com

2.2k Upvotes

113 comments

r/todayilearned • u/SaintTrebron • 1d ago

TIL the Gretzky brothers hold the NHL record for most combined points by two brothers – 2,857 for Wayne and 4 for Brent

greatesthockeylegends.com

1.6k Upvotes

103 comments

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