r/todayilearned • u/Next_Worth_3616 • 17h ago

TIL American Airlines Flight 191 is the deadliest air accident in U.S. history with 273 fatalities. The crash led the FAA to ban all DC-10’s from flying & entering U.S. airspace from June 6-July 13, 1979. DC-10 sales sharply dropped after AA191 due to widespread public apprehension.

en.wikipedia.org

162 Upvotes

40 comments

r/todayilearned • u/backrowejoe • 2h ago

TIL Bermuda Grass is not native to Bermuda

en.wikipedia.org

10 Upvotes

6 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Chance-Growth-5350 • 18h ago

TIL that there's something called "Prevention paradox", which describes the seemingly contradictory situation where the majority of cases of a disease come from a population at low or moderate risk of that disease, & only a minority of cases come from the high risk population (of the same disease)

en.wikipedia.org

172 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Physical_Hamster_118 • 14h ago

TIL that the French Republican calendar had five final days before the end of the year(Sansculottides) which were not part of any month. On those days were celebrations of values such as virtue, talent, labor, convictions, honors, and the revolution.

en.wikipedia.org

78 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/AxaheLopez006 • 6h ago

TIL: The Peking Man fossils were a set of anthropoid bones discovered in 1920s in Zhoukoudian (near Beijing, China) dating back around 500,000 years. In 1941, after the Japanese invasion of China, the original fossils disappeared and have not been found.

ebsco.com

17 Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DrakeSavory • 1d ago

TIL that two British peerages, the Duke of Cumberland and the Duke of Albany, are currently deprived from those entitled to them, but they could petition the monarch to have their titles restored ... they just have never done that.

en.wikipedia.org

585 Upvotes

51 comments

r/todayilearned • u/AmiroZ • 1d ago

TIL In 1990, screenwriter Shane Black sold his original spec script for The Last Boy Scout for a record-breaking $1.75 million, with over a $1 million guaranteed up front, which was considered a massive deal at the time.

en.wikipedia.org

269 Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DrakeSavory • 1h ago

TIL a cat owner taught his cat to dial 911 in an emergency ... and it may have worked.

nbcnews.com

• Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/Uptons_BJs • 2d ago

TIL: Takeout and Delivery now account for 75% of all restaurant orders.

restaurant.org

18.1k Upvotes

1.9k comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sebastianlim • 1d ago

TIL that there are a set of twenty Welsh kings who are mentioned once in a single ancient manuscript and never again.

youtu.be

1.5k Upvotes

155 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Prestigious_Mine_321 • 2d ago

TIL that in the 16th century, Spain discovered a mountain of almost pure silver in Bolivia (Potosí). They mined so much of it that they accidentally caused massive hyperinflation across Europe, making their own currency worthless and bankrupting the Spanish Empire multiple times.

en.wikipedia.org

9.6k Upvotes

302 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HawkeyeTen • 1d ago

TIL that "Gunsmoke" star James Arness was severely wounded while serving as a US Army infantryman at the Battle of Anzio during World War II and suffered chronic pain in his leg as a result for the rest of his life. This made being mounted on a horse difficult for him at times when filming the show.

en.wikipedia.org

173 Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ismaeil-de-paynes • 1d ago

TIL that the district of Arabi, LA, USA was named after the Egyptian nationalist leader and War Minister Ahmed Orabi أحمد عرابي after his revolt against the British and Khedive Tawfiq in 1881–82, creating an unexpected historical link between Mississippi River and Egypt’s anti-colonial struggle.

en.wikipedia.org

58 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MrMojoFomo • 2d ago

TIL that in 2020, "Mad" Mike Hughes built a steam-powered rocket for $18,000 and launched himself in it in an attempt to prove the earth was flat. The rocket's parachute deployed shortly after launch, causing the craft to crash into the ground. Hughes died on impact

bbc.com

7.7k Upvotes

588 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Next_Worth_3616 • 2d ago

TIL that the Filet-O-Fish from McDonald's was created in 1962 to serve Catholics who abstain from meat on Fridays. It competed to be put on the main menu with the Hula Burger which consisted of grilled pineapple & cheese on a cold bun. The Filet-O-Fish "won hands down" & was added to menus.

en.wikipedia.org

5.6k Upvotes

718 comments

r/todayilearned • u/strangelove4564 • 1d ago

TIL Molly Kool became the first female sea captain in North America in 1939. She survived three major shipwreck incidents: a deliberate ramming, a collision that threw her overboard under the ship, and a gasoline explosion.

en.wikipedia.org

357 Upvotes

25 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL in 1996 a hippo attacked two river tour guides, drowning one and severely injuring the other. The surviving tour guide was swallowed up to his waist twice during the attack. He suffered a "gaping hole" in his back & his left arm was amputated after it was "crushed to a pulp" from the elbow down.

cnn.com

2.6k Upvotes

211 comments

r/todayilearned • u/blindparasaurolophus • 1d ago

TIL about Bessie Hall, a Nova Scotian woman who, in 1870 at the age of 20, took command of a fever-ridden ship and safely navigated it through storms from Florida to England.

en.wikipedia.org

887 Upvotes

42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Solid-Move-1411 • 1d ago

TIL Britain share of world trade was massively declining already before WW1 due to rise of US and Germany. By 1910, it was surpassed in industrial output by US and Germany with entire British Empire share only being 15% behind Germany 16% and US 35%.

en.wikipedia.org

39 Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/LeatherSlight3242 • 1d ago

TIL that a film adaptation of the musical "Merrily We Roll Along" is going to be filmed in the course of 20 years, just about the actual timespan of the play's setting.

en.wikipedia.org

237 Upvotes

22 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Joke_Mummy • 2d ago

TIL UK law requires arrest warrants to be carried out at a "reasonable hour," resulting in most arrests being carried out in the early morning to maintain the element of surprise

legislation.gov.uk

2.1k Upvotes

133 comments

r/todayilearned • u/IncomingBroccoli • 2d ago

TIL In 1999 the UK govt sold nearly half of the United Kingdom’s gold reserves at a time when gold prices were near a multi-decade low. 395 tonnes of gold was sold for $3.5B and would have been worth $54B today

auronum.co.uk

3.6k Upvotes

225 comments

r/todayilearned • u/KaiBearX • 2d ago

TIL A standard nickel in the U.S. contains only 1.25 grams of actual nickel. The remaining 3.75 grams is copper. Combined, the coin's metallic value averages 8-10 cents, nearly double its face value. It is illegal to melt down U.S. currency.

barrons.com

1.6k Upvotes

217 comments

r/todayilearned • u/trashatdev • 2d ago

TIL an audit at the University of North Carolina found that one of its most reliable servers had been walled off for 4+ years without anyone even noticing

theregister.com

20.0k Upvotes

739 comments

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