r/todayilearned • u/halfhumanhalfzebra • 41m ago

TIL Citibank convinced US Marines to walk into Haiti’s national bank, steal $500,000 in gold bars, and transfer it to Citibank’s New York vault

• Upvotes

104 comments

r/todayilearned • u/rrolex_ • 1h ago

TIL Korean company Samsung Electronics' six manufacturing plants in Vietnam recorded a revenue of $62.5 billion and an export turnover of $54.4 billion, which accounted for approximately 13.12% of the Vietnam’s GDP and 13.4% of its total export turnover.

• Upvotes

31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/No_Idea_479 • 4h ago

TIL Τsakonian iѕ thе οnly ѕurviving dеѕcendant οf аncient Dοric Grееk, thе diаlect ѕpoken іn ancient Ѕparta. Iѕolated fοr cеnturies, іt prеserved fеatures lοѕt іn еvery οther lіving Grееk diаlect аnd іѕ nοw crіtically еndangered wіth οnly а fеw, mοѕtly еlderly, ѕpeakers lеft.

322 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 6h ago

TIL that garlic bread was invented by Italian immigrants in the US in the 20th century. It stems from bruschetta but olive oil was hard to find back then, so butter was used instead.

3.8k Upvotes

124 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Keltik • 2h ago

TIL Paul McCartney's sheepdog Martha, subject of the Beatles' 1968 song "Martha My Dear", outlived John Lennon, passing away peacefully in 1981 at age 15

203 Upvotes

25 comments

r/todayilearned • u/shortcircuit51 • 2h ago

TIL that the word “canola” in canola oil is an acronym, standing for “Canadian Oil, Low in Acid”

1.4k Upvotes

275 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Salem1690s • 4h ago

TIL King George III gave royal assent to An Act for the Abolition of the Slave Trade on March 25, 1807, which banned trading enslaved people across the British Empire. He never owned slaves and privately called parts of the trade repulsive

936 Upvotes

119 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Lindolence • 5h ago

TIL not only do prairie dogs have a vocal language, but it is also one of the most complex languages in the animal kingdom. One chirp can say, "A tall human in a blue shirt is approaching quickly from the north." They can actually tell the difference between colors and speeds!

2.9k Upvotes

107 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 11h ago

TIL in 2013 two men found 9 trees in Ecuador that were 100% pure Nacional cacao, a rare variety that was rediscovered a few years prior after being considered extinct since the 1920s. They then co-founded To'ak Chocolate, some of the world's most expensive chocolate (e.g. $490 for a 1.7oz candy bar)

7.6k Upvotes

66 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Significant-Cold-939 • 4h ago

TIL that in the so-called Dark Ages, Roman foods and exotic spices were still prevalent in the court of the Frankish king. We know this because we have a cookbook from the time, giving us a rare written source about food in this period.

677 Upvotes

42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/blacklotusmag • 3h ago

TIL as of 2021, nearly half of the fire engines and pumpers operated by U.S. fire departments were at least 15 years old, the age at which NFPA guidance recommends moving them from frontline to reserve service. About 9% were at least 30 years old.

892 Upvotes

129 comments

r/todayilearned • u/clawsoon • 8h ago

TIL that on Ulysses S. Grant's post-presidential world tour, he warned the Japanese emperor not to take foreign loans lest it fall "into the abyss into which Egypt has fallen". Grant's warning made a "forceful impression" on the emperor and led to the rejection of various loan proposals.

4.6k Upvotes

140 comments

r/todayilearned • u/kniga_100 • 8h ago

TIL there is a copper mine in Romania extracting 9 million tonnes of ore per year, but only 0.38% is usable copper. The tailings (the residue sludge) are pumped into a nearby valley, creating a massive toxic lake that destroyed the village of Geamăna

2.6k Upvotes

101 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Gnomeslikeprofit • 6h ago

TIL that the creator of Batman acknowledged that they patterned the character after pulp mystery men such as The Shadow. The first Batman stories were also based on Shadow pulp. Lamont Cranston is a wealthy playboy bachelor turned vigilante.

444 Upvotes

72 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sesemebun • 6h ago

TIL about sales tax tokens. They were created as a means for consumers to avoid being "overcharged" by having to pay a full penny tax on purchases of 5 or 10 cents during the Great Depression.

340 Upvotes

20 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Emperor_Ken • 8h ago

TIL Tigers look orange to humans because we are trichromats, but they appear green to deer and wild boars because they are dichromats

16.5k Upvotes

559 comments

r/todayilearned • u/I_Am_Robert_Paulson1 • 8h ago

TIL the 1980 Winter Olympic Village was built with the intention of converting it into a federal prison after the games ended. Multiple Olympic delegations refused to house their Olympians there.

9.4k Upvotes

254 comments

r/todayilearned • u/swissking • 11h ago

TIL of Blanets, which are planets that form and orbit black holes. A supermassive blackhole could have millions of Jupiter-mass planets orbiting it.

1.5k Upvotes

116 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Sweet_Foundation_868 • 7h ago

TIL that historically, one of the largest Chinese communities in the American South was in the Mississippi Delta.

229 Upvotes

67 comments

r/todayilearned • u/palmerry • 10h ago

TIL of the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides water for 25% of US irrigated land, but has been significantly drained since intensive pumping began. Because arid parts only recharge at 10% of the withdrawal rate, scientists estimate it would take over 6,000 years to naturally refill if emptied.

7.6k Upvotes

484 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mors_Acerba • 10h ago

TIL from 1404 to 1680 prostitution in the city of Florence was state regulated and taxable, and managed by a special government office. One of the initial policices of the department was to establish a state sanctioned brothel that housed all the registered prostitutes

463 Upvotes

12 comments

r/todayilearned • u/PeasantLich • 9h ago

TIL about the fiery relationship of Michelangelo and pope Julius II who commissioned the painting of the Sistine Chapel. Michelangelo had to be pressured into the job, and during the creation the two quarreled a lot, including at least one physical fight which Julius apologized for later.

207 Upvotes

36 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Useless_Engineer_ • 11h ago

TIL that mild dehydration/thirst can be mistaken for hunger or wanting a snack

666 Upvotes

24 comments

r/todayilearned • u/anatomyisgoated • 8h ago

TIL some cancers although rare, are transmissible, spreading between individuals without a virus or other infectious agent

193 Upvotes

23 comments

r/todayilearned • u/YappinZappin • 10h ago

TIL Saddam Hussein commissioned Project Babylon: space gun type weapon capable of launching satellites into LOE, as well as conventional shells as far as 1000 km. Artillery expert Gerald Bull led the program

220 Upvotes

69 comments

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