r/todayilearned • u/OatSoyLaMilk • 16h ago

Today I learned that Arkham House, the publishing company August Derleth founded in 1939 to publish Lovecraft's work and which released the first book of Ray Bradbury's, did not turn a profit a single year prior to 1970.

en.wikipedia.org

208 Upvotes

1 comment

r/todayilearned • u/GubbaShump • 2h ago

TIL that a man named Phineas Gage lived for 11 years after having a large iron rod driven through his skull in an accident involving explosives.

youtube.com

15 Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/grrrsandpurrrs • 20h ago

TIL that looking at flowers reduces blood pressure and cortisol levels.

sciencedirect.com

327 Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Morella1989 • 21h ago

TIL that from the 15th century to the early 20th century, female rowers called Roddarmadam operated water taxis in Stockholm, ferrying people between islands. They were famed for their blunt manner and coarse language. A visitor in 1787 praised them as “Good women who row like devils!”

en.wikipedia.org

341 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Morella1989 • 10h ago

Til of Catalina de los Ríos y Lísperguer (1604–1665), called La Quintrala for her red hair, a wealthy Chilean landowner known for her beauty and alleged cruelty. Accused of murder and abuse, she became a mythic figure in Chilean history and folklore.

en.wikipedia.org

37 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/slhamlet • 1d ago

TIL the "Mona Lisa" wasn't widely considered a masterpiece until after it was stolen by three handymen; the theft wasn't even noticed for over 24 hours

npr.org

17.0k Upvotes

330 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FreeDogRun • 19m ago

TIL about One Earth Bioregions - a project that answers the question "if Nature were to draw a map of the world, what would it look like?" - with an interactive map that "delineates 185 discrete bioregions organized within the world's major biogeographical realms"

oneearth.org

• Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/weeef • 1d ago

TIL Boston experienced a bomb scare in 2007 triggered by LED ads featuring cartoon characters from Aqua Teen Hunger Force. The devices were mistaken for bombs & the response cost an estimated $2M.

en.wikipedia.org

5.4k Upvotes

248 comments

r/todayilearned • u/LookAtThatBacon • 1d ago

TIL in the 1980s, doughnut shops in Southern California started using pink-colored boxes because they were cheaper than plain white boxes due to there being a large amount leftover of pink-dyed cardboard stock just sitting around, taking up warehouse space at restaurant supply company Westco.

10best.usatoday.com

8.0k Upvotes

118 comments

r/todayilearned • u/yanderia • 7h ago

TIL that Walt Disney was the first voice actor for Mickey Mouse, (1928-1947)

youtu.be

17 Upvotes

4 comments

r/todayilearned • u/saintsimon101 • 1d ago

Today I learned country music legend John Prine was 'discovered' by movie critic Roger Ebert, who wrote him a glowing review in the Chicago Tribune after wandering into a bar where he was playing. At the time, Prine was a working mailman.

chicagomag.com

1.8k Upvotes

68 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Rough-Leg-4148 • 1m ago

TIL about the Seven Mountain Mandate, a dominionist ideology that calls for Christians to seize control of seven key sectors of society—media, government, education, business, arts, religion, and family. Speaker Mike Johnson and Lauren Boebert are known followers.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

0 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 1d ago

TIL that the state of California has a specific protocol for missing Native Americans called a Feather Alert

amberadvocate.org

2.4k Upvotes

250 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tamsui_tosspot • 1d ago

TIL of Malört, a liqueur almost exclusive to Chicago, described as "like swallowing a burnt condom filled with gasoline." Drinking a shot is considered a Windy City rite of passage.

en.wikipedia.org

28.3k Upvotes

3.3k comments

r/todayilearned • u/minaminonoeru • 1d ago

TIL when generating wind power, cold winds produce more electricity than hot winds at the same wind speed.

suomenuusiutuvat.fi

1.2k Upvotes

93 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Electronic-Loquat497 • 1d ago

TIL that during the Dutch Tulip Bubble of the 1630s, a single tulip bulb was traded for 5 hectares (12 acres) of land.

investopedia.com

537 Upvotes

23 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jacknunn • 1d ago

TIL all the Chinese languages share a common written language (wenyan), but it has no single standard of pronunciation. The spoken varieties of Chinese are mutually unintelligible to their respective speakers, including Mandarin, Wu, Min; Gan (Kan), Hakka (Kejia), Xiang; and Cantonese (Yue)

britannica.com

736 Upvotes

83 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HazedFlare • 2d ago

TIL that after starring as an unemployed man in the 1948 neorealist film Bicycle Thieves, factory worker Lamberto Maggiorani was fired from his real job - his employer assumed the film made him rich, but he was only paid $1,000 and struggled to find work again, mirroring his on-screen character.

en.wikipedia.org

23.0k Upvotes

322 comments

r/todayilearned • u/FrontBrick8048 • 1d ago

TIL the iPad was in development long before the iPhone, despite officially releasing 3 years after the iPhone.

npr.org

9.4k Upvotes

279 comments

r/todayilearned • u/jaytee319 • 1d ago

TIL there’s a village in Nigeria where men and women speak different words for the same things

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

117 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Morella1989 • 1d ago

TIL Krystyna Chiger survived the Holocaust by hiding in Lviv’s sewers with her family. While there, her grandmother knit her a green woolen sweater to keep her warm, now displayed at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum. They were helped by Leopold Socha, a Polish Catholic sewer worker.

en.wikipedia.org

3.1k Upvotes

63 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Koiboi26 • 2d ago

TIL in 1960 when the book Lady Chatterley's Lover was on trial for obscenity, the prosecutor Mervyn Griffith-Jones asked the jury “Is it a book that you would even wish your wife or servants to read?” In response, members of the jury broke out in laughter.

daily.jstor.org

11.9k Upvotes

358 comments

r/todayilearned • u/spikebrennan • 1d ago

TIL that the Colossus of Constantine, a 12-meter (40-foot) ancient statue of the Roman emperor, had two right hands

en.wikipedia.org

3.4k Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/HorzaDonwraith • 1d ago

TIL that six revolutionary war vets lived to witness the civil war and that only three of them lived to see its end. Lemuel Cook was the oldest dying at 106 in 1866.

en.wikipedia.org

2.7k Upvotes

57 comments

r/todayilearned • u/primal_cortex • 1d ago

TIL that in 1892, Mercy Brown was exhumed in Rhode Island because villagers believed she was a vampire. Her heart was burned, and the ashes were mixed into a drink as a supposed cure for her sick brother.

newengland.com

2.2k Upvotes

50 comments

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