r/todayilearned • u/Abject-Conference-90 • 2h ago

TIL that Marlon Brando refused to memorize lines for The Godfather. Cue cards were hidden all over set — including taped to other actors' faces and chests — so he could read them mid-scene. He believed not knowing his lines made his reactions feel genuinely unscripted.

slashfilm.com

10.6k Upvotes

536 comments

r/todayilearned • u/NateNate60 • 4h ago

TIL despite boxed Kraft macaroni and cheese being an iconic example of American processed food, it is significantly more popular in Canada, where 55% more boxes are consumed per capita than the US.

en.wikipedia.org

9.1k Upvotes

1.1k comments

r/todayilearned • u/ODaferio • 4h ago

TIL that despite being pregnant 17 times in 17 years, Queen Anne of Great Britain (1665-1714) miscarried or had stillbirths at least 12 times. Out of the 5 successful pregnancies, only one survived past infancy, Prince William, Duke of Gloucester who, much to her grief, died at the age of eleven.

en.wikipedia.org

5.7k Upvotes

170 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mors_Acerba • 6h ago

TIL of "going to the people" movement, aka "the mad summer of 1874", when as many as 4000 students abandoned their studies in the city or burned their degrees and moved to the countryside, intending to adopt the life of a peasant. Most of them had no experience of what that life was like at all

en.wikipedia.org

8.8k Upvotes

231 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Illustrious_Shoe7496 • 1h ago

TIL that the world's oldest living land animal is a bisexual male tortoise and made headlines in 2017 when his life partner for 3 decades, Frederica turned out to be Frederick during a routine medical checkup

bi.org

• Upvotes

98 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Designer_Reference_2 • 8h ago

TIL that when Napoleon Bonaparte was informed in Egypt that his wife Josephine was having an affair, he started an affair of his own with an officers wife named Pauline Fourès after sending her husband back to France. Pauline would become known as "Napoleon's Cleopatra" from then on.

en.wikipedia.org

5.0k Upvotes

150 comments

r/todayilearned • u/watermelonhouses • 50m ago

TIL that babies under 6 months cannot have water. Their small stomachs easily fill up, reducing their intake of calorie-dense breast milk or formula. Additionally, their developing kidneys struggle to filter extra water, which can trigger water intoxication and dangerously low sodium levels.

health.clevelandclinic.org

• Upvotes

84 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Spiritual_Poetry8813 • 3h ago

TIL Benjamin Franklin was asked to donate a church bell, but instead sent books creating America’s first public library.

nypl.org

1.3k Upvotes

30 comments

r/todayilearned • u/haddock420 • 18h ago

TIL There is evidence that dinosaurs suffered from cancer

bbc.co.uk

13.2k Upvotes

650 comments

r/todayilearned • u/justhereforhides • 8h ago

TIL no one is quite sure the origin of the tennis scoring system with people theorizing as far back as the 1500s

en.wikipedia.org

1.5k Upvotes

164 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Aihui-EasyMate • 2h ago

TIL that this fish species, Amazon Molly, survived 100,000 years without males. Scientists thought it should be long dead but it's thriving.

bbc.com

400 Upvotes

54 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Desperate-Cress220 • 1h ago

TIL that "A Trip to the Moon" (1902) by Georges Méliès was the first film to use special effects — including the iconic shot of a rocket hitting the moon in the eye, achieved using a dummy moon on a sliding track

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

40 comments

r/todayilearned • u/JelliedHam • 9h ago

TIL that large crude oil storage tanks around the world use floating roofs that sit right on top of the oil

en.wikipedia.org

1.4k Upvotes

110 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Double-decker_trams • 12h ago

TIL when the football (soccer) manager José Mourinho was banned for two in matches in 2005 while being the manager for Chelsea, he ignored the ban and gave the "team talk" in the Champions League quarter-final against Bayern Munich. He "escaped" by hiding in a laundry basket that was wheeled away.

skysports.com

2.1k Upvotes

44 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Weirdandwired924 • 7h ago

TIL Mr. Potato Head was the first toy ever advertised on tv

pbs.org

538 Upvotes

27 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mad_Season_1994 • 11h ago

TIL that in 2018, two rhino poachers broke into a South African game reserve but were mauled by lions

bbc.com

851 Upvotes

42 comments

r/todayilearned • u/altrightobserver • 10h ago

TIL about International Whores' Day, observed every year on June 2nd and celebrated since 1976. The day was chosen to commemorate the occupation of Église Saint-Nizier in Lyon, France by more than 100 sex workers on June 2nd, 1975 to draw attention to the profession's inhumane working conditions.

en.wikipedia.org

679 Upvotes

31 comments

r/todayilearned • u/oklhe • 1d ago

TIL famous boxing promoter Don King killed two people. The first was ruled to be a justifiable homicide after he had robbed King, and he served no prison time. 12 years later in 1966, King stomped his employee death for owing him $600. He served <4 years for the murder.

en.wikipedia.org

14.7k Upvotes

478 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MrMojoFomo • 13h ago

TIL that Mel Brooks is the only person to have won an Academy Award, Emmy, and Tony for writing

en.wikipedia.org

952 Upvotes

40 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mors_Acerba • 16h ago

TIL Of Bartolomeo Colleoni, commander in chief of Venice and renowned army tactician in the 15th century. His name was sometimes spelled "Coglione", a vulgar term for testicles, so his official coat of arms was three pairs of testicles

en.wikipedia.org

1.5k Upvotes

70 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Desperate-Cress220 • 1h ago

TIL that in 1906, a film called "The Dream of a Rarebit Fiend" showed a bed flying over New York City — using camera tricks that Hollywood would still be using 80 years later, with zero CGI

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

15 comments

r/todayilearned • u/UsualOkay6240 • 46m ago

TIL during the 1966 World Cup, the DPRK was so broke and isolated that the working class town of Middlesbrough ‘adopted ‘them. Families chipped in to buy the squad food, supplies, and took them to local sights. 3000 locals packed the stadium to cheer as they pulled off a huge 1-0 upset against Italy

theguardian.com

• Upvotes

3 comments

r/todayilearned • u/hymnsofhim • 15h ago

TIL in Scotland, a guilty admission even for murder isn’t enough to be found guilty due to a requirement of 2 seperate sources of evidence

en.wikipedia.org

973 Upvotes

128 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Otherwise_Time3371 • 16h ago

TIL A24 film studios is named after the Italian A24 motorway on which the founder was driving when he decided to create the company

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

33 comments

r/todayilearned • u/karl2025 • 7h ago

TIL Queen Anne had a close relationship with her courtier Abigail Masham, which became the subject of a bawdy song that described Abigail as the "Slut of state"

rictornorton.co.uk

214 Upvotes

11 comments

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