TIL just 7.7% of all current marriages in the US have reached the 50-year mark. [source, comments]

TIL about the nipplefruit, also know as "cow's udder", "foxhead" and "apple of Sodom" a poisonous cousin of the potato, tomato and eggplant that got its name from its resemblance to a cow's udder from one side and a human breast from the other [source, comments]

TIL that in 1911, after several horses proved "unequal to his hearty constitution and bulk (345-360 pounds)", U.S. President William Howard Taft had the White House stables demolished and replaced with a 4-car garage. [source, comments]

TIL Ted Turner, who sold his Turner Broadcasting System to Time Warner in 1995, estimated that because of the AOL/Time Warner merger in 2000, he lost roughly $8 billion (or 80% of his wealth). [source, comments]

TIL about prize-winning photographer Bob East, who went in for eye cancer surgery and never came out. Formaldehyde meant to preserve the removed eyeball was mistakenly injected into his spine, killing him. [source, comments]

TIL In 2001 a wealthy private jet passenger pressured his pilots to disobey flight restrictions, at one point getting into the cockpit to intimidate them, resulting in the deaths of all 18 passengers aboard [source, comments]

TIL a man was jailed after trying to not pay for his Indian restaurant meal by placing his pubic hair in the remains of his lamb bhuna. All the staff had black hair and the pubes were brown. [source, comments]

TIL about the Chesterfield Canal Dredging Mistake. In 1978, UK workers cleaning up the canal removed a heavy chain from the bottom, only for that section of the canal to drain completely away. The chain was attached to a plug, installed there 200 years previously for maintenance, and long forgotten. [source, comments]

TIL: In 1986, the director of 'Friday the 13th' pitched the idea of a movie where Cheech and Chong become counselors at Camp Crystal Lake and meet Jason Voorhees [source, comments]

TIL of a rare form of primordial dwarfism known as Russell-Silver syndrome that is defined by a large head, body asymmetry, and a protruding forehead. Unlike other forms of primordial dwarfism, children with RSS respond well to hormone treatment and can reach normal height if given treatment. [source, comments]

TIL Hideo Kojima produced a gameboy game that required physically going outdoors [source, comments]

TIL in WWII, Germany had a submarine exclusively for resupplying other submarines. The Type XIV "milk cow" had a bakery, a small clinic with a doctor, fresh food and extra fuel and torpedoes. The Type XIV allowed German U-Boats to patrol indefinitely near US waters. [source, comments]

TIL that the PlayStation 2 is still the best-selling console of all time, with over 160 million units sold — even after two decades and multiple console generations later. [source, comments]

TIL about slaves abandoned in 1760 on a tiny island (Tromelin) who survived there for 15 years. On an island with no trees, with only one well, constantly battered by winds and storms. Seven women and one child survived. [source, comments]

TIL There was a publicity movement where abolitionists shared photos and stories about the existence of "white slaves" due to the one-drop rule. It is was intended to shock audiences in the similarities between themselves and slaves promoting empathy. [source, comments]

TIL Ian Fleming named James Bond after an ornithologist. Fleming would later tell Bond's wife, "I can only offer [him] unlimited use of the name Ian Fleming...Perhaps one day he will discover some particularly horrible species of bird which he would like to christen in an insulting fashion." [source, comments]

TIL that Fort Hood (Tx), originally named after a Confederate general, was renamed Fort Cavazos in 2023 after the first Mexican American four star general and Medal of Honour recipient, but was renamed back to Fort Hood in 2025 after a colonel who was awarded the distingished services cross. [source, comments]

TIL of John C. Woods, an executioner at the Nuremberg trials. Once credited with 347 executions, he lied about his experience as an assistant hangman to get the position. The US Army estimates he mismanaged at least 11 hangings, causing death by strangulation rather than spinal severance [source, comments]

TIL in 2013, 20 people were injured, with 7 sent to the hospital, after a promotional stunt by LG in Seoul went wrong. LG released 100 helium balloons, each with a free smartphone voucher for a phone that retailed at $851. Customers arrived with BB guns (to shoot the balloons) and knives on sticks. [source, comments]

TIL Renaissance-era Danish astronomer Tycho Brahe died from either a swollen prostate or burst bladder brought on by his refusal to leave a lengthy banquet and relieve himself, seeing it as a breach of etiquette. [source, comments]