TIL In many jurisdictions in the US, you cannot finalize a divorce while pregnant, and if you have a baby within 10 months of a divorce, it's assumed by law that your ex-husband is the father of t...
TIL that several Congressional investigations have found no evidence to believe that any American prisoners were held in southeast Asia after the end of the Vietnam war
TIL that like most British colonies, Canada used to drive on the left side of the road. They abondonded this in the 1920s to facilitate traffic to and from the United States
TIL that Stalin didn't like constructivist architecture and under his rule cheap mass-produced buildings were de facto banned from being built in large cities, which instead were filled with grand...
TIL that Wimbledon umpires learn a vast array of swear words in many different languages in order to flag ,and subsequently fine, any athlete to break the no swearing rule.
TIL Black History Month is thought to be celebrated in February because Abraham Lincoln's birthday was Feb. 12 and Frederick Douglass celebrated his birthday on Feb. 14
TIL of the Wicked Bible (circa 1631) - called such because of a typo omitting the word "not" from the commandment "thou shall NOT commit adultery." Also, in Deuteronomy 5:24, “God’s greatness” is ...
TIL: That during the 1936 Olympics, two Japanese pole-vaulters tied for second place. Instead of competing again, they cut the silver and bronze medals in half upon returning home and fused the tw...
TIL the world record for most parachute jumps in a 24-hour period is 640 set by Jay Stokes in 2006.
TIL: That Christine McVie wrote the song "Songbird" in just half an hour at around midnight, but didn't have anyone around to record it. To ensure she did not forget the chord structure and melody...
TIL for American food labeling, 1 fl oz=30 ml EXACTLY, and the related units cup=240ml, teaspoon=5ml, tablespoon=15ml, are also perfectly round numbers in metric. "Weight" ounces, though, are exac...
TIL that spiny dogfishes' spines control their swimming rather than their brains, allowing them to sleep while swimming.
TIL despite committing suicide in 1945, Adolf Hitler was not issued a death certificate until 1956, after a lengthy investigation to collect testimony from 42 witnesses. Hitler's death was entered...
TIL until 2001 workers at Disneyland had to wear "communal underwear" while in character because normal undies would bunch up and become visible. After several outbreaks of pubic lice, the perform...
TIL the puppet of Hoggle used in the film Labyrinth went missing, and is now no longer owned by the Henson estate but by the Unclaimed Baggage Centre in Alabama
TIL The US has been at war 225 out of 243 years since 1776
TIL that lots of famous artists have died in plane crashes, including Glenn Miller when his military plane fell from the sky, Buddy Holly while on an airplane, Patsy Cline who's manager flew in ba...
TIL that Frank Zappa intended his 1982 song “Valley Girl” to be a mocking satire of California’s teen culture, but ironically, the song’s success instead popularized the “valley girl” accent natio...
TIL January 1, 1983 is considered the official birthday of the Internet. Prior to this, the various computer networks did not have a standard way to communicate with each other. A new communicatio...
TIL that the most recent bubonic plague pandemic lasted from 1855 to 1960, killing 15 million people worldwide.
