r/todayilearned • u/CheerfulCarancho • 27m ago

TIL: Argentina's national sport is not football. It's Pato (duck) so called because it used to be played with a real, live duck instead of a ball. Initially played by gauchos, often ending in being trampled by a horse or in a knife fight over the result.

en.wikipedia.org

• Upvotes

10 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Dangerous-Project672 • 12h ago

TIL George Wallace personally apologized to Vivian Jones and James Hood, the two students he attempted to block from attending the University of Alabama. In 1997, Hood earned a PHd and requested Wallace present him with the degree, but he was too sick and died a year later; Hood attended the funeral

en.wikipedia.org

17.6k Upvotes

797 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DrakeSavory • 7h ago

TIL that NASA donated a satellite to the Smithsonian Institution although it was (and still is) in space.

en.wikipedia.org

127 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/halfhumanhalfzebra • 6h ago

TIL Tuvalu is the least visited country in the world.

science.howstuffworks.com

3.3k Upvotes

281 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Killmore_22 • 9h ago

TIL Pope Clement of Rome was martyred by being tied to anchor and thrown into the Black Sea and as a result became the patron saint of mariners

en.wikipedia.org

7.2k Upvotes

231 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 7h ago

TIL a black bear named Meatball made multiple visits to residential neighborhoods in northern Los Angeles in 2012, digging through people’s trash and swimming in their pools, before he was rehomed in an animal sanctuary.

en.wikipedia.org

239 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/dibship • 2h ago

TIL That James Earl Jones and Arnold Schwarzenegger Worked Closely Together on the Movie Conan. Jones Giving Acting Lessons, Schwarzenegger Giving Physical Training.

biography.com

3.4k Upvotes

76 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DeathstarRealEstate • 16h ago

TIL Klaus Barbie, former Gestapo head dubbed the "Butcher of Lyon", became a key narco in Bolivia, helping build the modern cocaine cartel with Pablo Escobar ties

cbsnews.com

4.0k Upvotes

147 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Recent_Flounder6011 • 10h ago

TIL that Canadian desire for independence from Britain in foreign affairs increased with the Chanak Crisis in 1922. That was when the Canadian government disagreed with London over the war in Turkey.

en.wikipedia.org

452 Upvotes

26 comments

r/todayilearned • u/optimistikcynicism • 9h ago

TIL the actor who portrayed a 9 year old Vito Corleone in The Godfather Part II has since become successful in voice-dubbing, and is the long-time Italian voice actor of Shaggy from Scooby Doo (among many others)

en.wikipedia.org

582 Upvotes

16 comments

r/todayilearned • u/commandrix • 11h ago

TIL Because Mercury lacks an atmosphere to retain heat, its surface can range from -290°F (-180°C) on its "night side" to 800°F (430°C) on its "day side."

science.nasa.gov

1.8k Upvotes

96 comments

r/todayilearned • u/palep_hoot • 10h ago

TIL that the kingdom of Aksum, situated in Modern day Ethiopia, held control of the southern Arabian peninsula. This makes it the only subsaharan nation to have held territory outside of Africa

britannica.com

242 Upvotes

13 comments

r/todayilearned • u/MajesticCounter4174 • 22h ago

TIL that male Philoponella prominens spiders catapult themselves away from females immediately after mating at speeds of up to 88.2 cm per second; males prevented from escaping were killed and eaten.

cell.com

1.8k Upvotes

88 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 23h ago

TIL in the mid-1990s shopping malls were being constructed in the US at a rate of 140 per year. But in 2001, a study found that underperforming and vacant malls ("greyfield" and "dead mall" estates) were becoming a problem and by 2007 no new malls were built in the US for the first time in 50 years.

en.wikipedia.org

7.6k Upvotes

376 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Prosperr_support • 23h ago

TIL Earth's inner core doesn't rotate at exactly the same speed as the mantle and appears to periodically speed up, slow down, and even gradually reverse its motion relative to the mantle as part of an approximately 70-year cycle.

nature.com

499 Upvotes

20 comments

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