TIL about the “GTA Flu”. This phenomenon happens when a new, popular game is released and many people call in sick to play the new game [Source]

TIL a high school football coach for Pulaski Academy in Little Rock, Arkansas named Kevin Kelley employed an unorthodox strategy that included almost never punting & always attempting onside kicks when the score is within 21 points. His team won 7 state championships in 15 years including 4 in a row [Source]

TIL that LEGO bricks withstand compression better than concrete. An ordinary plastic LEGO brick is able to support the weight of 375,000 other bricks before it fails. This, theoretically, would let you build a tower nearing 3.5km in height. [Source]

TIL in 1998 a man on Olympic Airways had an asthmatic reaction to cigarette smoke, so his wife asked 3 times that he be moved away from the smokers. At first, the flight attendant said there were no empty seats and later said she was too busy. The man eventually died & his widow was awarded $1.4m. [Source]

TIL online clothing orders have a return rate of 32%, which dwarfs the return rates of other e-commerce sectors (e.g. just 7% in consumer electronics). [Source]

TIL The only recorded collision between a car and a submarine happened in Sweden in 1961, when a driverless Volvo rolled downhill into a docked submarine. [Source]

TIL Kaiser Wilhelm II was on vacation when WW1 started. Upon his return Kaiser was furious at Chancellor Bethmann Hollweg over ultimatum saying "How did it all happen?" He offered resignation as apology but Wilhelm refused to accept it stating "You've made this stew, now you're going to eat it!" [Source]

TIL that the naturopath and author of such books as "The Cure for All Cancers," "The Cure for all Diseases," and "The Prevention of all Cancers" died in 2009 from cancer [Source]

TIL that, despite smoking on an aircraft being illegal, commercial aircraft are still legally required to equip ashtrays near lavatories in case someone does smoke. [Source]

TIL national park ranger Margaret Anderson blocked a car heading to the Paradise Recreation stop at Mt. Rainier where there were numerous visitors. She was shot and killed by the driver but he fled on foot and did not go up to Paradise. [Source]

TIL 8% of human DNA is made from viruses [Source]

TIL when Yuri Gagarin (the first person in space) landed on earth he had to ask where a phone was in order to let people know he was back on Earth [Source]

TIL according to Einstein's relativity, the past still exists: every moment is a permanent coordinate in spacetime. When his friend Besso died, Einstein wrote: For us believing physicists the distinction between past, present, and future only has the meaning of an illusion, though a persistent one. [Source]

TIL about the hobble skirt, a short-lived fashion trend where the wearer's stride was impeded. They were directly responsible for several deaths. The fashion only lasted from about 1908 to 1914. [Source]

TIL Lenin believed Stalin was too crude and this defect was unacceptable for the position of General Secretary. He was looking for a plan in 1923 to remove Stalin with someone "more tolerant, more polite and more attentive towards comrades, less capricious, etc." [Source]

TIL that Vito Corleone (Marlon Brando and Robert De Niro), the Joker (Heath Ledger & Joaquin Phoenix) and Anita (Rita Moreno & Ariana DeBose) are the 3 characters whose portrayals won Academy awards for two different persons. [Source]

TIL Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama also worked in the video game industry. He was the character designer for Dragon Quest and helped developed Chrono Trigger. [Source]

TIL 2000 years ago, in order to build a high-quality cavalry force, the Chinese took the initiative to invade Central Asia and destroyed a Hellenized kingdom. [Source]

TIL that after French soldier La Tour d'Auvergne died in 1800, his name was still called at every roll call and a sergeant would answer "Died on the field of honor." Napoleon had honored him as "First Grenadier of France." [Source]

TIL Mississippi law imposes a penalty of 6 months in county jail and $500 fine, "if any man and woman shall unlawfully cohabit, whether in adultery or fornication.” For conviction, the statue states it is sufficient to prove the cohabitating couple is having “habitual sexual intercourse.” [Source]

TIL there's evidence that the left nostril tends to be more dominant and open, especially with right-handed people. It's part of nasal cycling, where one nasal is always more open than the other. They typically switch every few hours. [Source]