TIL that in March 2003, 16 players on the Chicago White Sox were planning to voluntarily skip their steroid tests to register an automatic fail, because if a certain percentage of players failed the MLB would make testing mandatory for the next 3 seasons. [Source]

TIL about the "Batman effect": In an experiment, a woman appearing pregnant boarded a train. In some trials, another experimenter dressed as Batman also entered. Passengers were far more likely to offer the woman their seat when Batman was present—67.2% compared with 37.7%. [Source]

TIL Argentina was the catalyst behind the invention of soccer's yellow/red card system. In 1966, their captain refused an expulsion, later blaming language barriers. To prevent this kind of situation in the future, the universal color-coded system was developed so all players understand the calls. [Source]

TIL a mummy said to be an Egyptian king's two year old son was bought in 1886 for a Vermont museum, where it sat in the attic for decades. In 1945 a curator, told to throw it out, instead cremated it in his neighbor's furnace and buried it in his family plot in Vermont with a headstone dated 1883 BC [Source]

TIL Out of all the surviving works of ancient greek tragedian Euripides, 68% have female protagonists, compared to 29% in Sophocles and 15% in Aeschylus. He often had them express overtly feminist views and challenge moral and social standards, which drew some criticism from contemporaries [Source]

TIL in Spain, sangria is considered a drink for foreign tourists despite Spanish origins and EU laws that say that only Spain and Portugal can label the drink that name. [Source]

TIL on October 2024, Taylor Farms announced a recall after it was linked to the E. coli outbreak from raw onions consumed at McDonald's. 104 people were impacted, including one death, with a FDA inspection finding numerous violations in food safety procedures at the Taylor Farms facility. [Source]

TIL that during WWII, the US military developed the T13 Beano Grenade to be exactly the size, weight, and shape of a standard baseball. The theory was that almost any young American man would already know how to throw it with accuracy and distance. [Source]

TIL that after 2006, world cup winners cannot keep the actual trophy. The team that won would celebrate with it and hand it back to FIFA officials after. It would later be given a replica of the trophy. [Source]

TIL camel humps don't store water at all, they store fat. The real water storage is in their bloodstream, made possible by oval-shaped red blood cells that can expand instead of bursting when they drink up to 40 gallons at once. [Source]

TIL the first time a person ate and drank on the moon was when Buzz Aldrin took bread and wine and gave himself communion on Apollo 11 on on July 20, 1969, while he and Neil Armstrong waited to open the door of the lunar lander and step out for the first time. [Source]

TIL That despite having less than 1% of the world's total population, Colombia has produced 3 of the top 10 most prolific, known, serial killers. [Source]

TIL in China there are 20 million more men than women in age range 20-40 [Source]

TIL that actress Michael Learned was credited as "Miss Michael Learned" early in her career because producers were worried that the audience would be confused about her gender. [Source]

TIL that EA sports has successfully predicted the past 5 World Cup winners by running a simulation inside their game. [Source]

TIL that the story of the Trojan Horse is not mentioned in the Illiad and is only briefly mentioned in the Odyssey. The account of the Fall of Troy that is known today was written by the Roman poet Virgil in 1st century BC. [Source]

TIL that none of Warren Buffett’s three children ever completed college [Source]

TIL that China banned “ugly” buildings in 2021 because officials wanted architecture that was more functional, economical, green, and aesthetically pleasing. [Source]

TIL that in 1967, an American high school teacher created a fake authoritarian movement called “The Third Wave” to show his students how ordinary Germans could have supported the rise of Nazism. Within days, students had became so radicalised that he decided to end the experiment. [Source]

TIL of a live 1953 Thomas the Tank Engine TV special on the BBC in which a model train derailed on air, forcing a human hand to place it back on the tracks while the narrator struggled to improvise. The broadcast is lost, and the only known evidence it aired is a Daily Herald newspaper clipping. [Source]

TIL the Eiffel Tower is 700 tons heavier today than when it was built, purely because of 130 years of layered paint. [Source]