TIL that Tenzing saved Edmund’s life during their 1953 Everest expedition. When Edmund fell into a deep crevasse, Tenzing’s quick action with his ice axe secured the rope and stopped his fall. Edmund later considered Tenzing his preferred partner for future summit attempts. [Source]

TIL that in 1963 several cows were carried into the air by a tornado in Illinois. They survived but "acted strangely for several days" [Source]

Today I learned that Wisconsin is the only U.S. state that requires a license to make cheese. Becoming a master Cheesemaker takes 13 additional years. [Source]

TIL that the passenger pigeon, once a common American food staple, went extinct in 1914. Two years later, scientists began work to develop a "broiler" chicken, bred specifically for meat production. By 1960, per-capita consumption of chicken was 28 pounds. By 2018, it was estimated at 92.5 pounds. [Source]

TIL in 2005 two African Flamingos escaped from a Zoo in Wichita, Kansas. And 13 years later one of them was spotted and identified as living in Texas. [Source]

TIL a phone company planted hundreds of telephone poles in a field and spent half a century measuring their resilience [Source]

TIL that after German bombers sank the SS John Harvey at Bari in 1943, releasing its secret cargo of American mustard gas and killing dozens, the US military initially covered up the chemical leak by attributing the victims' deaths to “burns due to enemy action”. [Source]

TIL of the Fuggerei, the world's oldest social housing still in use (first opened in 1516), whose door bells are all unique to allow people to find their way home in the dark before street lights existed. [Source]

TIL Mork & Mindy was a spinoff of Happy Days. Robin Williams first played Mork in February 1978, when the alien tried to take Richie Cunningham to planet Ork as a specimen, only to be stopped by Fonzie. [Source]

TIL that during WWI, German troops stopped to drink captured wine in Champagne's cellars, delaying their advance. Historians have found that the wine contributed to delays during the 1918 German spring offensive [Source]

TIL In 2021, a man in Beaverton, Oregon, stole a woman's SUV only to discover that her 4-year-old son was in the back seat. He reportedly drove back, returned the child to his mother, and scolded her for leaving him unattended. He drove away again but the SUV was recovered hours later without him [Source]

TIL about Dawit Isaak, an Eritrean-Swedish playwright, journalist and writer who has been incarcerated in Eritrea since 2001. He is considered to be one of the world's longest continuously detained journalists, assuming he is still alive. [Source]

TIL that the Apollo 11 Source Code is available on GitHub and even back then they were cracking jokes in the comments of their code [Source]

TIL that a man was held prisoner in him room by his father and stepmother for 20 years. When he escaped by setting the house on fire, he weighed only 68 pounds. Though his father had since died, the stepmother was charged and is awaiting trial. [Source]

TIL the longest running voice actor for Mickey Mouse, Wayne Allwine, was married to the longest running voice actress for Minnie Mouse, Russi Taylor. [Source]

TIL Before the introduction of chess clocks, competitive chess games would often take 8 hours or more, with one famous match between Howard Staunton and Pierre St. Amant in 1843 reportedly taking over 14 hours [Source]

TIL there has been at least one hazing-related death on a U.S. college campus every year since 1969. Over 200 university hazing deaths have occurred since 1838. [Source]

TIL that Australia has an exceptionally low adoption rate, with only 155 adoptions finalised in 2024-2025, with 119 of these being known child adoptions. This represents a 98% fall from 1971-1972. [Source]

TIL that Emperor Wenxuan of Northern Qi was an alcoholic who, when drunk, had a habit of taking off all his clothes and running around the capital naked, even in the coldest winters. He would also sometimes sleep on the streets and personally behead passersby. [Source]

TIL for six years Ann Moore, "the Fasting Woman of Tutbury," drew crowds and gifts by claiming she could live without food. In 1813 a committee put her on a bed fitted with a weighing machine to watch her for a month; she gave up after nine days and made a written confession. [Source]

TIL a-96-year old WWII veteran received a love letter from his wife 72 years after she wrote it. The letter had been hidden beneath the stairs of their old home since 1945. His wife died six years earlier so their son read the letter to him. [Source]