TIL that (US) generic drug names aren't created by their manufacturers, they're assigned by the United States Adopted Names (USAN) Council [Source]
TIL about Cryptic Pregnancies, which is when a pregnancy shows little to no symptoms to the point that the woman can be unaware that she is pregnant until she is in labor in some cases. [Source]
Cleveland Clinic
Cryptic Pregnancy: Causes, Symptoms & Risks
A cryptic pregnancy is when you don’t know you’re pregnant. It could be because you don’t have symptoms or because of a false negative pregnancy test.
TIL that despite their name, it is biologically impossible for a centipede to be born with exactly 100 legs because a genetic quirk dictates they always have an odd number of leg pairs. [Source]
Wikipedia
Centipede
Centipedes (from Neo-Latin centi- 'hundred' and Latin pes, pedis 'foot') are predatory arthropods belonging to the class Chilopoda[note 1] of the subphylum Myriapoda, an arthropod group which includes millipedes and other multi-legged animals. Centipedes…
TIL that 28 people have gone the moon and only 12 of them walked on it [Source]
Encyclopedia Britannica
How Many People Have Been to the Moon?
NASA sent two dozen people to the Moon as part of the Apollo space program in the 1960s and 1970s. It also sent four people in 2026.
TIL the Austrian Empire tried to colonize islands near India in 1778 with basically 5-6 people. Things didn't go particularly well. The colonists struggled with food and water shortages, their leader Gottfried Stahl died in 1783, and the survivors eventually abandoned the settlement. [Source]
Wikipedia
Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands
The Austrian colonization of the Nicobar Islands (German: Nikobaren, renamed to the Theresia Islands [Theresia-Inseln]) involved a series of three separate attempts by the Habsburg monarchy, and later the Austrian Empire, to colonize and settle the Nicobar…
TIL Up until 1981 Boeing used depleted uranium as counter weights in parts of their 747’s [Source]
Simple Flying
Why Early Boeing 747s Used Spent Uranium As Counterweights
Did you know about this quirk?
TIL In 2012, an Irish mother delivered her first twin prematurely, and her contractions stopped. This allowed the second twin to stay safely inside the womb for another 87 days. This rare occurrence is known as a delayed-interval delivery. It broke the previous world record of 84 days. [Source]
Irish America
Irish Twins Born 87 Days Apart Set World Record
Waterford twins Katie and Amy Jones-Elliott are headed to the Guinness Book of Records after they were born 87 days apart.
TIL that in 1991, Nigerian prophet Daniel Abodunrin entered a lion enclosure at the University of Ibadan Zoo, believing God would shut the lions’ mouths just as He did for Daniel in the Bible. However, the lions pounced on and devoured him. [Source]
Pulse Nigeria
Just like Daniel, this Nigerian prophet entered a lion’s den—See what happened next
So, on Easter Sunday, Daniel Abodunrin, perhaps charged and inspired by the power of resurrection, decided to do the unthinkable to prove the impossible.
TIL that earthquakes can trigger outbreaks of lasting vertigo in humans, which is known as Post-Earthquake Dizziness Syndrome [Source]
TIL: Eumenes of Cardia who went from being Alexander the Great's secretary to defeating one of Alexander's greatest generals in his first major battle [Source]
Wikipedia
Eumenes
Eumenes (/juːˈmɛniːz/; Ancient Greek: Εὐμένης; fl. 361–315 BC) was a Greek general, satrap, and successor of Alexander the Great. He participated in the Wars of Alexander the Great, serving as Alexander's personal secretary and later on as a battlefield commander.…
TIL about heraldic hatching, a historical method of representing color without color. [Source]
Wikipedia
Hatching (heraldry)
system of patterns used in heraldry
TIL that Lou Hoover - Henry Hoover's wife - had a tradition of leaving one chair empty whenever she entertained company, as a reminder of ongoing child poverty. [Source]
Wikipedia
Lou Henry Hoover
First Lady of the United States from 1929 to 1933
TIL the longest-standing record chronicled in The Guinness Book of Records belongs to the monk, St Simeon the Stylite (c. AD 386–459), who spent approximately 39 years on a stone pillar in Syria. His purpose was self-persecution for people's sins, and to be nearer God. [Source]
Guinness World Records
Longest pole sitting overall
Who St Simeon the Stylite Where United Kingdom When 0458
TIL about Randy Gardner, a 17 year old who spent 11 days and 25 minutes without sleep [Source]
Wikipedia
Randy Gardner sleep deprivation experiment
American sleeplessness world record holder
TIL that in 2016, a Chinese artist spent 3 days building a $15,000 LEGO statue or Nick Wilde from Zootopia. Shortly after it was put on display, a 4-year-old boy accidentally knocked it over, destroying it. The artist refused an offer of compensation from the parents. [Source]
ABC News
$15,000 Lego Sculpture Destroyed by Boy an Hour After Being Mounted
Two prominent Chinese sculptures were destroyed by children last month.
TIL Albert Einstein, besides his work as a physicist and mathematician was also a Fridge engineer. Together with a former student Leo Szilard he helped invent several new technologies in refrigeration and jointly held 45 patents, including a design for a fridge with no moving parts. [Source]
Wikipedia
Einstein refrigerator
The Einstein–Szilard or Einstein refrigerator is an absorption refrigerator which has no moving parts, operates at constant pressure, and requires only a heat source to operate. It was jointly invented in 1926 by Albert Einstein and his former student Leó…
TIL you could fit every planet in the Solar System between Earth and the Moon [Source]
BBC Sky at Night
You could fit every planet in the Solar System between Earth and the Moon
The Moon is so far away from Earth, you could fit all the planets of the Solar System within the distance between the two bodies.
TIL in 2016, a sweet shop owner in Pakistan confessed to mixing a highly toxic pesticide into the sweets after an argument with his brother and co-owner. From 20 April to 8 May 2016, at least 33 people, including five children, died from the purposely poisoned baked confection. [Source]
Wikipedia
2016 Layyah sweet poisoning
food safety incident in Pakistan
TIL the original Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles Movie pitch was to have starred comedians Sam Kinison, Gallagher, Bobcat Goldthwait and Billy Crystal in green make-up as the turtles. [Source]
Wikipedia
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (1990 film)
1990 film directed by Steve Barron
TIL that in 2010, UCF professor Richard Quinn uncovered a massive cheating scandal by analyzing statistical anomalies in exam scores, prompting 205 students to come forward and forcing all 600 to retake the exam. [Source]
YouTube
UCF Professor Richard Quinn accuses class of cheating [Original]
University of Central Florida students study for test and get accused of cheating. Somehow a test bank of 700 questions floats around in the class. Students studied the 700 questions for a 50 question exam. The professor finds out and makes all students…
TIL that in 2014, a recall was issued for about 2.2 million bean bag chairs that had zippers on them after two children were found dead inside two of the chairs, having suffocated from lack of air and from inhaling the chair's foam beads. [Source]
U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission
Two Deaths Reported with Ace Bayou Bean Bag Chairs
Consumers should check their bean bag chairs for any zippers that can open, take those that can open away from children immediately and contact Ace Bayou for a free repair kit to permanently disable the zippers so that they cannot be opened.