The Battle of Waterloo was fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, near Waterloo in the United Kingdom of the Netherlands, now in Belgium. A French army under the command of Napoleon was defeated by two of the armies of the Seventh Coalition. One was a British-led…

Find contact information and other facts about Presidents, Vice Presidents, and First Ladies, past and present.

Posted in r/todayilearned by u/ShabtaiBenOron • 102 points and 4 comments

Impending fatherhood can lower two hormones—testosterone and estradiol—for men, even before their babies are born, a new University of Michigan study found.

Snow forms when the atmospheric temperature is at or below freezing, 0/32 degrees C/F. There also needs to be a certain amount of moisture in the air for it to snow.

For centuries, music notation was an inexact technique and hasty transcriptions may have resulted in this symbol

Reminder to tiger beetles: If you chase prey at high speeds, you'll go blind. Entomologists have long noticed that tiger beetles stop-and-go in their pursuit of prey. But until now, scientists have had no idea why this type of beetle attacks its food in fits…

Mohammad Reza Pahlavi (26 October 1919 – 27 July 1980) was the Shah of Iran from 1941 to 1979. He succeeded his father Reza Shah and ruled the Imperial State of Iran until he was overthrown by the 1979 revolution led by Imam Khomeini, which abolished the…

In the world of film and animation music, “Mickey Mousing” is the affectionate (and occasionally derogatory) nickname given to a technique whereby the music and the action on the screen…

When an automobile (that runs on four or more wheels) takes a turn, the wheels on the outside (during the turn) must travel a slightly greater distance than the wheels on the inside.

Waggoner Ranch is a ranch in Texas that went up for sale in August 2014 for an asking price of $725 million and sold for an undisclosed amount.

They sound silly now, but there are reasons it took so long for scientists to figure out where babies come from.

Posted in r/todayilearned by u/Prof_Hershel_Layton • 166 points and 21 comments

Duke Nukem Forever

McDonald's just can't help itself from giving questionable advice to its employees. CNBC reports that on its employee resource website, McDonald's offered an Emily Post guide to tipping during the...

While he is famous to us for his mathematical theorems, in antiquity Pythagoras was renowned for the philosophical-religious sect that he founded.

In the liner notes to their 1984 debut album Welcome to the Pleasuredome, Frankie Goes to Hollywood bassist Mark O'Toole writes of the band’s hit “Relax,” “[W]hen it first came out we used to pretend it was about motivation, and really it was about shagging.”…

These stars have said they're skeptical about flying the friendly skies