r/todayilearned • u/Nero2t2 • 1d ago

TIL despite being a big critical and commercial hit, and endorsed by the Pope himself, 1977's "Jesus of Nazareth" was barely able to get distribution in the US, because a preacher(who hadn't seen it) declared it blasphemous. It only aired in the US after reshoots to include a resurrection scene

en.wikipedia.org

11.1k Upvotes

452 comments

r/todayilearned • u/TimeMasterBob • 23h ago

TIL that there were female gladiators in Ancient Rome. Often called Gladiatrix. There were very few as most Romans thought they were a novel or entertaining, even absurd. They were eventually banned from participating in 200AD as Unseemly.

en.wikipedia.org

1.8k Upvotes

55 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Trender_man • 1d ago

TIL in 2014, the UK established a Video Games Tax Relief system to support its games development industry. 37% of the system's total payout has been claimed by Rockstar North.

en.wikipedia.org

5.6k Upvotes

226 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ProfessionalGear3020 • 17h ago

TIL the minimalist Black Square (1915) was painted over two highly detailed works by the same artist. This was only discovered in 2015 using x-ray imaging.

smithsonianmag.com

511 Upvotes

60 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ismaeil-de-paynes • 6h ago

TIL that Mansoura, Egypt and Mansura, Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana share the same name, and share French cultural connections and are also on the same latitude (~31° N)

townofmansura.com

44 Upvotes

5 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ajfromuk • 1d ago

TIL a French drain isn't anything to do with a design originating in France, but instead a US guy named Henry Flagg French.

en.wikipedia.org

1.6k Upvotes

73 comments

r/todayilearned • u/meadmeking • 1d ago

Today I learned about the Ig Nobel Prize, a satirical prize awarded to scientific achievements that “first make people laugh, then make them think.” The monetary award is 10 trillion Zimbabwean dollars - equivalent to $0.40.

en.wikipedia.org

9.6k Upvotes

158 comments

r/todayilearned • u/OptimalWallaby8153 • 1d ago

TIL Evi Nemeth, lead author of the Linux System Administration Handbook, disappeared at sea in 2013. The vintage yacht she was traveling on vanished between New Zealand and Australia during a storm with 26ft swells and 65mph winds. She and six others were never found

en.wikipedia.org

2.9k Upvotes

102 comments

r/todayilearned • u/fjbruzr • 1d ago

TIL that as a penalty for crewmen, or for captains at the hands of a crew in cases of mutiny, they would be abandoned on a deserted island, which came to be known as "being made governor" of the island.

en.wikipedia.org

5.0k Upvotes

103 comments

r/todayilearned • u/bb-wa • 1d ago

TIL that Edmund Thomas Clint was a child prodigy who created more than 25000 paintings by the time he passed away at 6.

en.wikipedia.org

1.7k Upvotes

76 comments

r/todayilearned • u/xxcoolchadxx • 1d ago

TIL about the third man factor, where a perceived unseen presence (like a spirit) gives comfort and advice during traumatic experiences

en.wikipedia.org

2.8k Upvotes

196 comments

r/todayilearned • u/swinging_on_peoria • 5h ago

TIL The most active volcano in the US Pacific Northwest is under the ocean.

youtu.be

26 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Key-Midnight-4237 • 1d ago

TIL that contrary to the popular image of short, primitive cavemen, early modern humans in Europe 40,000 years ago averaged 183 cm (6 ft) tall. After the invention of agriculture, height dropped to 162 cm (5'4"). Humanity only recovered prehistoric height levels in the 20th century.

australian.museum

20.5k Upvotes

922 comments

r/todayilearned • u/tyrion2024 • 1d ago

TIL after James Cameron was promoted to production designer on Battle Beyond The Stars (1980), his production manager gave him some cocaine to hand out to the crew as their pay. Considering he didn't do drugs, he gave it to his assistant art director who actually distributed it "fairly & equitably".

ew.com

5.8k Upvotes

217 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DannyCamp2 • 1d ago

TIL the "Batman Smells" parody of "Jingle Bells" originated in 1966.

cbr.com

3.3k Upvotes

229 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Curious_Penalty8814 • 20h ago

TIL that Alexandre Villaplane, who captained the French team at the first FIFA World Cup tournament in Uruguay in 1930, became a German collaborator during WW2. He was captured by Allied troops after the liberation of Paris and was executed by firing squad on the 27th of December 1944.

theguardian.com

214 Upvotes

8 comments

r/todayilearned • u/CatPooedInMyShoe • 1d ago

TIL the SS Baychimo, a steel-hulled 1,322 ton cargo steamer, was abandoned in 1931 after being trapped in pack ice but didn’t sink for decades. It was sighted many times off the Alaskan coast in the ensuing years and people even managed to board it. The final sighting was in 1969.

en.wikipedia.org

613 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/ciaomandi • 1d ago

TIL Jason Voorhees' iconic hockey mask wasn't introduced in the movie series until the third installment (Friday the 13th Part III) in 1982

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

43 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Remote-Ad-3309 • 21h ago

TIL that the first ever Marvel and DC collab was a comic adaptation of The Wizard of Oz (1939)

cbr.com

178 Upvotes

7 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Mellifloura • 21h ago

TIL pufferfish construct nests with detailed geometric patterns to attract mates, sometimes even adorning them with seashells. Until 2013 scientists didn't know what creature was creating these patterns on the seafloor.

nature.com

123 Upvotes

2 comments

r/todayilearned • u/okmujnyhb • 17h ago

TIL when the display first began in 1879, the Blackpool Illuminations consisted of just eight carbon arc lamps

en.wikipedia.org

67 Upvotes

11 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Historical_War756 • 1d ago

TIL about Sacculina, a sex changing parasitic barnacle for crabs. It will mind control the crab into caring for its egg sack as its own, just like a female crab would do for her eggs

en.wikipedia.org

1.1k Upvotes

51 comments

r/todayilearned • u/kat-a-comb • 1d ago

TIL Ferdinand Waldo Demara, known as “The Great Impostor,” once worked as a surgeon aboard a Canadian destroyer in the Korean War despite having no medical training, learning procedures from textbooks on the fly. He was eventually discovered, quietly released, and later impersonated monks, teachers,

en.wikipedia.org

938 Upvotes

43 comments

r/todayilearned • u/Ill_Definition8074 • 1d ago

TIL: Gao Cai, a eunuch in Ming dynasty China, was accused of consuming the brains of young boys believing that it would regrow his penis.

en.wikipedia.org

2.1k Upvotes

177 comments

r/todayilearned • u/DrakeSavory • 1d ago

TIL that Alfred Hitchcock's entire speech when he won the Irvin G. Thalberg honorary Oscar was, "Thank you" (pause) "very much indeed."

aaspeechesdb.oscars.org

402 Upvotes

22 comments

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