8eOYK TIL that in July 2025, the title of the most followed artist globally on Spotify went to Indian playback singer Arijit Singh, who took over the title from Taylor Swift
P1DVn TIL Ireland’s Prime Minister Paid Official Condolences for Hitler Only Two Days After His Suicide
epbvk TIL that Hitler’s bunker in Berlin is now under a gravel parking lot for an apartment complex.
VBbrQ TIL the first New Year’s Eve ‘ball drop’ in Times Square (1907) was made of iron and wood, weighed 700 pounds, and was designed by the guy who invented the modern fireworks display.
X0bY6 TIL gambling addiction has the highest suicide rate of any addictive disorder, with an attempt rate of 1 in 5
OGvX6 TIL most earthworm species in the former glacial regions of North America are not native and are considered one of the most invasive animals.
69wr7 TIL that on 10 December 1901, Wilhelm Röntgen received the first Nobel Prize in Physics for discovering X-rays. He refused to give a Nobel lecture, refused to patent the discovery, and even refused to name the rays after himself - yet many countries still call X-rays Röntgenstrahlen.
wo4gE TIL that static you can see on old analog TVs contain some of the microwaves from the Cosmic Microwave Background Radiation, from ~380,000 years after the Big Bang
R5yPl TIL that Norway has a military base under a mountain for use during wartime. Despite its location being a government secret, the bus stop in front of the entrance is named "NATO facility".
W7bB9 TIL that the first reference to Santa’s sleigh being pulled by a reindeer appeared in 1821 in a poem called “Old Santeclaus with Much Delight.” “A Visit from St. Nicholas,” published two years later, said he had eight reindeer named Dasher, Dancer, Prancer, Vixen, Comet, Cupid, Dunder, and Blixem.
9wXE6 TIL the oldest people to ever reach the summit of Mount Everest were both from Japan. The oldest man was Yuichiro Miura, who reached the summit on 23 May 2013 at the age of 80y and 223d. The oldest woman was Tamae Watanabe, who reached the summit on 19 May 2012 at the age of 73y and 180d.
nWMgr TIL that "algorithm" comes from the mathematician Al-Khwarizmi, also pronounced Algorismi. He lived in Chorasmia (central asia) in the 10th century. He developed the mathematical principles that algorithms function after today.