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TIL in ‘92, a ship from China lost 29,000 rubber ducks in the Pacific Ocean. After some washed ashore in Alaska, oceanographers started tracking their progress to learn about ocean currents. Ducks were found in Asia, Australia, the Americas, even Europe. Some were frozen in the Arctic for 15 years.

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9oNX TIL The Codex Leicester, a collection of famous scientific writings by Leonardo da Vinci, was sold to Bill Gates in 1994 for $30.8M. After Gates acquired the Codex, he had its pages scanned and distributed as screen savers and wallpapers for Windows 95.
l7LAG TIL about Nodding Syndrome that forces children to nod their heads convulsively, the spasms are so severe that it prevents them from eating or sleeping. It started in 1962 in Sub-Saharan Africa and has spread in waves, there is no cure and the cause is unknown.
nWxO9 TIL Terrence Howard, the actor from Empire and Iron Man (I), studied chemical engineering until he dropped out after disagreeing with a professor, with Howard insisting that 1x1 = 2, explaining "you can't conform when you know innately that something is wrong".
d8yZ7 TIL Chinese director Jia Zhangke has been praised as "the most important filmmaker working in the world today." Jia's status in China rose when he was allowed to direct his fourth feature film, The World, with state approval. His first short film was a documentary on tourists in Tiananmen Square
MelZ7 TIL of "Spocking Fives," where Canadians would alter five-dollar notes to make Prime Minister Laurier's features resemble Spock from Star Trek. "Spocking Fives" was so prevalent that later releases of the five-dollar note had a different image of Laurier with less resemblance to the famous Vulcan.