TIL (Timeline I Learned)

TIL Superman was originally from Cleveland, but was changed to Metropolis when the series became a comic book [Source, Comments]

TIL Louis Tikas, а Greek іmmigrant in the U.S. аnd well-known labor оrganizer, became а ѕymbol оf workers' rights аfter being killed during the 1914 Ludlow Massacre while leading Colorado сoal miners іn their fight for ѕafer сonditions, fair treatment, аnd union recognition. [Source, Comments]

TIL that there are no crows in South America. [Source, Comments]

TIL that all of the missing episodes of the Doctor Who serial "The Web of Fear" were recovered in 2013. However, the third episode was "lost" at some point between the recovery and the tapes arriving at the BBC, presumed to have been sold to a private collector. The tape has never been recovered. [Source, Comments]

TIL that cashier in most of USA are not allowed to sit. [Source, Comments]

TIL When serial killer Richard Ramirez died of B-cell lymphoma while awaiting execution in 2013, his skin had reportedly turned green like a highlighter pen [Source, Comments]

TIL A certain percentage of people can voluntarily flex their tensor tympani muscle to make a low, rumbling sound in their ears. Often triggered by yawning or squeezing the eyes shut, this internal thunder acts to naturally dampen loud sounds, but some can activate it purely on command. [Source, Comments]

TIL your metabolism doesn't actually decline steadily from your 20s onward — research suggests it stays flat from age 20 to 60, and only starts dropping after that [Source, Comments]

TIL when producer Jon Peters was working on a new Superman movie in 1996, he wanted Superman to fight a giant spider in the third act. The film was cancelled in 1998, and Peters reused his giant spider idea the next year in "Wild Wild West." [Source, Comments]

TIL a practical joke created a real book: annoyed at how bestseller lists were made, radio host Jean Shepherd urged listeners to ask bookstores for "I, Libertine"—a novel that didn't exist. Fans spread the hoax so widely that Ballantine Books hired Theodore Sturgeon to write it, publishing in 1956. [Source, Comments]

TIL in the 1960s and 70s, a German doctor analysed thousands of roulette spins at European casinos and realised that wheel imbalances caused certain numbers to land more often than others. He took the casinos for over a million dollars and was called "a menace to every casino in Europe". [Source, Comments]

TIL In 1995 it was reported that Microsoft paying $3M for the Rolling Stones’ Start Me Up was the first use of the band’s music for ads because of their reluctance for licensing. However it was the 2nd time as they were paid £400 in 1964 to write and perform a jingle for a Rice Krispies commercial. [Source, Comments]

TIL that during the War of 1812, about 1,500 Canadian militia, Indigenous allies, and British soldiers used bugle calls, war cries, and deception to convince an invading American force of about 4,000 to retreat before reaching Montreal at the Battle of the Châteauguay. [Source, Comments]

TIL that Alan Napier had never read comic books and did not know about Batman. He told his agent "It was the most ridiculous thing I had ever heard of. He said, 'It may be worth over $100,000.' So I said I was Batman's butler". Napier played Alfred on 111 episodes of the 1966 TV show. [Source, Comments]

TIL that a man has won the lottery four times. David Serkin won $1M in May 2025 in the Western Canada Lottery, $500K in August 2024, $1M in November 2023, and $250K about 10 years earlier. [Source, Comments]

TIL in 1913, a roulette wheel at the Casino de Monte-Carlo in Monaco spun black 26 times in a row, which had an approximately 1 in 68 million chance of happening. Gamblers lost millions of francs betting against black thinking that after so many black spins, a long red streak must follow. [Source, Comments]

TIL football is a multi-billion-dollar sport, but there is no official public game clock for stoppage time. One referee decides when the match ends, based on a running estimate of lost time that nobody else can see. Ie. tracking stoppage time in their head while simultaneously refereeing the game. [Source, Comments]

TIL the main dining hall at CU Boulder is named after Alferd Packer, Colorado’s only convicted cannibal. Students voted for it in 1968, and the original slogan was “Have a Friend for Lunch” [Source, Comments]

TIL when she was 2, Hannah Clark had surgery to add another heart to her body after her original one had slowed down due to cardiomyopathic disease. Surprisingly, the additional heart allowed her original one to "rest", and recover full functioning. She was later able to remove the second heart. [Source, Comments]

TIL Lee Kuan Yew, the 1st Prime Minister of Singapore learned Mandarin at 32 years old. Despite being ethnically Chinese, his family spoke English as a first language under British rule. He also learned Hokkien, Malay, Latin, and Japanese and was later diagnosed with dyslexia in adulthood [Source, Comments]