30 Fascinating Facts from the "Today I Learned" Series

“Today I learned…” — the magic of these words opens the door to a world of unexpected discoveries and amazing truths. Meet a selection of unique facts that will dispel the usual stereotypes and enrich your knowledge base.

Every day the world around us reveals more and more secrets, ready to surprise even the most inveterate lover of facts. There are many platforms on the global network where people share their discoveries, and one of these is the “Today I found out” subreddit. Ready for an incredible journey into the world of the unknown? Then get ready for a batch of amazing facts that are sure to make you say: “Wow!”

We are completely blind for about 40 minutes a day due to saccadic masking. Without it, our lives would be like constantly watching a movie shot with a shaking handheld camera.

Saccadic masking, or visual suppression of saccades (very fast movements of two eyes in the same direction), is a sharp decrease in visual sensitivity, a "turn off" of retinal blurry image processing. However, the speed of saccades is so great that we simply do not notice this temporary blindness.

In 1915, a pharmacist saw his sister making mascara from charcoal and petroleum jelly and thought he could make a better product. His invention was easier to use and much safer on the eyes.

He named his new company "Maybelline" after his sister "Maybel" and the main component "Vaseline".

In Japan, there is a "wind telephone". An unplugged phone booth where grieving relatives can "talk" to deceased loved ones.

The Wind Phone was installed after the 2011 Fukushima earthquake and tsunami, with more than 30,000 people using it.

The average lifespan of a domestic cat has increased from seven years in the early 1980s to fifteen years in 2021.

Environmental activist Julia "Butterfly" Hill lived for 738 days on a 1,500-year-old California sequoia tree (named Luna) 55m above the ground. The girl fought against the Pacific Lumber Company cutting down the tree. And she managed to save the moon.

American actor Jonathan Goldsmith has advocated for landmine survivors, helped prevent and treat dog cancer, save the Siberian tiger, and stop child sex trafficking in Cambodia.

Domestic dogs have well developed forehead muscles. This helps to "imitate" the facial expressions of people.

Climbers and other people who find themselves in a survival situation often feel someone's strange presence next to them. This someone supports them and gives advice. The phenomenon is called the syndrome of the third.

In 1941, the USS New York opened fire on the object, mistaking it for a Japanese aircraft. The fire was fired until the navigator realized that they were firing at Venus.

In 1554, Elizabeth Crofts hid in a wall in Aldersgate Street (London), pretended to be a heavenly messenger and delivered an anti-Catholic sermon. 17,000 people came to listen to it. This historical event is called "the bird in the wall."

Mixed breed dogs live an average of 14 years, while purebred dogs live an average of about 10 years.

Willie O'Ree, the first black NHL player, was blind in one eye. When he was 18 years old, a puck ricocheted into his eye. He hid it throughout his 21-year career.

When an American film has more than one screenwriter, "&" indicates that the screenwriters worked together on the screenplay. And the "and" means they worked independently on separate drafts.

Pajamas have their own history. During World War I air raids in England, people began to wear pajamas rather than nightgowns so they could be ready to run outside at a moment's notice and still look presentable.

In PC / console games, about 60% of female avatars are used by male players.

In the 1800s, bananas were considered "immoral fruits" because of their shape. Fruit companies have begun issuing postcards featuring women eating bananas to counter the cliché.

Sea urchins in English are called Sea Urchins, not Sea Hedgehogs. Because until about the 15th century, the word Urchin was used to refer to any hedgehog.

In a life-threatening emergency, people may exhibit extreme physical strength beyond their normal range. It is called hysterical or superhuman.

Examples include the woman who saved several children by fighting a polar bear, and the woman who was able to lift a car high enough to save a man.

In the Middle Ages, there was something like nursing homes - in monasteries, where the elderly could pay for their living (as well as food and clothing) for the rest of their lives.

After Shia LaBeouf stole someone else's work for his directorial debut, he also stole the text of a public apology to answer a question about plagiarism. He took it on the Yahoo! answers.

The only confirmed case of Halloween candy poisoning occurred in 1974. Ronald O'Brien killed his son Timothy by giving him candy sticks soaked in cyanide. He did it to get an insurance payout.

The thymus gland, a small organ behind the breastbone, trains new white blood cells NOT to attack the body's own cells. Only 2% survive this rigorous training program; the rest commit suicide to avoid attacking friendly cells.

In Switzerland in the 15th century, there was a case when a rooster was accused of carrying eggs and thus violating the laws of nature. And then they were sentenced to public burning alive.

Once upon a time there was a goose Andy and she had no legs since birth. The owner of the goose put her in Nike sneakers so that she could stand and move. Andy has become a role model for disabled children. In 1991, she was killed under mysterious circumstances.

The minimum number of non-repeating chess games is greater than the number of atoms in the observable universe. The first is approximately 10120 (Shannon's number). The second is from 1079 to 1081, that is, 1040 times less than the Shannon number.

Queen Elizabeth I of England needed 600 carts with horses to transport everything needed for a summer holiday in the country. She usually stayed at the castle of some local noble. But if the castle turned out to be too small, the owners were in a hurry to leave to make room for her majesty. Naturally, she did not accept refusal and did not pay for the stay.

One in 21 New Yorkers is a millionaire.

In 1988, Red Hot Chili Peppers guitarist John Frusciante was supposed to audition for Frank Zappa's touring band, but he changed his mind and declined. The reason was that Zappa imposed a strict drug ban on his musicians. Frusciante said, "I wanted to be a rock star and do drugs and hook up girls, and I couldn't have done that if I was in Zappa's band."

The state of New Mexico in the United States received its name 250 years earlier than the country of Mexico - its own. Both names come from the ancient valley of Mexico, which was the heart of the Aztec civilization.

The city of Beijing (Illinois, USA) got its name due to the erroneous assumption that it is on the opposite side of the globe from Beijing in China. In fact, the opposite point from it is in the Indian Ocean.