They say that you are never too old to learn, and every other day, the world gives us life’s lessons. The best experiences are those that come from living life and learning from mistakes. Then there are those facts that you stumble upon which make you see the world in a whole new light.
That’s why you’ll see someone posting that they were “today years old” when they found out something that may seem incredibly obvious to some people. The best ones are those moments of realization that let us all know how we’ve been looking at life differently. Let’s dive right into some of those things that Twitter users discovered along the way.
The Lion King - A Summary Of Hamlet
The 2019 remake of The Lion King rekindled our love for the animated Disney film, which first hit our screens in 1994. It turns out that the riveting tale about Simba, Mufasa, and Scar borrowed a couple of themes from centuries-old stories. That’s why this Twitter user, and most of us, were today years old when we discovered this fact.
William Shakespeare’s Hamlet served as inspiration for the plot. Co-directors Rob Minkoff and Roger Allen admitted that the original The Lion King borrows significantly from the tragedy of Hamlet. That isn’t the only old tale that lent some plot twists to the beloved film, but the film also borrows some themes from the biblical story of Moses.
The King and Queen of Zamunda - Simba’s Parents
On the surface, you wouldn’t think that Coming to America and The Lion King had anything in common. Well, except that both focus on a prince. Only that one is an animated musical about a lion called Simba, while the other is about an African prince who goes to New York in search of a wife.
Their main similarity is the cast, specifically Madge Sinclair and James Earl Jones, who played the parts of the Queen and King of Zamunda in Coming to America. In The Lion King, the two voiced the roles of Simba’s parents, Sarabi and Mufasa.
The Four-legged Nannies
Pet nannies are somewhat a controversial topic, especially when talking about entrusting your beloved canine with the task of keeping a watchful eye over your kiddo. The same doesn’t apply when talking about animals playing nannies to other animals; that’s a grey area.
It turns out that farmers running Italian farms use donkeys to ferry newborn lambs to lower plains. The young lambs are often too small to make the journey from the high pastures on their own. Like this Twitter user, we are sure most of us just learned about this fact.
It’s All About The Feet
Most people involved in filmmaking and video production are familiar with the term footage. It refers to the raw, unedited material captured on a movie or video camera. The footage goes through the editing process to create video clips, motion pictures, or the TV shows that grace our screens.
The question is, how did the term footage come about when talking of unedited filmed material? We found out, along with Technology Connections on Twitter, that it refers to the accurate measurement of motion picture film. Classic motion pictures used film to record, and they measured the rolls used in terms of feet.
Owls Have Legs For Days
Depending on who you ask, owls are mysterious, fascinating, or downright creepy creatures. More than 200 species of owls inhabit the earth, and they are everywhere, except Antarctica. One of the odd things about them is their ability to do an almost 360-degree head-turn.
Sarah Cornell and a bunch of us also found out that these ominous creatures have a set of rather long legs. Add in the fact that many cultures believe that owls signify impending death; few people would take the time to ruffle their feathers up to see what lies underneath.
A Different Spin To A Dime
Long gone are the days when gold, silver, or copper was used to mint all U.S. coins. Once the value of these precious and semi-precious materials exceeded the coin amount, coins started being minted using non-precious metals.
A dime refers to a ten-cent coin in U.S currency, begging the question, is it flattery to call someone a dime? It isn’t precisely literal, it all came back to the ten-scale used to rate beauty, and ten is the highest. It just means that you consider someone in every sense of the word, perfection.
Open Says Me
The Arabian tale of Alibaba and the Forty Thieves brings back fond childhood memories for most of us. The beloved fable supposedly even spawned a famous phrase that got butchered over the years. Most of us can admit to saying “open sesame.”
According to legend, the phrase derived from the old fable is “open says me” and not “open sesame.” The magical phrase granted entry to a cave that concealed treasure. Different accounts try explaining how just about everyone started saying open sesame instead. There was even a theory about sesame seeds that break open once they mature.
Ryan Seacrest’s Shrek Cameo
Few people haven’t watched the Shrek movies. Or, to be precise, we mean that few folks who have kids haven’t watched the films. The films bring to life yet another childhood fairy tale. One magical character in the animated film had an uncanny resemblance to a famous TV personality.
We are talking about Ryan Seacrest, who might have well served as inspiration for The Magic Mirror on the Wall. The resemblance is uncanny, and if Seacrest included a Shrek cameo on his resume, no one would dispute it. After all, he voiced the part of Butter Pants’ dad in Shrek Forever After.
That Piloting Moment
Most of us have used the term pilot when talking about the first episode of a show. Tracing its origins isn’t as straight forward. The use of the term goes back to the ’20s when it referred to a test variable or prototype.
It transferred to TV shows, but this Twitter user has an entirely new way of looking at it. She says that it’s essentially the first time a show goes on air, and hence it is the pilot. However, worth noting is that a TV pilot is typically the standalone episode used to pitch a show. The first episode often goes through reworks before going on air.
Stressed? Have A Dessert
Ryan Seacrest pointed out something that we might have overlooked. If anything, it proves that we’ve been going about our lives the wrong way. When you rearrange the letters that spell out stressed, you get desserts.
It puts everything into perspective; that’s why we often get cravings for sweet treats whenever we are facing trying moments. Research finds that the natural antidepressant phenylethylamine and the tryptophan amino acid that chocolate contains can spark the serotonin neurotransmitter (happiness booster.) We say grab a bar of chocolate whenever you are feeling the stress piling on.
There Are Many Sides To A Juice Box
A juice box has come to the rescue to calm down many situations, and for some reason, kids just love them. They are meant to help contain spillages, which most kids are prone to, but accidents can still happen.
It turns out the nifty packs come equipped to help minimize the potential damage. When kids hold onto the sides, it reduces the likelihood of squeezing the juice box. That also prevents the liquid from flying all around. The only problem is expecting a toddler to get with the system when handling a juice box.
Interesting Pin
The Pinterest logo is unmistakable; it’s the letter P. Except that there’s more to it when you give the emblem a keen look, you’ll notice that it looks like a pin. That explains what the platform is all about, pinning images and articles you find interesting.
The subtle marketing tactic wasn’t outrightly understood by everyone at first. That’s what Twitter user Brooke, with five O’s in her name, reminded us. The image-sharing platform aims at helping people discover, save, and share information. These days, it’s where you go to get ideas and inspiration for just about everything.
Acronyms - We Are All Still Trying To Figure Them Out
That watering hole where you regularly go to grab your preferred alcoholic beverage is called a bar—ever wondered how that came into the works? The first lesson most of us are about to learn is that the word is an acronym. The next mind-blowing fact is that it stands for Beer and Alcohol Room, at least according to a widely circulated internet fib that isn't true.
Since we are talking about alcohol, the U.S. restricts drinking to adults age 21 and over. That makes it the country with the highest minimum drinking age. Interestingly, as long as you are 18, you can serve alcohol within the borders of the country, but you have to wait to hit 21 before grabbing a cold one.
Calling All Crabs
One of the TV cartoons that ’90s kids grew up watching is Spongebob Squarepants. The intelligently written kids animated series that preoccupied our time after school back in the day got a revival through Internet memes. The more we look back at the show, we realize new things.
Like Aspen Sipes points out, did you know that the Krusty Krab shack depicted in the series is a lobster trap? That’s pretty much what the show did, and it included tonnes of subtle jokes. From what we now see, we had to grow up and become adults to understand some of them.
Staple That!
Staples, the office supplies chain, boasts of operating an estimated 1,500 stores, making them one of America’s largest retailers. It doesn’t occur to most of us that their logo has a deeper meaning behind it. Like Gabriel points out, the “L” in Staples is not your typical alphabet.
The L looks like a staple pin that’s half-open, and we bet several of us just realized it now. However, the business essentials provider decided to spruce up their logo in 2019. Instead of the half-open pin, they straightened out and now have a fully opened pin before the word Staples.
Dried Out Sponges
Going back to one of the animated comedy series that consumed our ’90s, Spongebob Squarepants had several cleverly hidden facts or horrors depending on how you look at it. Besides the underwater watering hole that turned out to be a crab trap, there was something odd about the title character’s folks.
They looked like they had cookies for heads, but fast forward to our adulthood and we realize how wrong we were. In a sense, they had withered and dried-out sponges for heads, we guess, as a way of driving the point across about aging.
The Curious Case Of Sleeping Mice
A very select few people think highly about mice, but, no matter our opinion, this next realization somewhat melts our hearts. Harvest mice feed on pollen, and they lead a particularly laidback lifestyle. Once they’ve filled their bellies, harvest mice crawl out of the tulips they’ve raided for pollen.
It isn’t always the case, and some mice fall asleep soon after eating to their fill: the result, these incredibly cute photos of mice catching a snooze. The flowers appear fragile and delicate, but surprisingly, they hold the weight of the mice.
A Sandwich By Any Other Name
Let’s revisit the topic of acronyms and how most of us still go about life without knowing what half of them mean. Take the club sandwich, for instance, have you ever questioned what it stands for?
We know what makes up the sandwich, and according to legend, that’s also what lends it the name. It comes with Chicken and Lettuce Under Bacon. We second Maddie Rose, and this does make us wonder about other everyday lexicons that could leave us shook. Then there’s ABC, which could stand for Apples, Bananas, and Carrots, or Already Been Chewed, or several other food-related abbreviations.
The Hole In The Pasta Spoon
Pasta is one of the quickest yet most tricky dishes to prepare well. One minute over the required time and you suddenly have overcooked pasta. There’s also the issue of determining serving sizes because you don’t want to cook too much or undercook it.
Raven Elyse points out the solution that has stared us right in the face all along. The pasta spoon comes with a hole in the middle, and it also guides you on what a single serving looks like. The spoon is also a handy drainer once your spaghetti is cooked and ready to go on your plate.
Did woof Let The Dogs Out?
Annoyingly catchy tunes that replayed in our heads marked part of our ’00s experience. Remember when Baha Men dropped their classic hit Who Let the Dogs Out? We were all singing to this song and even coming up with parody renditions.
Several of us even committed the crime of belting out the lyrics all wrong. It happens. Some songs have some of those words that sound a certain way only to mean something entirely different. While most of us sang our lungs out screaming “woof, woof, woof, woof,” could the word to repeat actually be “who”?
Watermelon Madness!
The only kind of watermelon we knew existed is the kind that is green outside and red inside. That’s until Spice Lowery just shattered our world with the revelation that there’s a variety of watermelon that’s yellow inside!
Yellow watermelons are a result of a natural mutation process. The fruit, in its authentic form from its native origins, Africa, has yellow-to-white flesh. Compared to their red counterparts, the yellow variety tastes sweeter with a honey-like flavor. However, they share similar nutritional benefits. If this blew your mind, wait till you come across purple potatoes or kale!
When Time Moves
Apple products still hold a prestigious state in the smartphone industry, and every new gadget the company unveils outdoes what’s already out there. The iClock isn’t new to the devices, but there’s something that iPhone users may have overlooked.
It turns out that the clock icon on the widgets does move and, well, tell time, too. Most iPhone users might have overlooked this fact and thought that it is just an icon. Until now, most iPhone users only relied on the digital display at the very top of the screen to tell the time.
KFC’s Follow Circle
Social media is the place where you can share and derive information or entertainment. It’s also the place where brands can interact with consumers and vice versa. When it comes to the fast-food giant Kentucky Fried Chicken (KFC), the list of accounts they follow on Twitter is sparse.
The fast-food chain has only 11 people on their follow list, including the five former Spice Girls members and six guys called “Herb.” Another way to look at it is that it symbolizes their secret blend of spices and herbs. The first person who made this connection had the honor of receiving a painting depicting him getting a piggyback ride from the Colonel.
Cute Little Patients
They say that kids make the toughest clients, and hospital employees know this all too well. Even little tots need X-rays done on occasion, and it’s tough to imagine how hospital employees get them to stay still long enough to get the task done.
Jordan Coombe gave us a look-see behind it, and it seems like there’s a special contraption available to make sure that the cute young ones stay put during the process. It might seem like a cruel tool, but we are sure it’s safe. We also can’t help laughing at how adorable these kids look.
Warm And Fluffy Discovery
Pet lovers are in for a cuteness overload with this one. We join scores of people who may not have known that a fluffy variety of French bulldogs exist. Frenchies typically don’t have long hair, and the fluffy kinds are quite rare.
It happens when a Frenchie pup is born to parents that carry an autosomal recessive gene. Regular French bulldogs are miniature versions of bulldogs with large bat ears and a short coat of hair. In France, long-haired French bulldogs aren’t that rare, and across the world, their demand is increasing.
Crumbling Days Are Over
Shopping is hectic, and once you get the process done, you have to deal with the trip back home. You just have to live with getting home with your chips crumbled, bread squished, and a couple of cracked eggs.
It happens that shopping carts come equipped to help us protect fragile products from getting squished, broken, or crumbling. The hooks located at the back of the cart, right next to the seat, are where you could safely hang your bags with these valuable items. Who knew that grocery carts come with unwritten instruction manuals!
Steer Clear Of Fire Hydrants
Finding a decent parking space can end up being the stuff of nightmares. The worst thing is when there’s a perfectly good spot, only that it’s next to a fire hydrant and everyone knows that you shouldn’t park near those.
Along with Bryan Spoon, we now have a visual depiction of what could happen when you disregard the warning about parking in front of fire hydrants. We know that in the real sense, you should leave the spot next to the fire hydrant clear in case firefighters need to access it during an emergency.
Stalker Fan
These days we are liberal in using the word “stan” to mean that we look up to someone, love their content, or simply idolize them. If you listened to Eminem’s hit Stan, then you must remember the character of the song - an overly obsessed and maniacal fan.
Hence, Stan stands for a fan and stalker with a fine line falling between the two. That’s what Eminem meant in his song, and it just took us till now, like Daphne, to come to this realization. That will make most of us think twice before telling someone we “stan” them.
Absolutely Everything Has A Purpose
One fascinating fact about life is that almost everything has a purpose. Even the flap on the fries box that you may not give much thought is highly functional. On top of covering your fries on the trip from the fast-food joint, it’s where you can put some ketchup.
One of its overlooked functions proves particularly helpful for anyone enjoying their fries on the road. That saves you the mess of having the condiment stain your clothes. Don’t forget the hack of placing your pizza box on the passenger seat if you have seat warmers to keep it warm on the trip back home.