Tell me something I don't know…. pic.twitter.com/bxmzLFekrX
— ParisHilton (@ParisHilton) June 28, 2018
Paris Hilton has been keeping a lower profile since her reality show days, still working as a DJ and managing a brand, usually only drawing the Internet’s ire when she claimed to have invented the selfie or said Trump’s sexual assault accusers just “want attention.” Other than that, most of what we’ve heard about her in the past few years has involved needless speculation about her boobs or a compelling story with the headline “Hey, Everybody! Watch This Monkey Jerk Off In Front Of Paris Hilton!” (Pulitzer. Now.)
The heiress is back in the spotlight this week after she tweeted “Tell me something I don’t know” and Twitter has enthusiastically obliged. The tweet has already received over 13,000 replies, many of them offering up engrossing information that would be right at home on Reddit’s Today I Learned subreddit.
At first, some people on Twitter were incredulous.
https://twitter.com/DavidBCollum/status/1013073213738364929
I don't know where to start. https://t.co/7g2SUfMV26
— Jeremy Vine (@theJeremyVine) June 29, 2018
Others decided to tackle this herculean task, starting with the basics:
https://twitter.com/blainecapatch/status/1013138026845782016
Others kept their answers simple and sarcastic:
Most things https://t.co/hyw7ZLmzoE
— Jacob wilde (@chibsmcfc) July 3, 2018
Poverty. https://t.co/6IzSMTPXoB
— Majid Oukacha (@MajidOukacha) June 29, 2018
Some people used Hilton’s request as an excuse to be mean, which we’re sure comes as a shock to everyone:
https://twitter.com/CosyFFS/status/1013029872975925249
https://twitter.com/Jaws19show/status/1012627652857991168
Other people taught us fascinating facts about animals, leading us to realize squid like to eat too much just like we do.
Hippos have pink sweat https://t.co/FEJfT8Dot5
— Liz Finnegan (@TheGingerarchy) July 1, 2018
Sloths don't fart https://t.co/Ccbtx5IFz2
— Dr Dani Rabaiotti (@DaniRabaiotti) June 30, 2018
squid brains are donut-shaped, and their esophagus runs through it, so they can actually get brain damage from eating something that's too big https://t.co/gIDEhDnXik
— omically.bsky.social (@omically) June 29, 2018
All flatworms are male at birth. In order to mate, flatworms fence with their penises. The loser's penis falls off and it becomes a female who then carries the babies. https://t.co/QpXkUwG9qj
— Ꮍᴀᴇʟ (@elle91) June 29, 2018
Southern sea otters have flaps of skin under their forelegs that act as pockets. When diving, they use these pouches to store rocks and food https://t.co/Or61svRm9O
— Meow meow (@Meowmeowmemes) June 28, 2018
https://twitter.com/mik9703/status/1013427930326884353
People also offered up historical minutiae:
During the Hundred Years' War a goat briefly commanded the armies of the House of Valois. https://t.co/fHsTJH1uBd
— Davey Six-Toes (@HutchinsonDave) June 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/bkesling/status/1012776515241734145
US President John Quincy Adams was a believer in the "Hollow Earth" theory, and approved an expedition to the Arctic Circle to search for a route to the centre of the Earth. Adams was voted out after only one term, and his successor, Andrew Jackson, promptly nipped it in the bud. https://t.co/orjkTqV0rD
— David Síôn Llewellyn (@TheDaiLlew) June 29, 2018
Henry VII backdated his reign to one day before the Battle of Bosworth Field, in which he won the throne by right of conquest over Richard III (who was actually an excellent soldier later maligned by Tudor historians) so that Henry could prosecute Richard's allies with treason. https://t.co/U1jAcTpWXr
— Tiana Lowe Doescher (@TianaTheFirst) July 1, 2018
The roofs of many Medieval Gothic cathedrals are held in place only by friction and weight. https://t.co/orjkTqV0rD
— David Síôn Llewellyn (@TheDaiLlew) June 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/Thhanoz/status/1012365998207401984
Butch Hartman, creator of The Fairly OddParents, revealed some of the process behind the show sure to blow a few millennial minds:
In Fairly OddParents, Timmy Turner's hat is pink because I ran out of blue ink. https://t.co/mwpcGpWY1H
— Butch Hartman (@realhartman) July 1, 2018
And other TV trivia was shared:
The writer's room of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine floated the possibility of making beloved character O'Brien, the Irish everyman and Chief of Operations, turn out to have been a undercover Cardassian. This idea was dropped when no one could explain how he would father a human baby https://t.co/LOaJFqeFA3
— Carl Garcia (@carlinspace) June 30, 2018
The choral theme song to Mr. Bean translates as "Behold the man who is a bean; Farewell the man who is a bean" https://t.co/J0siDPj4GC
— Peter Kavanagh (@TheKavOfficial) July 3, 2018
More fodder for trivia nights was offered:
https://twitter.com/DRToohey/status/1014014788538494976
Every odd number that exists has the letter "e" in it. https://t.co/afeo843tF1
— JP (@Jprz1321) June 29, 2018
https://twitter.com/thewickedlilith/status/1013372087782608899
The word chef literally means "head", the full proper title is "Chef de cuisine" which means "head of the kitchen". https://t.co/egpKAkbIyI
— Lesego Semenya (@LesDaChef) July 1, 2018
Guinness Book of Records holds the record for being the book most often stolen from Public Libraries https://t.co/YHjWtJVgIs
— Alice (@aliceblauu) June 28, 2018
Folks even dropped some science:
https://twitter.com/ThatHippieJesus/status/1012935272231661569
https://twitter.com/pangopup/status/1012777183352270848
There are more atoms in a single glass of water, than glasses of water in all the oceans of the Earth. https://t.co/uMKfjW9LiD
— vegan croqueta (@Vaffess) June 28, 2018
But not everyone thought this task could be handled within Twitter’s current scope:
waiting for Twitter to expand to 280,000 characters before I tackle this https://t.co/iOFT3RAeZI
— Matt Oswalt (@MattOswaltVA) June 30, 2018