NBC Nightly News theme music

The thing I learned today is that the theme song for the NBC Nightly News since 1985 is composed by John "Star Wars" Williams and is called "The Mission."

Tom Sawyer

The thing I learned today is that Tom Sawyer, the character, appears in no less than four novels by Mark Twain: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (1876); The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn (1884); Tom Sawyer Abroad (1894); and Tom Sawyer, Detective (1896).

The Caspian Sea

The thing I learned today is that the Caspian Sea is not technically a sea, because it does not connect to the ocean, but is considered the world's largest lake (by surface area).  However, note that Lake Baikal is the world's largest lake by volume.

The Tasman Sea

The thing I learned today is that the Tasman Sea is situated between, not (as you might expect) Australia and Tasmania (that's the Bass Strait) but rather Australia and New Zealand.

The people who have walked on the moon

The thing I learned today is that twelve men have walked on the moon.  Neil Armstrong was the first man on the moon, followed immediately by Buzz Aldrin; this was on July 21, 1969.  The next two moon walkers were Pete Conrad and Alan Bean, who trod the dusty surface of Luna November 19 and 20, 1969, as part of the Apollo 12 mission.  And the fifth and sixth on the moon were Alan Shepherd and Edgar Mitchell, who walked the moon in February of 1971.  The last person to have walked on the moon (for now!) is Eugene Cernan, in 1972.  Here is a mnemonic: Arm All Conquering Bears; Sheep Might Scamper.

Calorie to body fat ratio

The thing I learned today is that it takes approximately 3500 calories to make one pound of body fat.

Highway Gothic

The thing I learned today is that Highway Gothic is a popular name for the FHWA (Federal Highway Administration) series of fonts.  This series is a collection of fonts used on road signs in over a dozen countries.  Originally developed during WWII by the Public Roads Administration, the sans-serif fonts have been modified over the years, such as the implementation of a lower-case set of letters.