What is the difference between the two following sentences?

I learned the art of underwater basket weaving.
I learned about the art of underwater basket weaving.

How about these two sentences?

I know Barack Obama.
I know about Barack Obama.

The word 'about' can have several meanings depending on the context. The word 'about' has the basic meaning of 'on or near, close to' The meaning can get a little trickier when you combine it with other words.

Let's look at 'learn':

I learned the art of underwater basket weaving.

This means 'I can now do underwater basket weaving. I used experience and training to become perfect at underwater basket weaving.'  You can learn skills, to do something, or a fact:

I learned English. (skill)
I learned to speak French. (to do something)
I learned that I failed the test. (fact)

There is also the idiom:

I learned my lesson. (I'm not going to do that again, because I learned it was not a good idea.)

How about 'learn about'?

I learned about the art of underwater basket weaving.

This means 'You visited a person. The person learned the art of underwater basket weaving. That person told you about the art of underwater basket weaving. You did not experience underwater basket weaving.'  You can learn about historical events, a situation, a person or a thing:

I learned about the Internet Bubble. (historical event)
I learned about poverty in Africa. (situation)
I learned about Hideyo Noguchi. (a person)
I learned about maple syrup. (a thing)

Now, let's take a look at 'know' and 'know about'. These are somewhat similar.

I know Barack Obama.

This means 'I met Barack Obama. I have personal experience with Barack Obama.'

I know about Barack Obama.

This means 'I read or heard about Barack Obama before. I haven't met him. I haven't talk to him personally. I have no experience with him. But I saw, heard, or read about him somewhere.'

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