On December 21, 1898, Marie and Pierre Curie discovered the radioactive element radium (in the form of radium chloride), extracting it from uraninite. They first removed the uranium from the uraninite sample and then found that the remaining matter was still radioactive, so investigated further. Along with the barium in the remaining substance, they also detected spectral lines that were […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. What Causes Dark Circles Under Your Eyes? It is often claimed that periorbital dark circles are caused by tiredness or working too hard or even just staying up late. While this can be true, the truth is that your genes play a […]
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This is a video from the very talented Brady Haran who, among other channels, produces phenomenal videos such as this one over at Numberphile, which you can subscribe to here. You can also follow Brady on Twitter here. If you liked this video, you might also enjoy: The Interesting Origins of the Words “Geek” and “Nerd” Why Superheroes Wear Their […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. What Causes the Smell After Rain There are three primary sources of smells that commonly occur after rain. The first, the “clean” smell, in particular after a heavy thunderstorm, is caused by ozone. Ozone (scientifically known as trioxygen due to the fact […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. When Doctors Literally “Blew Smoke Up Your Arse” When someone is “blowing smoke up your arse” today, it is a figure of speech that means that one person is complimenting another, insincerely most of the time, in order to inflate the ego […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. WWII Files: Japan’s Secret Weapon- Exploding Balloons WWII saw the development of some zany designs for weapons, such as when the U.S. developed pigeon guided missiles and (literal) bat bombs (the latter of which were a little too effective, accidentally destroying the testing base […]
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If you’ve ever found yourself wondering what all the hullabaloo is about with Net Neutrality, this is perhaps one of the best bite-sized videos on understanding why it is so vitally important, one of many great videos from the seemingly perpetual great video making machine known as Vi Hart. You can subscribe to her phenomenal YouTube channel here. For the […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. That Time 26-Year-Old Edgar Allan Poe Married His 13-Year-Old Cousin As if his stories weren’t occasionally disturbing enough, it turns out Edgar Allan Poe’s love life was more than a little creepy as well. Poe met his bride-to-be, Virginia Clemm, when she […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Eleven Thousand Year Old Contagious Cancer Still Multiplying Today Eleven thousand years ago, one saucy canine got busy and, as can happen with unprotected sex, gave its partner a venereal disease, although uniquely, this VD was cancerous. Over the course of […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Was Colonel Sanders Actually a Colonel? Kentucky Colonel is the highest honor that can be bestowed by the Commonwealth of Kentucky. (Incidentally, if you’re curious: Why Colonel is Pronounced “Kernel”) To be named a “Colonel” is to be recognized for “outstanding service […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. What Causes Pasta to Froth We’ve all done it: you put the pasta on to boil, turn your back for a few minutes to wipe off the counter or read the newest Today I Found Out article, and suddenly you hear that […]
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Samira asks: Why do we say “dressed to the nines” when someone’s dressed up? Like so many etymologies of expressions and words, we can only make educated guesses at the true origin of “dressed to the nines” or just “to the nines,” meaning more or less “to perfection.” According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the first recorded instance of dressing […]
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Goro T asks: Why do the insides of apples turn brown when you cut the apple open? The insides of apples turn brown when exposed to air thanks to a built in defense mechanism against bacteria and fungus. The trigger for this is damage to the cells, such as when you cut the apple, which then results in certain enzymes […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Can Color Blind People See More Colors When They Take Hallucinogenic Drugs? First a little primer on colour blindness from the good people at ColorBlindAwareness.org: “Most color blind people are able to see things as clearly as other people but they unable […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why There is an Area of New York Called “The Bronx” and Why Ambulances are Called That This is thanks to a seventeenth century Scandinavian man by the name of Jonas Bronck, originally from Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands. In 1639, Bronck […]
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A new baseball season is upon us and, to kick it off, we thought we’d do a roundup of all the interesting baseball facts we’ve covered on TodayIFoundOut to date to give you some interesting things to talk about as you while away the hours watching the games. Without further ado: Abner Doubleday Did Not Invent Baseball This myth has […]
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Why There is an Area of New York Called “The Bronx” This is thanks to a seventeenth century Scandinavian man by the name of Jonas Bronck, originally from Tórshavn in the Faroe Islands. In 1639, Bronck immigrated to New Amsterdam in New Netherland, which was right next to what is today called Bronx River, named after Jonas Bronck. Why? In […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why Cashews are Not Sold to Consumers in Their Shells and Why Pistachios Used to Be Dyed Red Cashews are a member of the same family as poison ivy, Anacardiaceae. Like poison ivy and many other members of the family, part of […]
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