Daylight saving time once got a man out of being drafted for the Vietnam War. When drafted, he argued that standard time, not daylight saving time, was the official time for recording births in his state of Delaware at the time of his birth. Thus, he was actually born the previous day using standard time, so he should have had […]
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The first known reference of the term “Pop”, as referring to a beverage, was in 1812 in a letter written by English poet Robert Southey. In this letter, he also explains the term’s origin: “Called on A. Harrison and found he was at Carlisle, but that we were expected to supper; excused ourselves on the necessity of eating at the […]
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Jack Schmitt, an Apollo 17 astronaut and geologist, has the distinction of being the first human to have extraterrestrial hay fever. After returning to the lunar module and taking his helmet off, he had an instant reaction to the Moon dust with his nose stuffing up quickly. This lasted a couple hours before going away. However, every time he came […]
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Today I found out where the word meme comes from. In its early days, “meme”, which incidentally is often mispronounced as “me-me” or “meh-meh”, but in fact should be pronounced “meem”, primarily was only known and used by certain academics, but today this neologism is beginning to reach widespread use thanks to describing the viral spread of jokes, ideas, etc. […]
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Maine is the only state in the United States whose name has only one syllable. There is one U.S. territory that also has only one syllable, the island nation of Guam.
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The reason you can see eye floaters better when looking at, for instance, a bright blue sky, is because your pupils contract to a very small size, thus reducing the aperture, which in turn makes floaters more apparent and focused. Reference
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This Day In History: June 24, 1374 Amidst our people here is come, the madness of the dance. In every town there now are some, who fall upon a trance. It drives them ever night and day, they scarcely stop for breath. Till some have dropped along the way, and some are met by death. [A 17th century poem about […]
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This Day In History: June 23, 1917 On this day in history, 1917, Babe Ruth was on the mound for the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park against the Washington Senators. He threw four straight balls, at least as far as the umpire, Clarence “Brick” Owens, was concerned, walking Ray Morgan. Ruth thought the second and the fourth pitch were […]
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Barefootangel asks: “I read your report on honey and have a question. Yesterday (June 21, 2012) I went to a farmer’s market and while there I tried a teaspoon of raw honey. It left an awful taste and certainly did not taste like good honey. I helped my grandfather with his hives and know how honey should taste. After leaving […]
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Male barnacles have the largest penis proportional to its body size in the animal kingdom. It can reach up to 50 times the length of the barnacles’ body. It reaches out of the shell and transfers its sperm to a female neighbor. After fertilization, the female barnacle broods its eggs until they hatch as a minute nauplius larva which swims […]
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Abi asks: What causes dew to form on grass and why does dew only form in the mornings? Actually, dew can form at any time; it just needs the right weather/temperature patterns to make it happen. However, nighttime is usually the primary period when the factors that cause dew to form are just right. Although, as an example of when […]
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The Rubik’s Cube was invented in 1974 by a Hungarian professor of architecture, Erno Rubik. He was toying around one day and attached several blocks together with a rubber band. In this original system, after several twists, the rubber band broke. He then became interested in the structural problem of how to move the blocks independently for an arbitrary number […]
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The standard responses to “ahoy”, when used in nautical terms, vary depending on who’s on the boat being hailed. If you have a commissioned officer aboard, “aye aye” is the correct response. If no officer is aboard, “no no” is the correct response. If a captain of a different ship is on board, the name of the ship is the […]
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Rum helped spur the American Revolution as well as the Australian Rum Rebellion. It is estimated that around 3 gallons of rum were consumed per person per year in the American colonies shortly before the American Revolution. Rum production was also colonial New England’s largest industry. The passing of the Sugar Act in 1764, also known as the American Revenue […]
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Viggo Mortensen broke two toes while filming the scene where he kicks the helmet by the pyre, thinking Marry and Pippen were dead. Because of his realistic cry of anguish after kicking the helmet and breaking his toes, Peter Jackson chose that take to include in the movie. Reference
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Glass bottles make significantly better containers for carbonated beverages due to the fact that air can diffuse through plastic, allowing the CO2 to escape. Thus, carbonated beverages stored in plastic containers have a much shorter shelf life than their glass counterparts. Reference
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Today I found out, as a teenager, the inventor of the PEZ confectionery created one of the world’s first ready-made cake mixes, popularly selling it throughout the Austro-Hungarian Empire. The teenager was Eduard Haas III. Haas III’s grandfather, Eduard Haas I, was a doctor who invented a type of “light” baking powder which he advocated over yeast in recipes as […]
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The following brands feature fictitious people: Betty Crocker, Mrs. Butterworth, Aunt Jemima, and Ronald McDonald. Some real people behind famous brands include Chef Boyardee, Uncle Ben, KFC’s Harland Sanders, and popcorn’s Orville Redenbacher. Reference
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