Today I found out Super Glue was invented by accident, twice. Super Glue, also known as cyanoacrylate, was originally discovered in 1942 by Dr. Harry Coover, who by the way died last month on March 26th, 2011. Coover was attempting to make clear plastic gun sights to be put on guns used by Allied soldiers in WWII. One particular formulation […]
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This week’s Today I Found Out articles will all be themed towards accidental inventions that are now common products. If you happen to know of any popular products that were invented by accident, feel free to email me here and let me know. If it’s interesting enough, I’ll do an article on it.
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Today I found out that Elvis didn’t naturally have black hair. He was born a blond and, when he got older, his hair was more of a sandy blond color. He started occasionally dying it black all the way back when he was in high school and eventually just always kept it as black. Other fun Elvis Related Facts: There […]
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Today I found out why short movie advertisement clips are called “trailers”, even though they are typically shown before the movie. It turns out, the first movie trailers occurred not at the beginning of the films, as they do today, but rather at the end of the films. They were called “trailers” because the advertisements would be spliced directly on the end of […]
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Today I found out that toilet paper was first used by the Chinese about 1300 years before it caught on with the rest of the world. The first references of people using toilet paper dates back to the 6th century AD in the Chinese Imperial courts and amongst the other wealthy citizens of China. This eventually spread throughout China and […]
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Today I found out the world’s most fearless creature is the Honey Badger, according to the Guinness Book of World Records. Honey Badgers have many reasons to be fearless. They have very thick (about 1/4 inches), rubbery skin, which is so tough that it’s been shown to be nearly impervious to traditionally made arrows and spears. Further, their skin can […]
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Today I found out how the “I’m going to Disneyland/Disney World” saying got started. In January of 1987, CEO of Disney, Michael Eisner, and his wife were having dinner with Dick Rutan and Jeana Yeager. Rutan and Yeager had just recently become the first to fly an aircraft around the world without re-fueling or stopping. At a certain point in […]
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Today I found out Robert Downey Jr. modeled his portrayal of Tony Stark after Elon Musk, one of the founds of Zip2, Paypal, Tesla Motors, Solar City, and SpaceX. During the planning stages of Iron Man, after Downey Jr. had been cast, director Jon Favreau and Downey Jr. sat down to discuss how to make a really believable Tony Stark […]
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Today I found out the origin of the lolcat meme. It turns out, the oldest known reference to an lolcat style picture/caption dates all the way back to 1903 from photographer Harry Whittier Frees, who would take photos of small animals, including cats, dressed up in various outfits. These photos were then often sold in postcards by Rotograph, the company […]
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Today I found out making tires black, instead of the natural white color of rubber, produces a much stronger and longer lasting tire. Originally rubber tires were white, which is the natural color of rubber. In the early 1900s, Binney & Smith began selling their carbon black chemicals to Goodrich Tire Company, as it was found that the use of […]
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##EMBED## Click Here for Sources and to Learn More Interesting Prohibition Related Facts Text Version The term “The Real McCoy” originated in the prohibition era. Captain William S. McCoy was a rum runner who coordinated most rum transported by ship during prohibition. He was known for never watering down his imports; thus, his product was “The Real McCoy”.
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##EMBED## Click Here to Learn More About What Makes Peppers Taste Hot Text Version Tarantula venom activates the same neural pathways as capsaicin, which is the thing that makes peppers hot; so getting bitten by a tarantula will feel much the same as being exposed to a high level of capsaicin.
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##EMBED## Click Here to Read More Interesting Facts About Jimmy Stewart Text Version Jimmy Stewart recieved the following medals while working his way up to two star General: 2 Distinguished Flying Crosses, 4 Air Medals, 1 Army Commendation Medal, 1 Armed Forces Reserve Medal, 1 Presidential Medal of Freedom, 1 French Croix de Guerre with Palm.
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##EMBED## Click Here for Sources and to Read More Fascinating Banana Facts Text Version A cluster of bananas is formally called a “hand”. Along that theme, a single banana is called a “finger”.
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##EMBED## Click Here to Read More Interesting “40” Facts Text Version WD-40 got its name from the fact that it was the 40th try at creating a water displacement substance.
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Today I found out, before becoming one of the world’s most famous TV chefs, Julia Child was a top secret research assistant for the Office of Strategic Services, the predecessor of the CIA. After graduating from college with a degree in English, Julia Child, then named Julia McWilliams, worked in the advertising department for W. & J. Sloane in New […]
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This is a Sponsored post written by me on behalf of The Change-Up for SocialSpark. All opinions are 100% mine. Today I found out, as a teen, The Change-Up Actor Jason Bateman appeared in Little House on the Prairie, Knight Rider, Silver Spoons, and Mr. Belvedere. He also appeared in the TV show Valerie, which was later renamed The Hogan […]
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Today I found out that dolphins don’t breathe automatically, rather it is always consciously done. An interesting consequence of the fact that they need to be conscious to control their breathing is that they can never be truly unconscious, even when they sleep. However, being mammals, their brains do need to enter a type of unconscious state every now and […]
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