Today I found out many crosswalk signal buttons actually don’t do anything when you press them. They are only there to give you something to press, called “placebo buttons”. In New York City, for instance, an estimated 90% of these pedestrian crossing buttons do nothing. You’ll find the same trend in most major cities, particularly in the United States. The […]
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Today I found out what causes lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is simply the body’s inability to digest lactose. Lactose is a disaccharide, or a molecule made up of two types of sugars, in this case, glucose and galactose. Most people have an enzyme (a protein molecule that breaks down other molecules) lactase in their digestive systems. This enzyme breaks down […]
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Today I found out crocodiles really do shed tears when they eat. It has been known for centuries that crocodiles weep while eating. One of the earliest references to this comes from the 14th century bestseller The Voyage and Travel of Sir John Madeville, where the author writes In that country and by all Inde be great plenty of cockodrills, […]
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The melody that would be borrowed for the Star Spangled Banner was extremely popular and well known at the time the future U.S. national anthem was penned. It is known to have been used for at least 84 popular songs in the United States alone, including Adams and Liberty – The Boston Patriotic Song and the subsequent tune Jefferson and […]
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Today I found out how Honey bees keep their hives warm even though they are cold blooded. Up until only a few years ago, it was thought by many scientists that Honey bee hives were kept warm by pupae in the brood and that the bees would often congregate there to warm themselves up from the pupae. Recently, this was […]
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Popcorn saw its biggest surges in popularity during times of duress, particularly during the Great Depression and WWII. The former of which because popcorn was an extremely cheap snack, being one of the few snack items many families could afford. So while many in the snack industry struggled through the Great Depression, the popcorn industry thrived. Popcorn saw another huge […]
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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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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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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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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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Embed This Infographic<a href=”http://www.todayifoundout.com/index.php/2012/06/4th-of-july-facts/”><img title=”4th Of July Facts” src=”http://www.todayifoundout.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/10-Interesting-4th-Of-July-Facts-copy.jpg” alt=”10 Interesting 4th Of July Facts” width=”610″ border=”0″ class=”nopin” /></a>[Source: Today I Found Out]
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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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Myth: The instant you’re exposed to the near vacuum of space, you’ll lose consciousness, your blood will start to boil, and you’ll explode. (Other variations on this myth include you freezing near instantly from the extreme “cold” of space.) In fact, so long as you don’t try to hold your breath, which would result in your lungs rupturing and thus […]
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Today I found out about the prostitute that rose to command a huge armada that controlled the South Chinese Sea and the Guangdong province. While female pirates weren’t uncommon off the coast of Asia in the 18th and 19th centuries, one woman stood above them all. Her birth name isn’t known, but this Cantonese pirate went by the name Ching […]
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