The world’s first automatic bread slicer was invented by Otto Frederick Rohwedder in Davenport, Iowa. He first built a prototype of his bread slicer in 1912. Unfortunately, his blueprints and machine were destroyed in a fire in 1917. From there, he struggled to obtain funding to begin again on his machine as the idea of pre-sliced bread was not at […]
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The U.S. army developed and uses a near silent version of Velcro on their soldier’s uniforms. The version they use reduces the ripping noise by about 95% over traditional Velcro. Unfortunately, you won’t see such Velcro for sale in the store anytime soon as the method of manufacturing this silent Velcro is currently classified by the military. *scumbag military: uses […]
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At its core, a microwave oven is a pretty simple device. It’s basically just a magnetron hooked up to a high voltage source. This magnetron directs microwaves into a metal box. These generated microwaves then bounce around inside the microwave until they are absorbed via dielectric loss in various molecules, resulting in the molecules heating up. Matter that works well […]
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The nickname “Slowhand” was not, as is commonly thought, given to Clapton due to playing the guitar slowly. Rather, it was given to him because of audiences giving him a slow hand clap when he would replace guitar strings on stage. When most guitar players break a string on stage, a roady will typically bring them another guitar and fix […]
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Michael Keaton was once a stagehand on Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood. Keaton also appeared in Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood as an acrobat in The Flying Zookeenie Brothers troupe that performed for the birthday of King Friday in 1975. He eventually quit his job there to pursue acting full time. Another interesting “Keaton” factoid is that his name isn’t actually Michael Keaton. In […]
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In Lord of the Rings, the Fellowship of the Ring, when Arwen defeats the Ringwraiths after crossing the river, the words she speaks in that scene translate into English thus: “Waters of the Misty Mountains, hear the word of power, rush, waters of Bruinen (Loudwater), against the Ringwraiths!” (Nîn o Chithaeglir lasto beth daer; rimmo nín Bruinen dan in Ulaer!) […]
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The name “taxi” is obviously shortened from “taxicab”, which is derived from the two words: “taximeter” and “cabriolet”. The taximeter was invented in 1891 and is used to record distances and calculate the fare. Cabriolet refers to a horse drawn carriage where the driver stands in the back of the carriage. The name “taximeter” itself is derived from the Mid-Latin […]
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The name “Kodak” was devised by George Eastman, founder of Eastman Kodak, and his mother, while playing with an anagram set. They were looking for a name that adhered to three principles: short; cannot be mispronounced; and should not resemble anything or be associated with anything else except for the business that would eventually be called by that name. Sources
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Clapton’s son, Conor, who he had with model and actress Lori del Santo while still married to Patti Boyd, died at the age of four years old after falling from a window in del Santo’s 53rd floor, New York City apartment. The window was a full wall window that had been removed by a janitor to let fresh air in […]
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Super Glue really is “super”. A one square inch bonding of Super Glue can hold around one ton. Super Glue has even been used to bond a small surface area of metal attached to a crane, which was then glued to the top of a car. The car was lifted successfully by the crane without the bond breaking. Sources and […]
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The first documented case of a hammerhead shark reproducing asexually happened on December 14, 2001 at the Henry Doorly Zoo in Nebraska where a female hammerhead shark, which was kept in isolation from males, miraculously gave birth to a pup. The pup was unfortunately killed by a stingray shortly thereafter, but testing showed that the pup was, in fact, a […]
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Eeyore’s name is based off the British Cockney dialect version of the phrase “hee-haw”. Interestingly, the guy who did the voice for Optimus Prime also did the voice for Eeyore and was the first person to voice Nintendo’s Mario character. *the more you know* Sources and Further Reading
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The “Dr.” in “Dr. Seuss” was in homage to Theodore Geisel’s father’s hope that his son would get his PhD. Geisel instead dropped out of the PhD program at Oxford where he was pursuing a PhD in English. “Seuss” was his mother’s maiden name as well as his own middle name. Interestingly, he did eventually receive several honorary doctorates, more […]
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Researchers in Israel have successfully trained mice to be used as bomb and drug detectors. The mice are kept in containers and if the mice detect any explosives or drugs, they will trigger an alarm by pressing a button. Each mouse can work in four hour shifts and have proven to be more accurate than x-ray machines and dogs at […]
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Donald Fauntleroy Duck was created in 1934. He was first thought up after Walt Disney overheard Clarence Nash doing his now famous duck voice for the first time. At the time, Nash was demonstrating a variety of voices he could do. Walt Disney decided to hire Nash to do the voice of a duck character that would take over the […]
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According to a study done in 2006, most carbonated soft drinks actually do contain a little alcohol. This is due to the fermentation of sugars in the non-sterile environment of the drink. In some types of soda-pop, additional alcohol is also introduced from the fact that alcohol is used in the preparation of some of the flavor extracts. However, before […]
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“Nephew” at one time was a gender neutral term, but since around the 17th century has referred nearly exclusively to male children of one’s siblings or brother/sister-in-law’s children. The word “nephew” comes from the Old French “neveu” meaning “grandson, descendant”, which in turn comes from the Latin “nepotem”, meaning “sister’s son, grandson, or descendant”. The first documented case of “nephew” […]
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The proper pronunciation of “Seuss”, as in Dr. Suess, is actually “Zoice” (rhymes with “voice”), being a Bavarian name (after Theodore Geisel’s mother’s maiden name). However, due to the fact that most Americans pronounced it incorrectly as “Soose”, Geisel later gave in and stopped correcting people, even quipping the mispronunciation was a good thing because it is “advantageous for an […]
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