This Day In History: June 9, 1953 Summer had made an early appearance in central New England. The weather was unseasonably warm, with temperatures hovering near 90 degrees, but on June 8, the temperature dropped over 15 degrees in Worcester, MA. This was due to an unusually cold air mass and cold front arriving from the west. This weather system […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader The Letter Like millions of American children during the Cold War, 10-year-old Samantha Smith of Manchester, Maine, was terrified of getting nuked by the Russians. News reports and TV specials about nuclear bombs, missile defense systems, and “mutually assured destruction” were commonplace, and Smith got more and more frightened about […]
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A running joke, a conspiracy, a challenge, a raspberry to authority and (at least formerly) an exclusive club, the members of the Order of the Occult Hand are those journalists who have successfully snuck the meaningless phrase “occult hand” past their editors and into published newspaper articles. How did this all start? According to two of its founding fathers, Joseph Flanders […]
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This Day In History: June 8, 1949 On June 8, 1949, hugely popular screen idols, including Edward G. Robinson, John Garfield and Frederic March, were called out as Commies by the US Government. They based their conclusion on accusations by “confidential informants” coupled with some imaginative analysis. The first breadcrumb on the trail to Tinseltown was the Communist Party in […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Story Behind the Miranda Warning In 1966, the landmark U.S. Supreme Court case, Miranda v. Arizona, made it clear that the Constitution requires the police to warn criminal suspects in custody that they have the right to remain silent, that […]
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Brett C. asks: How do they decide the cuttoff between partly cloudy and mostly sunny? If you ever thought it was difficult to tell the difference between “partly cloudy” and “mostly sunny,” you’re not alone. Established by the National Weather Service (NWS) according to a loose set of rules, the criteria used to describe different elements of your forecast can […]
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A major component of acid rain, an accelerator of corrosion and the rusting of metals, found in the tumors of cancer patients, a contributor to the greenhouse effect, fatal if inhaled, and capable of causing serious burns in the right circumstances, colorless, odorless and tasteless dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is responsible for thousands of deaths each year. An exercise in perspective, […]
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This Day In History: June 5, 1963 John Dennis Profumo was appointed Secretary of War by British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan in 1960. He had a good job with room for advancement, was married to retired actress Valerie Hobson, and together they were at the center of the fledgling Swinging ‘60s in-crowd. Life was good. One night at Lord “Bill” […]
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In the fall of 1959, a white writer from the American South shaved his head, darkened his skin and spent the next six weeks on an odyssey, travelling from New Orleans through Mississippi, Alabama and Georgia as a black man. He wrote of his experience in Black Like Me, published in 1961, and the book became a clarion call to […]
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In 1901, the Cologne, Germany newspaper, Rheinishe Zeitung (RZ), published a story titled (translated) “The Unmasking of Houdini,” in which a chief of police, Schutzmann Werner Graff, accused Houdini of attempting to bribe him into rigging an escape from the city’s jail, and of paying another man, Herr Lott, to help him with a phony performance. Incensed (and facing an […]
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This Day In History: June 4, 1798 “As well as good looks he possesses the rare gift of befriending women. He has the knack of addressing them as if they were his equals, and undressing them as if they were his superiors.” – Casanova biographer Judith Summers Giovanni Giacomo Casanova, whose name became forever synonymous with a smooth talking playboy, […]
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In this video from the crew at SciShow, they address the age old question “Why do things look darker when they’re wet?” If you like this video, be sure and subscribe to their channel here. You can also join us in supporting their efforts to make more videos like this by donating via their Patreon page here. If you liked […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Our favorite childhood classics make us feel as snug as a bunny in bed. Here’s a look at what’s down the rabbit hole. Goodnight Moon “Goodnight light and the red balloon…” Margaret Wise Brown wrote more than 100 books for children, but her most famous is Goodnight Moon, published in […]
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This Day In History: June 3, 1780 Born on September 9, 1711, Thomas Hutchinson was the fifth generation of his family to live in New England. He was the great-great grandson of the infamous Anne Hutchinson, who had been expelled from the city of Boston for her radical religious views. Aside from his outspoken great-great grandma, his family had done […]
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Popping out and up from behind large, camouflaging eucalyptus branches, the Bushman of Fisherman’s Wharf has been a San Francisco Institution for more than thirty years. Born David Johnson, the World Famous Bushman hides in wait for unsuspecting pedestrians (read: tourists), reportedly at the western end of San Francisco’s famous Fisherman’s Wharf. When they approach, he suddenly and vigorously shakes […]
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By the late 1930s, Gandhi’s method of peaceful non-cooperation had already won significant concessions from the British Raj, including the founding of a national administration and local and national legislative assemblies, albeit still under British oversight. Gandhi, himself, was internationally famous for his various acts of non-violent, civil disobedience, including his 241-mile Salt March, which, while protesting Britain’s monopoly on […]
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This Day In History: June 2, 1863 On June 2, 1863, three Union gunboats set sail up the Combahee River from Beaufort, South Carolina. The ships were able to avoid any confrontation with Confederate forces thanks to intelligence provided by a trusted Union spy known as “Moses.” The master of espionage “Moses” was none other than Harriet Tubman, the hero […]
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Brooke asks: Can ambulances get speeding tickets? Subject to the same rules of the road as other drivers, with a few exceptions for emergencies, ambulances can be pulled over and ticketed for speeding and other traffic violations, although it is exceedingly rare. Generally speaking, ambulance drivers should observe all traffic laws and regulations; however, some of those laws are waived […]
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