This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Flotsam and Jetsam Bumping into a rock or a reef, war, swamped by rough weather or high waves, pilot error or pirates, there are a variety of ways a ship can sink. After it does, depending on whether it floated out […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why the insides of apples turn brown when exposed to air and what this has to do with why most human’s skin browns when exposed to the Sun. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily Knowledge Podcast
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Ashley W. asks: Where did the male and female symbols come from? Representing two planets, iron, copper and a couple of Olympian gods, the classical symbols for male and female pack a lot of meaning into a few squiggly lines. The symbols themselves are ancient, and the associations they make date back to the dawn of civilization. The ancients, after […]
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This Day In History: May 8, 1902 “I know nothing about Mount Pelée, but if Vesuvius were looking the way your volcano looks this morning, I’d get out of Naples.” – Marino Leboffe, Captain of the Italian freighter “Orsolina” 5/2/02 On May 8, 1902 Mt. Pelée on the Caribbean island of Martinique unleashed an eruption that killed approximately 30,000 people, […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why some people sneeze when going from a dark room to being exposed to sunlight. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily Knowledge Podcast
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In this video, produced by the very talented Brady Haran over at Numberphile, which you can subscribe to here, Dr. Mike Merrifield discusses how it is decided who to give telescope time to given the limited time available in the world’s major observatories. If you like this video, please join us in supporting Numberphile on Patreon here. If you liked […]
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Justin R. asks: What is going on in our skin to create goose bumps? A holdover from an earlier stage in our evolution, goose bumps are a function of the autonomic nervous system reacting to a primal threat. Technically, the phenomenon is called the pilomotor reflex, and occurs when the arrector pili muscle, which runs between the base of a […]
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This Day In History: May 7, 1896 Dr. Henry Howard Holmes came into this world as Herman Webster Mudgett May 16, 1861 in Galmanton, New Hampshire. His family was affluent, and the intelligent young Herman had the means to attend medical school at the University of Michigan. It was there that he began his lucrative career as a con artist, […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why some names, like McDonald, have a second capital, along with a lot of other interesting facts about where these sorts of common names came from. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily Knowledge Podcast
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Meaning a complete collection of a set of related things, the curious expression the “whole kit and caboodle” has part of its origin in military life. In the 1785 version of his A Classical Dictionary of the Vulgar Tongue, Francis Grose gives us the first mention of the word “kit” with this meaning, as well as the phrase “the whole […]
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Along with serving two terms as the President of the United States between 1901 and 1909, Theodore “Teddy” Roosevelt also had a laundry list of supremely manly escapades throughout his life, such as the time he was shot in the chest in an assassination attempt, but went ahead and gave a lengthy speech he’d planned anyway before seeking medical attention. […]
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This Day In History: May 6, 1895 Rudolph Valentino, the first great lover on the movie screen, was born as … *deep breath* … Rodolfo Alfonzo Raffaelo Pierre Filibert Guglielmi di Valentina d’Antonguolla on May 6, 1898 in Castellaneta, Italy. (If you think that’s long, you should know Pablo Picasso’s real name was Pablo Diego José Francisco de Paula Juan […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn how “9-1-1” was chosen for the emergency phone number in the U.S., as well as how the system was developed and continues to adapt to new technologies such as VoIP, cell phones, and texting. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes […]
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Simon E. asks: I was just wondering what a gamut is in the expression “run the gamut”? Meaning “the entire range,” the word gamut traces its origins to the Middle Ages and a system for designating musical notes. Around the turn of the second millennium, Guido of Arezzo, a medieval monk, developed a system of solmization, i.e., designating musical notes […]
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Making zombies of ants, Swiss cheese of snails and Sherpas of sheep and cows, the lancet liver fluke proves that you don’t need to be big to be powerful. Growing up to 10 mm by 2.5 mm (0.5 x 0.1 inches), Dicrocoelium dendriticum is a parasitic flatworm (also known as a trematode) that begins life as eggs living in the […]
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This Day In History: May 5, 1945 On May 5, 1945, Reverend Archie Mitchell and his pregnant wife Elsie had driven up to Gearhart Mountain with five of their Sunday school pupils (aged 11-14) to enjoy a picnic lunch. They encountered a road closure due to construction in Bly, Oregon. Elsie and the kids got out of the vehicle to […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about how Heinz got their “57” attached to their products as well as a lot of interesting stuff about the origin of the company and the Long Depression, which was previously known as the Great Depression before its name was usurped by a later, more famous depression. You’re also going to learn exactly […]
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Karla S. asks: What does it mean when a show gets syndicated? Selling the right to broadcast a television or radio program to independent stations, syndication has enabled the modern system of 24/7 broadcasting by providing producers of content with a consistent revenue stream, and stations with enough programming to satisfy their eager audiences. There are a variety of syndication […]
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