Marcus asks: Where did the words flotsum and jetsum come from? 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 on its own, was thrown overboard or sank to Davy Jones […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Eureka Moment On September 10, 1984, geneticist Alec Jeffreys, 34, was working in his lab at the University of Leicester, in central England. More precisely, he was in the lab’s darkroom, studying an X-ray that had been soaking in a developing tank over the weekend. The X-ray was the result […]
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This Day In History: May 4, 1970 Tin soldiers and Nixon coming, We’re finally on our own. This summer I hear the drumming, Four dead in Ohio – Neil Young “Ohio” By May of 1970, protests against the Vietnam War were popping up with increasing frequency all over the United States, and especially on college campuses. The recent revelation that […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Truth About the Surprisingly Recent Invention of the Tea Bag, and the Women Who Really Invented It Legend says that brewing tea dates back to around 2737 BC, when tea leaves fell into water being boiled for Emperor Shennong of […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the origin of a very interesting “law” on the internet about the humorous best way to get an answer on the web, as well as what this has to do with Wikipedia. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by […]
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Unknown to most, thousands of times each day we momentarily lose sight of the world around us. Known as saccadic masking, it is a function of the brain protecting us from suffering through blurred images that would otherwise be produced when our eyes move or shift. A saccade is a rapid eye movement between the places where the eye rests […]
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Ubiquitous in many classrooms since the 19th century, chalk and chalkboards are familiar to most of us. White, powdery and prone to sticking to those surfaces where it is put (and just as easy to wipe away), chalk and its accompanying board are excellent instructional aids. Notably, however, most chalk today isn’t technically chalk at all, but gypsum. Chalk and […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn of a rather unique language made up entirely of whistles, and why the people who came up with this language are thought to have started using it in the first place over more traditional verbal communication. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find […]
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In this video from MinuteEarth, created by Henry Reich et al, you’re going to learn how clouds form. If you like this video, go check them out 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 this video, […]
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The town of Celebration was first loosely imagined by Walt Disney himself, though the current town differs wildly from Disney’s original idea. Whereas Disney pictured a “perfect” futuristic city where technology blended seamlessly with real life and all possible needs were taken care of, an idea that served as the basis for the Epcot theme park in Disney Land, Michael Eisner (the CEO of Disney at […]
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This Day In History: April 30, 1904 For much of history, eating was a very formal affair and the concept of food you could grab and eat on the go was not terribly common. This all began to change in the 19th century, with the advent of things like hot dogs in a bun and, of course, ice cream in […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the fascinating origin of one of the most popular video game franchises of all time. [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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Calvin Graham was the youngest of seven children of a poor Texas farm family and because of his abusive stepfather, he and one of his older brothers decided to move out. Calvin supported himself by selling newspapers and delivering telegrams on weekends and after school. He was just eleven when he first thought of lying about his age to join the Navy. The […]
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Today in History: April 29, 534 Believed to have been born on April 29, 534, C.E.,Taliesin was a renowned bard who served at the courts of three British Celtic kings. It is purported that his work in a Middle Welsh manuscript is preserved today as the Book of Taliesin. At least 11 of the poems have been confirmed to date […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about why we call our galaxy the Milky Way and what it’s called in other languages around the world. [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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Kelly C asks: What happens to a person when they are tarred and feathered? Do they die? In times gone by, tarring and feathering was a go-to method used by mobs to punish or otherwise humiliate criminals or people believed to have wronged the community in some way. While it’s mostly recognised as being a punishment handed down in colonial […]
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This Day In History: April 28, 1945 Mussolini rose to power after the March on Rome in 1922. Just six years later he had established himself as absolute dictator and took the title of “Duce.” He conquered Ethiopia in 1935 and annexed Albania in 1939 – the same year he joined a Tripartite Pact with Nazi Germany and Imperial Japan. […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the tiny tweak to the game of basketball that saw it go from a dying sport, to one of the most popular professional sports in the world. [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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