Mark C. asks: Where did the expression “a penny for your thoughts” come from? The word “penny” may have come from the English ruler Penda, King of Mencia (an Anglo-Saxton kingdom in today’s English midlands). During his reign from 626 AD to 655 AD, he issued coins that were called “pending.” To further this theory along, the old English word […]
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The history books (and Hollywood) often describe the famous lawman, Wyatt Earp, as many things: brave, courageous, moral, law-abiding, and honorable. In the story of the “Gunfight at the OK Corral,” Earp is often portrayed as the hero, the good guy we all should be rooting for. In truth, Wyatt Earp was a much more complicated individual who, among other […]
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This Day In History: December 8, 1980 It was the last thing people expected. On December 8, 1980, Howard Cosell announced during Monday Night Football that John Lennon, legendary musician and peace activist, had been shot and killed outside his home in New York City. The shooter, 25-year-old Mark David Chapman, made no attempt to flee the scene or resist […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn why tires stopped being made white and instead are now almost always made black excepting with novelty tires. In the bonus topic, you’re also going to learn how men’s and women’s bikes came to have the differing designs the do. [TRANSCRIPT: Tires | Bikes] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: […]
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Our very good friends over at Neatorama are currently running a Cyber Week Christmas sale in their popular NeatoShop. They are also offering free world wide shipping (yes, world-wide). The sale runs now until Sunday the 7th at 11:59pm. So if you’re looking for some neato inexpensive gifts for people, go check it out now before this promo ends!
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This Day In History: December 5, 1901 On December 5, 1901 Walter Elias Disney, the man who would turn a rodent into a beloved icon and go on to create a global empire of family-friendly movies, merchandise and theme parks, was born in Chicago, Illinois. Always the artist and entrepreneur, he used to sell his drawings to his neighbors to […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn how the terms “bull” and “bear” came to be applied to the stock market. [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 case you ever wondered how your relatives came to be called what they are, here’s a brief history. The modern English word for a parent’s sister, “aunt,” is a direct descendant of the Modern French word of the same meaning, tante. Both derive from the Latin word, amita, meaning “paternal aunt,” and the word is associated with the Greek […]
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Jeremy R. asks: Who were the richest people in history? Wealth transcends time. It is also extremely hard to evaluate. There have been more than a few studies and lists that have tried to figure out who are the richest people of all time. This task has been proven to be nearly impossible. Accurately adjusting for inflation is just one […]
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This Day In History: December 4, 1154 Pope Adrian IV began life as Nicholas Breakspear, hailing from St. Albans in Hertfordshire, England. He felt an affinity for the Church from an early age, although he was turned away from the local abbey due to his lack of education. He studied in Merton Priory in 1125, but being a Saxon in […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the intrepid teenager who created the first ready-made cake mix, then later the ever popular confectionery PEZ, as well as just what “PEZ” stands for and why they originally came in special containers. In the bonus topic, you’re also going to learn why Rice Krispies “snap, crackle, and pop.” [Transcript: PEZ | […]
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Throughout the history of modern warfare, the record for longest confirmed sniper kill is one that has steadily gotten more and more extreme as technology has progressed. At the time of writing this, the holder of that record is British sniper Craig Harrison, who notably broke the previous record twice on the same day by hitting two enemy targets on two consecutive […]
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This is a video from MinuteEarth created by Henry Reich et al. If you like TodayIFoundOut, odds are you’ll also greatly enjoy their videos. So 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 […]
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This Day In History: December 3, 1947 On December 3, 1947, a young Marlon Brando first delivered the anguished cry “STELLA” across the Ethel Barrymore Theatre during the debut performance of Tennessee Williams’ drama A Streetcar Named Desire. The play explores the tension between tough, working class Stanley Kowalski (played by Marlon Brando), and Blanche Dubois, a genteel Southern belle […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn the interesting reason why the police in many regions traditionally wear blue, as well as an interesting fact about uniform color and sports teams. [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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Jeremy R. asks: Was Scotch tape invented by the Scottish? Despite the name, Scotch tape wasn’t invented by the Scottish. It was invented by a college dropout named Richard Drew from Minnesota who worked for a small sandpaper company founded in 1902 called Minnesota Mining and Manufacturing, later known as 3M. The name “Scotch” itself has an origin story almost […]
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Auschwitz was the most notorious and horrible of the concentration camps during World War II. Over a million innocent people were murdered at the camp located in Southern Poland (which was “annexed” by Nazi German forces at the beginning of the war). Survivors, of which there were only about 200,000 of the 1.3 million that were sent there, reported that […]
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This Day In History: December 2, 1814 “Either kill me or take me like this, for I will not change.” The Marquis de Sade, a notorious libertine whose deeds are linked forever with his name in the term “sadist”, wrote these words to his wife in 1783 while serving an 11-year prison term. For de Sade, who would be convicted […]
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