Podcast Episode #234: When Rome Burned

In this episode, you’re going to learn the truth about whether Nero really “fiddled when Rome burned” and other interesting facts about Nero and the fire that (supposedly) ravaged the city. [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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How Did Oktoberfest Start?

Michael R. asks: How did Oktoberfest get started? As we move past the summer and into the fall, we can count on certain things: the leaves changing color, the weather growing crisper, ghost stories being told, and the celebration of the Bavarian tradition of Oktoberfest. Even here in America, Oktoberfest is beloved as a time for dancing, dressing in lederhosen, […]

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Why Port and Starboard Indicate the Left and Right Side of a Ship

Happy “Talk Like a Pirate” day! Besides learning about port and starboard in the video below, you can also learn the origin and meaning of things like “Avast,” “Arrrr,” “Scuttlebutt,” and many more in our video, The Origin and Meaning of 9 Pirate Words and Expressions. If you liked this video, be sure and subscribe to our YouTube channel here. […]

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This Day in History: September 19th- Charlie Chaplin vs. the United States

This Day In History: September 19, 1952 “A democracy is a place where you can express your ideas freely—or it isn’t a democracy.” – Charles Chaplin During the Red Scare of the late 1940s and early 1950s, legendary actor and film maker Charlie Chaplin, who never gave up his British citizenship and was well-known for his liberal politics, ran afoul […]

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Podcast Episode #233: The Wave

In this episode, you’re going to learn the surprisingly recent origin of the sporting wave, also known as the “Mexican Wave” outside of the United States, which funny enough has little to nothing to do with Mexico. [TRANSCRIPT] Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going here: Daily […]

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How Did Felix Hernandez Get the Nickname “King Felix”?

Kevin A. asks: I was just wondering how Felix Hernandez became known as “King”? The religious Abraham was commanded by God to leave his homeland and travel to a distant, already occupied, place in which Abraham would eventually rule with the aid of divine blessing. Maybe it was fate that Felix Abraham Hernandez, born in Venezuela, would come to baseball’s […]

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This Day in History: September 18th- The Princess Who Worked at Macy’s

Today in History: September 18, 1923 On September 18, 1923, Princess Anne Antoinette Francois Charlotte of Bourbon-Parma was born in Paris, France. The second child of Prince Rene of Bourbon-Parma and princess Margrethe of Demark, she spent her early years with her parents and three brothers in France before they fled from the Nazis and headed for Spain in 1939. […]

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Who Invented Diet Soda?

Matthew C. asks: Who made the first diet pop? In order to make a diet soda (at least one people would popularly drink), a sugar substitute was needed. The first such artificial sweetener, saccharin, was discovered by accident. In the late 19th century, Constantin Fahlberg, after a long day working at the lab of the famed chemist Ira Remsen in […]

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The Life Saving Animal Blood Worth $60,000 Per Gallon and the Truth About the Colour of Spider Blood

Kay P. asks: Is spider blood really blue? When it comes to spiders, people generally know two facts about them- that you swallow around eight of them per year and that their blood is bright blue. Fortunately, the former is absolutely not true at all, the latter, on the other hand, is mostly correct. While it’s certainly true that spiders […]

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This Day in History: September 17th

This Day In History: September 17, 1630 Long before the Red Sox, Whitey Bulger, or Tom Brady, Boston’s first European settlers called the area Trimountaine in reference to its now non-existent three mountains. The name didn’t stick for very long. The land that was called Shawmut by the local Algonquin inhabitants was named Boston (after Boston, England) on September 17, […]

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Why do Golfers Yell “Fore,” When was the Mulligan First Used, and Other Questions You Might Have Wondered About Golf

There is a long-standing belief that golf was invented by the Scottish, sometime in the 14th or 15th centuries. This maybe false, at least according to Chinese professors and the Hong Kong Heritage Museum. In 2006, evidence was presented that the game may have originated from the ancient Chinese game “Chuiwan” – loosely translated to “hitting ball.” Two paintings, one […]

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