Weekly Wrap Volume 44

This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The Curious Case of Sun Sneezing Have you ever been in a dark place, say a movie theatre or a room with all the blinds close, and walked outside into the daylight when, all of a sudden, you begin to sneeze uncontrollably? […]

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Why Does Rhode Island Have “Island” in the Name When It is Not One?

Aaron asks: Why is Rhode Island called an island when it is not? Most think the history of Rhode Island starts with Roger Williams, but the state’s “discovery” (at least by Europeans) dates back about hundred years before that to approximately 1524 and the Italian explorer Giovanni da Verrazzano (though he did most of his exploring in the name of […]

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Real Life Maelstroms

Where a unique combination of strong currents and geography meet, maelstroms, enormous and powerful areas of swirling water, dangerous currents and whirlpools, can be found across the globe. Although many form (and die) in a relatively short period of time in response to catastrophic events (like a tsunami), others have existed for centuries. Asia Naruto Found in the strait between […]

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This Day in History: June 19th

This Day In History: June 19, 1905 The first baby step toward red carpet galas and Brangelina was the introduction of the first nickelodeon theater on June 19, 1905 in Pittsburgh, PA. The nickelodeon, whose odd name was a combination of the five cent admission price and “odeon,” the Greek word for theater, became an instant smash. The idea began […]

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Relámpago del Catatumbo – The Eternal Lightning

In Venezuela’s northwest state of Zulia, where the Catatumbo River empties into the southwest corner of Lake Maracaibo, a spectacular light show can be seen most nights of the year. Known alternately as the Catatumbo lightning, river of fire in the sky, Beacon of Maracaibo, everlasting lightning, the Lighthouse of Catatumbo and Relámpago del Catatumbo, this fixed lightning storm has […]

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Sleepwalking Murders

Carl asks: What happens if you are sleep walking and you kill someone? Anyone who has ever tried to reason with a sleepwalker knows they can seem to be awake, yet have bizarre and irrational behaviors. Stubborn during the best of episodes, and inconsolable, unreasonable and intense in the worst, it is not hard to imagine these walking dreamers acting […]

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This Day in History: June 18th

This Day In History: June 18, 1967 The Summer of Love was ushered in by the Monterey International Pop Music Festival, a three-day event held June 16 through June 18 in Monterey, California at the Monterey County Fairgrounds. Monterey was the venue where The Who, Ravi Shankar and Jimi Hendrix all made their first major American appearances. The Festival was […]

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