Jennifer asks: Why is a donkey and an elephant associated with the Democrats and the Republicans? The donkey is stereotypically bumbling, slow, and stubborn; the elephant– big and clumsy. Being compared to one of these animals is not exactly flattering in this sense. Yet, for well over a century, they have been the popular symbols of America’s major political parties […]
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Today in History: April 4, 1960 On April 4, 1960 “Ben Hur” dominated the 32nd annual Academy awards at the RKO Pantages Theatre in Hollywood, setting a new record sweeping 11 of the 12 categories it was nominated for, including Best Picture, Actor, and Director. The epic historical drama was adapted from a novel written in 1880 by Lew Wallace […]
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Today I found out the origins of all 50 U.S. state names. Alabama This southern state was named for the Native American tribe that lived there when the European settlers showed up. In their own language, they were called the Albaamaha. It’s likely that this name means something along the lines of “plant gatherers,” though this isn’t known for sure. […]
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Matt asks: In an organ or blood transplant/transfusion, does the donor’s DNA get kept and integrated into the new host? Depending on the type of donation, the DNA stays for a short time, a long while, or maybe even forever. Chimerism and Microchimerism Scientists have known for years that a single organism can have cells that are genetically distinct. Sometimes, […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn how and when humans came up with the idea for spoons, knives, and forks, and the surprising resistance to the adoption of forks which were seen by some as an affront to God. Don’t miss future episodes of this podcast, subscribe here: iTunes | RSS/XML You can also find more episodes by going […]
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Today in History: April 3, 1045 Edward the Confessor was born in 1003 to King Ethelred the Unready and his second wife Emma, the sister of Richard, Duke of Normandy, and was the last Anglo-Saxon king to sit on the throne of England. He was responsible for the building of Westminster Abbey, one of the great churches of England, and […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the amazing story of the only known man to survive two nuclear attacks. 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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Ever been suddenly awakened from sleep by something that sounds like booming thunder, a shotgun blast, or perhaps a bomb singing the song of its people? But when you awake, you realize there was no apparent external source for the sound? Well, congratulations, you just experienced a rather curious condition known as Exploding Head Syndrome, and you’ve likely not got […]
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Today I found out that the father of Julia Louis-Dreyfus is a billionaire. Seinfeld would have been a lot different with another actress playing Elaine, and that’s what would have happened if Julia Louis-Dreyfus had decided to live the life of an heiress rather than pursue acting. And that wasn’t out of the realm of possibility. Julia’s father is multi-billionaire […]
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Controversial research programs, unethical experimentation, and human trials have been part of the medical field for centuries. It doesn’t make it any less wrong, but certain scientists with questionable ethics have gotten away with a lot in the name of, well, science. The more (in)famous examples of wayward science include eugenics sterilization, electroshock therapy, ionizing radiation experiments, and the CIA […]
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Today in History: April 2, 1805 Hans Christian Andersen was born on April 2, 1805 in Odense, Denmark to a cobbler and a washerwoman. Although they were poor, his parents doted on him and encouraged him to develop his imagination by putting on puppet shows and making up his own stories. His mother introduced him to the world of folklore […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about a man who managed to survive three consecutive hangings and what happened to him after. 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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John asks: Why are vitamins named via the alphabet? Easily identifiable by simple terms, the vitamins we recognize today were only recently isolated, identified and named. Roots of Vitamins Scientists studying why animals failed to thrive (deficiency diseases) were the first to discover vitamins. One of these early researchers, Cornelius Adrianus Pekelharing, opined in 1905 that milk had “some unrecognized […]
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Burritos are one of the most popular Tex-Mex items on the menu. Anyone who knows a little Spanish has probably raised their eyebrows at the name, however. In Spanish, a “burro” is a donkey, and “burrito,” the diminutive form, means “little donkey.” As far as we know, donkey was never a popular ingredient in the famous dish, so how exactly […]
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Today I found out about the Union Army Balloon Corps. If you thought that air warfare was reserved for a time after airplanes were invented, you thought wrong. During the American Civil War, the Union troops used hot air balloons to spy on Confederate troops. The idea to use balloons was the brainchild of Salmon P. Chase, the Secretary of […]
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Today in History: April 1, 1621 On April 1, 1621, the first peace treaty between the American colonists and the Native Americans was made in Plymouth, Massachusetts. The process began when Samoset, Squanto, and three companions paid a visit to the colonists’ tiny colony. They informed the newcomers that the great Sachem Massasoit, his brother Quadequina and about 60 men […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about how the idea that there is a monster in Loch Ness got its start. [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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A new baseball season is upon us and, to kick it off, we thought we’d do a roundup of all the interesting baseball facts we’ve covered on TodayIFoundOut to date to give you some interesting things to talk about as you while away the hours watching the games. Without further ado: Abner Doubleday Did Not Invent Baseball This myth has […]
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