Karla asks: Why do we need sleep? It left Hamlet’s father vulnerable to fratricide, sent Alice down the rabbit-hole, enabled Delilah’s betrayal of Samson and facilitated Gregor’s transformation into a giant beetle. Yet without sleep, we can become dull, slow and irritable in the short-term, and chronic insomnia can cause migraines, seizures and even, in extreme cases, death. Although we […]
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Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is a sample article from their site. Every summer we slather layers of sunscreen with the highest SPF we can find, and bravely venture outside hoping our slimy cloak will […]
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It turns out this has nothing to do with the mammaries of the fairer sex, but rather has its origins in the Spanish word “bobo,” meaning “stupid,” “fool,” or “naïve.” This Spanish word in turn comes from the Latin “balbus” meaning “stammering”, which to the Romans was thought to be a sign of stupidity. So, essentially, a “booby trap” is […]
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Today in History: March 27, 1309 As the result of a war with the Doge of Venice Pietro Gradeningo over control of the city of Ferrara in northern Italy, Pope Clement V punished Venice by excommunicating the entire city on March 27, 1309. Clement’s decree not only denied all Venetians access to the sacraments, but declared them entirely outside of […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the story that “Sleeping Beauty” was based on, which was *slightly* less family friendly than the Disney version. [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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Why Police Officers are Sometimes Called “Pigs” Unlike so many other nicknames for the police, such as cops and the fuzz, this particular term has a relatively well known origin. You see, starting around the sixteenth century “pig” began being used in English as a derogatory term for people, whether police or not, as it still sometimes is used today. […]
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In the connected 21st century, it can be hard to imagine how, for most of history, different cultures existed in relative isolation from each other. Even as late as the 19th century, those living in self-sustaining and remote rural communities had little commerce with the outside world, and scant news made it in or out. In a handful of these […]
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Greg H. asks: Diseases from Europe wiped out most of the Indians, so why didn’t the Europeans also get wiped out by diseases from America? While estimates vary, approximately 20-50 million people are believed to have lived in the Americas shortly before Europeans arrived. Around 95% of them were killed by European diseases. So why didn’t 19 out of 20 […]
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Today in History: March 26,1997 In the San Diego suburb of Rancho Santa Fe on March 26, 1997, police found 39 people dead in a spacious Spanish-style mansion from what appeared to be a carefully choreographed mass suicide. It was quickly discovered that the deceased were all members of the “Heaven’s Gate” cult. They believed that the appearance of the […]
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We’ve partnered up with our good friends over at the ever popular Neatorama to hold a contest with super awesome prizes and a bunch of easy ways to enter. The Grand Prize winner will receive a $100 Amazon gift card, a crazy cool Captain America Mystery Box (pictured here), and one t-shirt from each of Neatorama’s and TodayIFoundOut’s shops. Runner […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the origin of the alphabet song and the famous tune behind it. [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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Jill T. asks: My dad told me Professor Moriarty in Sherlock Holmes was based on a real person. Is this true and if so, who? Genius and philosopher, with a “brain of the first order,” Professor James Moriarty was the most dangerous criminal Sherlock Holmes ever grappled with. Over the years, several real-life masterminds have been suggested as the inspiration […]
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Kayla R. asks: Why are strikebreakers called scabs? Striving to win safer working conditions, shorter hours and better pay, over the past few hundred years laborers have periodically joined together in work stoppages, called strikes. Only effective when the work needed by the “boss” (be it a single business, a whole industry or an entire nation) doesn’t get done; if […]
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Our resident medical expert, Scott, and a buddy of his recently started The Medicine Journal, where you can learn all sorts of interesting facts about all things medical related. Below is their fifth video. If you like it, please subscribe to their YouTube channel here If you liked this video, you might also enjoy: Does Sex Before An Athletic Event […]
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Today in History: March 25, 1931 On March 25, 1931 a group of black and white young people “hoboed” their way on a freight train in search of work during the Great Depression. There was an altercation between the youths, and the white kids were put off the train. The white youths reported this “outrage” to a local sheriff, who […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the bizarre dish that holds the world record for the largest item on a menu. This episode is brought you by lynda.com. Check out lynda.com if you’re interested in learning a new piece of software or business skill cheaply, and on your own time. They’ve got over 2,000 extremely high quality training […]
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Mark asks: I don’t know if you’ve already covered this or not, but why do we call quitting something abruptly “cold turkey”? When you quit something “cold turkey” it means that you’re quitting smoking, drinking, a hard drug, or eating delicious chocolate cake right then and there without being slowly weaned off the addictive (possibly chocolatey) substance. What with turkeys […]
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In the summer of 1971, on the campus of one of the nation’s top universities and under the supervision of a faculty member, 11 students tortured 10 others over a six-day period, all in the interest of “science.” The Experiment Intended to last two weeks, according to the study’s author, Professor Phil Zimbardo, the original focus of the experiment was […]
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