Why Cashews are Not Sold to Consumers in Their Shells Cashews are a member of the same family as poison ivy, Anacardiaceae. Like poison ivy and many other members of the family, part of the cashew plant contains an oily chemical called urushiol, which is a strong irritant for most people and can even be fatal for some if ingested. […]
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Today in History: March 24, 1958 When 23-year-old Elvis Presley was inducted into the United States Army on the morning of March 24, 1958 – or “Black Monday” if you were one of his mourning fans – he was the undisputed King of Rock and Roll. As the day ended, he was just another lowly buck private. Before he enlisted, […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. Why Tuberculosis was Called “Consumption” Originally, of course, nobody knew what caused the various forms of tuberculosis, and they certainly didn’t understand it was caused by what would eventually be called tubercle bacillus (usually the offending microbes are specifically Mycobacterium tuberculosis). The […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn the likely cause of Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) and just how to minimize the chances of a baby dying from it. 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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The practice of saying “o’clock” is simply a remnant of simpler times when clocks weren’t very prevalent and people told time by a variety of means, depending on where they were and what references were available. Generally, of course, the Sun was used as a reference point, with solar time being slightly different than clock time. Clocks divide the time […]
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Despite what you learned in grammar school, there are way more than four states of matter. One possible new one, disordered hyperuniformity, was recently found in the weirdest place – the eyes of chickens. Classical States of Matter To better understand an exotic state of matter like disordered hyperuniformity, it may be helpful to review the characteristics of the classical […]
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Every spring, a sort of illness strikes millions of Americans. Symptoms include screaming uncontrollably in celebration, panic sweating, obsessing over hastily filled-out brackets, sitting motionless in front of a television for hours, and wearing the bright colors of a college individuals attended many years ago. It’s called “March Madness” and it’s arguably the most popular sporting tournament in America. But […]
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Today in History: March 21, 1965 On March 25, 1965, civil rights demonstrators marched into Montgomery, Alabama led by Dr. Martin Luther King singing: Keep your eyes on the prize, hold on, hold on. I’ve never been to heaven, but I think I’m right, You won’t find George Wallace anywhere in sight… It took the non-violent protestors five days to […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn how running out of a certain ingredient led to one of the most popular cookies of all time, the chocolate chip cookie. [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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Scott asks: What’s the difference between hares and rabbits? Is it just two names for the same thing? Rabbits and hares are often confused for one another, so much so that to many the two names are interchangeable in casual conversation. When you learn that jackrabbits are actually a type of hare, and that there’s a breed of rabbit called […]
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Why “Hank” is Short for “Henry” This is thought to be thanks to the one time popular suffix “-kin,” which is also how “Jack” originally derived from the name “John.” Specifically, the suffix “-kin,” simply indicated “little,” so Robin Hood’s “Little John” would have been aptly named “Jockin,” which later gave rise to “Jenkin,” then “Jakin,” and then “Jack,” with […]
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You probably already knew that Disney has a habit of taking dark, twisted children’s fairy tales and turning them into sickeningly sweet happily-ever-afters. Take Sleeping Beauty for example: it’s based on a story where a married king finds a girl asleep, and can’t wake her so rapes her instead. The 1940 version of Pinocchio is no exception. The movie is […]
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Today in History: March 20, 1345 On March 20, 1345 a planetary alignment occurred that some medieval scholars believed caused the Black Death, otherwise known as the plague. At 1 p.m., a triple conjunction of Saturn, Jupiter and Mars occurred in the 40th degree of Aquarius. Each of these planets were associated with specific bodily humors. These three planets in […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the surprising dominance of the electric car in the late 19th and early 20th century and what exactly caused the downfall of this type of automobile. 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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Today I found out they named Parkinson’s disease after a man who was involved in an assassination attempt on King George III. Parkinson’s disease is a movement disorder characterized by tremors or shaking, with this particular symptom of the progressive disease resulting from dopamine generating cell death in a part of the substantia nigra region of the brain . The […]
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Witty, prickly, bitter and brilliant, for 50 odd years, author and newspaperman Ambrose Bierce eloquently chronicled the latter half of the 19th, and first few years of the 20th, centuries. From moving descriptions of Civil War events, to scathing rebukes of the worst of the Gilded Age, all interspersed with tales of the supernatural, Bierce’s unique voice has left us […]
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Amanda asks: What is gluten and why is it bad for you? These days, just casually strolling down a grocery aisle, one can find a multitude of gluten-free products. From gluten-free whole grain bread to gluten-free beer to gluten-free Betty Crocker chocolate brownie mix, the market for food items without gluten has exploded over the past decade. But is gluten […]
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Today in History: March 19, 1953 On March 19, 1953, after almost 40 years of making movies, pioneering director Cecil B. DeMille was finally awarded an Oscar: “Best Picture” for his movie The Greatest Show on Earth, starring Charlton Heston and Betty Hutton. DeMille was one of the visionaries behind the creation of the motion picture. Along with Jesse Lasky […]
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