Brian asks: How do bats tell whether it’s their own squeaks they’re hearing or another bat’s? Does this ever confuse them? Seeing with sound, bats can find their way around by bouncing sound waves off of objects. Called echolocation, it allows a bat to navigate the world with impressive accuracy and speed. However, each bat, even within a swarm, needs […]
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Evan asks: When did the practice of burning books start? To a writer, a bookworm, or a believer in the freedom of press and knowledge, there is nothing quite as horrifying as hearing about piles of books getting eaten by flames, never to be read again, particularly in instances in history where some of the books being burned were extremely […]
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In 1946, Glen Bell left the Marine Corps at the age of 23. Like many of his comrades, he was looking forward to post-war activities and settling into a career when he returned home. Luckily for him, the fast food business was booming, and Bell had an idea: a hot dog stand. It was called Bell’s Drive-In, and it was […]
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Today in History: January 2. 1974 On January 2, 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon signed the Emergency Highway Energy Conservation Act into law, which set a new national speed limit. This law was drafted to counter the effect of spikes in oil prices and disruptions in supply that were common during the 1973 oil crisis. Before 1974, speed limits were […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about one linguists attempt to foster the world’s first native speaker of Klingon. 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 was started four years ago on January 1, 2010. In that span, just over 34 million people have visited the site, with about 14 million of those people visiting at least once in 2013. There are now over 2100 posts on Today I Found Out for you to feed your brain with, about 700 of which […]
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Human beings have suffered from many of the same chronic illnesses and conditions since the dawn of recorded history. In fact, many of the words we use to describe medical maladies today date back to the birth of classical civilization, when Greek and Roman physicians first began studying medicine. Asthma The original Greek word, aazein, meant to pant or exhale […]
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Today I found out about a man who fairly accurately estimated the circumference of the Earth well over 2,000 years ago: Eratosthenes of Cyrene. Born around 276 B.C. in Cyrene, Libya, Eratosthenes soon became one of the most famous mathematicians of his time. He is best known for making the first recorded measurement of the Earth’s circumference, which was also […]
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Today in History: January 1, 1973 Roseann Quinn was a 27-year-old teacher living in New York City who had a spent a quiet New Year’s Eve home alone. Restless and bored by New Year’s Day, she decided to hang out for awhile at Tweed’s, a bar located across the street from her Upper West Side apartment. While she was there, […]
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In this episode, you’re going to learn about the first time we humans drove automobiles and promptly wrecked them. 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 how the 20/20 vision scale works. With more than 150 million people in the United States (nearly half of the population) requiring some form of corrective eyewear to compensate for visual impairment, chances are you have had your eyesight graded on the 20/20 scale before. If you haven’t, you have probably heard other people saying they […]
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Kara asks: A penguin’s feet are always on ice, so why don’t they freeze or have some sort of evolutionary built in insulation? There are many different species of penguin, and while our minds might take us to those living in the Antarctic tundras, freezing feet isn’t something every penguin has to contend with. In fact, there are some species […]
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Today in History: December 31, 1696 Rendering unto Caesar has never been a popular pastime, and the window tax imposed upon the citizens of Great Britain on this day in history, 1696, was no exception. The new window tax was actually a progressive form of property tax. Every homeowner, no matter how humble, paid a base tax of two shillings. […]
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In today’s episode, you’ll learn about the probable coming banana apocalypse, and about how this won’t be the first time this has happened in recent history forcing humans to switch bananas. 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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France and Algeria have a long, disgruntled history with each other. The first major contact was made between the two countries in 1526. At the time, Algeria was still part of the Ottoman Empire.Various conflicts ensued between the two for the next few centuries. This brings us to 1830 when France decided to invade the country in order to set […]
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This is an excerpt from our book, The Wise Book of Whys, available on Kindle | Nook and in Print | Audiobook This tradition is mostly thanks to Guy Lombardo and the Royal Canadian Band. While their work is largely unknown to those born in the last few decades, the band has sold over 300 million records to date. Guy […]
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Today in History: December 30, 1809 On December 30, 1809, it became illegal to wear masks at balls held within the City of Boston, as its citizens believed this practice was “detrimental to morals.” This was not just an isolated incident of off-the-wall prudery. Bostonians were setting the standard for killjoys everywhere since the 1650s, not surprising considering the city’s […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. John Lennon and the Making of His Last Album When John Lennon and Yoko Ono stepped into New York’s “The Hit Factory” on August 7, 1980, it was quite the occasion. John was returning to the music-making game after a five year […]
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