On this day in history, November 3rd… 1534 : King Henry VIII of England was granted Royal Supremacy, as the English parliament accepted the first Act of Supremacy. This legislation declared the King as the supreme head of the Church of England. It also initiated by King Henry VIII himself and cut England off from the Roman Catholic Church. It is believed that the main […]
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I was walking across a bridge one day and happened to see a boat full of people. And yet, there was not a single person on the boat. I am silent as the dawn I move steadily without thought Those who winter’s chill has touched My presence they have sought. Though I ask no permission, I’ll pass through your door […]
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Text Version: The East-African country of Uganda has a population of over 35 million people. But the astonishing part is that, according to the 2010 census, 48.4% of the population is below the age of 15! A mere 2.5% of the population was 65 years and older, making it the youth capital of the World.
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Text Version: Organized cheerleading started as an all-male activity. On the 2nd of November 1898, student Johnny Campbell of the University of Minnesota, directed a crowd at a football game into cheering “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!”, making Campbell the very first cheerleader. From then, the University of Minnesota organized a “yell leader” squad […]
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Today I found out the “ye” as in “Ye Olde Coffee Shoppe” should be pronounced “the”. The “Ye” here is not the “ye” as in “Judge not, that ye (you) be not judged”, but is rather a remnant of the letter “thorn” or “þorn” (Þ, þ). The letter thorn was used in Old Norse, Old English-Middle English, Gothic, and Icelandic […]
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On this day in history, November 2nd… 1898 : Marks the official birth date of organized cheerleading. On this date, student Johnny Campbell of the University of Minnesota directed a crowd at a football game into cheering “Rah, Rah, Rah! Ski-u-mah, Hoo-Rah! Hoo-Rah! Varsity! Varsity! Varsity, Minn-e-So-Tah!” From then, the University of Minnesota organized a “yell leader” squad of six male […]
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This is a guest post contributed by List25 Depending on which government list you’re reading from and which countries they recognize, it’s estimated that there are about 196 official countries in the world. While I’m not about to do an interesting fact about all 196, here are a list of 25 fascinating facts about various countries in the world today: […]
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The person who makes it, sells it. The person who buys it, never uses it. The person who uses it doesn’t know they are. With words unnumber’d I abound, In me mankind take much delight, In me great store of learning’s found, Yet I can neither read nor write What gets wetter the more it dries? Tho’ good fellows we […]
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Text Version: The phrase “Always a bridesmaid, never a bride” first originated in a music tune by Fred W. Leigh which had a line in it stating, “Why Am I Always A Bridesmaid?”. However, the mouthwash brand Listerine is responsible for the phrase’s widespread popularity. In 1924, Listerine launched a series of advertisements with slogan “Often a bridesmaid, never a […]
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You should know how to remove a fresh carpet stain before it sets in. This is a little trick I picked up in college from a roommate after a certain party where certain “friends” decided keg stands were in order… *memories* This trick has worked without fail every time (and there have been a lot of times over the years […]
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Text Version: During the American Civil War, the Union soldiers blocked supplies to the Confederacy. Due to this there were mass shortages and the newspaper offices ran out of paper. The scarcity of paper forced editors into being resourceful and to find other means of publishing, which they did. They used wallpaper to print their newspapers (this was not ripped […]
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On this day in history, November 1st… 1512 : Michelangelo’s epic ceiling painting in the Sistine Chapel was opened to the public for viewing for the first time. Michelangelo Buonarroti, born in 1475, first came to the spotlight as a talented sculpture during the early Renaissance movement in Florence. His famous statues of Pieta (1498) and David (1504) earned him a call from […]
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Special thanks to Justin V. from North Carolina for the idea to start putting up brain teasers on TIFO Though big my belly, long my nose, And with one arm I strut; I make the fair their foes expose, And keep my own mouth shut: Before me they their secrets tell, The news of all the day; And for my […]
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Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis were, in my own humble opinion, the greatest comedy team in the history of show business. I like Laurel and Hardy very much; I love the Marx Brothers and I idolize the Three Stooges, but there was something so electric about Dean and Jerry. It was a new concept, a fresh idea, teaming up a […]
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Text Version: Color blindness is basically a deficiency of color vision, the most common of which is the Red-green color vision defect. People with this defect have difficulty in differentiating between red and green color hues. It is a X-linked genetic disorder as both genes for red and green receptors are located in the X chromosome. As you probably already […]
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As mentioned about a week and a half ago, starting today we’re going to be doing a lot more daily posts here on Today I Found Out than previously. We’ll still be doing the normal 5-6-ish full articles per week like always, but we’ll also be adding a few other posts daily and a variety of new series of posts […]
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