In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we look at how the first man to walk in space almost got stuck there and what happened after, Stigler and his Law of Eponymy, the Forgotten Beatle, whether twice boiled water is really bad for you, what chlorine triflouride is, why they say “mush” to make sled dogs go and what […]
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On September 25, 1926, the Ford Motor Company instituted a five-day, 40-hour work week for its factory employees. While Ford wasn’t the first to do this, they were arguably one of the most influential. This action, at least initially, did not win Ford many friends among his fellow business owners, some of whom believed giving the working man any time […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader How real are the TV shows that focus on police and lawyers? A few go all out for accuracy, while others get laughed at by the professions they portray. But they’ve all had an impact on society…both positive and negative. FAMILIAR FORMULA If there were no cops, prosecutors, or defense […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. A COPS Story COPS has been a Saturday night TV staple for so long—29 seasons—that it’s easy to forget what a groundbreaking show it was when it debuted in 1989. FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE In the early 1980s, an aspiring filmmaker named John Langley […]
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Phoebe Ann Moses, better known as “Annie Oakley,” made a name for herself as one of the best sharpshooters in the world throughout her lifetime. In the process, she overcame a childhood filled with abuse and adversity to become not only an enormously successful entertainer, but a role model for women and young girls. Born in 1860, Annie’s father, Jacob, […]
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Anonymous asks: Why did people pick VHS over laserdisc? On January 14, 2009, LaserDisc officially died. Of course, the shiny, 12-inch optical disc that once competed with VHS and Betamax in the home video market spun into oblivion long before. However, it was that Wednesday in January seven years ago that Pioneer – the last remaining company to make the […]
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Mark Y. asks: Why were people who made alcohol during prohibition called bootleggers? Although Prohibition officially began on January 16, 1920, the impetus for banning the production, sale, importation and transportation (though not the consumption) of alcohol had been brewing for decades before. Part of a string of reforms introduced by Progressives, Protestants and other activists to cure all of […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader COPS has been a Saturday night TV staple for so long—29 seasons—that it’s easy to forget what a groundbreaking show it was when it debuted in 1989. FIRST-PERSON PERSPECTIVE In the early 1980s, an aspiring filmmaker named John Langley began work on Cocaine Blues, a documentary about the crack cocaine […]
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In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we look at how Dick came to be short for Richard, whether cow farts really contribute to global warming, why nearly all zippers have ykk on them, what color carrots used to be before the 17th century, why some electrical plugs have two prongs and others have three, how chickens made it […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. The U.S. Military’s Proposed “Gay” Bomb One doesn’t commonly associate the slogan “make love not war” with the U.S. military. Indeed, the United States military is feared and formidable precisely because it has proven so effective at conceptualizing clever and innovative […]
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Therese R. asks: Is it true that there is a substance seeping up from the ground on a road in Venezuela that no one can identify? First appearing in 1986 on a highway between the city of Caracas and its airport, La Mancha Negra, meaning literally a black stain, began as an approximately 50-yard (46 meter) long smudge, seen by […]
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M. Silverman asks: Why aren’t the windows aligned with the rows of seats on planes? While airplane manufacturers do design the planes with general row positioning and pitch (the measurement from one seat to the same exact point on the seat in front or behind it) in mind, with the windows often lining up with the seats, the designers’ exact […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader George Washington was inaugurated as president in 1789 and John Adams was inaugurated in 1797…but the White House didn’t open its doors until 1800. So where did America’s first two presidents live? First Presidential Address: 3 Cherry Street, New York City Moving In: New York served as the nation’s capital […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. How Dick Came to Be Short for Richard The name Richard is thought by most etymologists to derive from the Proto-Germanic ‘Rikharthu’, meaning more or less “hard ruler” (‘Rik-‘ meaning ‘ruler’ and ‘-harthu’ meaning ‘hard’). This was adopted into Old High […]
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The 1890s were a gilded age of sports in America. Backed by the country’s moral and intellectual elite in the form of ministers and urban reformers, institutions like the YMCA were popularized, enforcing the rather novel idea of healthful recreation via organized sports. While this may seem obvious to us today, this was only decades after a time when watching […]
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Marco Rossi asks: Is it true that the queen of England isn’t required to have a passport when she visits other countries? As the reigning monarch of the United Kingdom, the commonwealth, and certain other countries that have since declared independence but decided they kind of like having the Queen on their money, Queen Elizabeth II enjoys a number of […]
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Initially designed and produced during WW2 for British soldiers, the Sten was developed as a direct response to both dwindling supplies of American made Thompson machine guns and the evacuation of Dunkirk, during which the British abandoned many thousands of guns. In an effort to re-arm its troops as quickly as possible for the defense of the homeland, the British […]
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In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we discuss whether Olympic medalists receive cash prizes, why potatoes are called spuds, if sex before an athletic event will hinder performance, where mosquitoes go during the daytime, the ridiculous nuclear launch code previously used by the US at all minuteman silos and why vitamins make urine bright yellow. Click here to […]
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