Baki J asks: Why are people who are doing something crazy called mad as a hatter? Although the phrase “mad as a hatter” is, and will likely long be, associated with Charles Dodgson’s (a.k.a. Lewis Carroll’s) 1865 novel, Alice in Wonderland, contrary to popular belief, Carroll neither coined the phrase nor did he use it in his works. (The Hatter […]
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WW2 saw the nations of the world investing massive amounts of manpower and money into the development of better ways to extinguish life in hopes of turning the tide of the war in their respective favors, sometimes including coming up with outlandish contraptions like (surprisingly effective) bat bombs and pigeon guided missiles, anti-tank dogs, flying jeeps and tanks, suicide torpedoes, […]
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In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we discuss the origins of the phrase “Elvis has left the building”, the strange story of the actress who died while portraying her death on stage, what the black spots are on corn chips, the truth about the infamous McDonald’s coffee lawsuit and whether lobsters can die of old age. Click here […]
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Louis R. asks: Why do they always print bibles with two columns on the pages instead of like a normal book? The practice of using two columns with compact texts dates back to at least the fifteenth century, which in turn was just a continuation of an older tradition of narrow columns in horizontally opened scrolls. Both the Gutenberg Bible […]
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This is a weekly wrap of our popular Daily Knowledge Newsletter. You can get that newsletter for free here. What is the Hottest Temperature Possible? The idea of absolute hot springs from its better-known cousin, absolute zero, which, as you may recall, is 0 K, -273.15° C or -459.67° F. And although abridged definitions of the lowest temperature will frequently state […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader In the Beatles song “Come Together,” John Lennon included a lyric that referenced a Chuck Berry song, an act intended as a tribute to one of the founding fathers of rock ’n’ roll. Instead, it got Lennon embroiled in a years-long legal battle with one of the most colorful—and nefarious—characters […]
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Medical science has advanced an astounding amount in the last 50 years or so and we can do things today that a half a century ago even in that era’s science fiction would have been considered science fiction. By the same token though, there were things done in the 1950s and 1960s that people today are still skeptical actually happened, […]
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Today, Mother’s Day is a holiday of joy, brunches, gifts, flowers and phone calls. In fact, phone traffic spikes more on Mother’s Day than any other holiday. This annual celebration of moms everywhere was first officially established in 1914 when President Woodrow Wilson issued a presidential proclamation, which read that this is the day we “[publicly express] our love and […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader What did Roger Babson do with the fortune he made on Wall Street in the early 1900s? He devoted a considerable chunk of it to defeating what he called “Our Number One Enemy”—gravity. THE FORCE One afternoon in August 1893, a young woman named Edith Babson drowned while swimming in […]
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Chris G. asks: We know there is a coldest temperature at absolute zero. Is there also a hottest temperature possible? The idea of absolute hot springs from its better-known cousin, absolute zero, which, as you may recall, is 0 K, -273.15° C or -459.67° F. And although abridged definitions of the lowest temperature will frequently state it is the point […]
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In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we discuss the Great Plague of London and the variety of bizarre methods employed to stop it, such as forcing kids to smoke, the unorthodox way Bohemian Rhapsody became a number one song, the mechanism behind how we pee, why Paul McCartney is rumored to have died several decades ago, and the […]
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In the world of professional gambling, there is a well documented hot streak of near-mythical status referred to by many as “The Run”. During this streak, a man known as Archie Karas turned $50 into $40 million by primarily shooting pool and playing poker in Vegas. What makes this run so infamous is that, after winning more money than most […]
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It was the Christmas season of 1963 when the Beatles agreed to star in “The Beatles Christmas Shows” at the Astoria Cinema in Finsbury Park, London. These shows had been arranged by the Beatles’ manager, Brian Epstein, and included several of his other acts including Billy J. Kramer and the Dakotas, Tommy Quickly and Cilla Black. These shows were, quite […]
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In this week’s “best of” our YouTube channel, we discuss whether people ever really wore chastity belts, why old newspapers and book pages turn yellow, when a speed limit takes effect, the remarkable story of the railroad that hired a baboon to run its track switching lines, and the invention of non-alcoholic grape juice. Click here to subscribe to our […]
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In the early 1960s, high school athlete Dick Fosbury probably never imagined that he would set the Olympic high jump record in 1968. The then teenager at Medford High School in Oregon participated in the high jump portion of track and field, but as a sophomore, he failed to clear the 1.5 meter height required to qualify for a number […]
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Jimmy K. asks: Why is there a plastic bag attached to airline oxygen masks if they don’t inflate? Because the economics of having large oxygen tanks aboard airliners simply doesn’t work out (not to mention that the air quality inside the plane would rapidly become unpleasant if fresh air wasn’t constantly supplied, regardless of the oxygen levels), commercial airplanes have […]
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Imagine it’s 1957 and you’re a high-ranking official with the British Army, responsible for keeping the West free from Soviet aggression. At your disposal you have a great arsenal, both conventional and nuclear, as well as teams of brilliant scientists at the Royal Armament Research and Development Establishment constantly proposing ideas for new, more effective weapons. One of your areas of […]
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The following is an article from Uncle John’s Bathroom Reader Like us, you probably can’t remember a world without highways—a time before there were gas stations, fast-food places, or shopping centers. Well, it all had to start somewhere…and this is where. WHERE’S THE HORSE? The 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago was in full swing when a gentleman walked up to […]
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