Brian T. asks: Where do the Gypsies originally come from? They do not have a shared homeland or national identity. They are a people who are scattered across the globe and whose origins have always been shrouded in myth and mystery (among other reasons because they have kept no written records of their early history). Many saw them (and continue […]
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Candie asks: How is the Pope chosen? When a pope goes to his eternal reward or otherwise retires, there are certain traditions that are dusted off each time to elect his successor. Only the British royal family can rival the Vatican when it comes to (seemingly) ancient and elaborate rituals, so you know it’s going to be a big production. […]
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K. Jones asks: Where does the symbol “Rx” come from? The phenomenon of ubiquitous prescription drugs (retail sales in recent years have topped $200 billion in the U.S. alone) is a relatively new experience in human history. However, its common abbreviation, ℞, has deep roots in the relatively distant (and some even claim ancient) past. Recipe for Wellness While there […]
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On July 23, 1983, in the small town of Gimli, Manitoba, Captain Robert Pearson and Co-Pilot Maurice Quintal expertly glided a 100-ton Boeing 767 carrying 69 people to a safe landing without engines, air brakes or flaps, and minimal control of the aircraft. Bad Math The flight plan for Canada 143 that day began with a short jaunt from Montreal, […]
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“When the outside world, with all its material wealth, suddenly descend[ed],” on remote cultures whose technology was limited to stone and wood, new belief systems often arose. On many of the islands of the southwest Pacific, the affluence and power of Western explorers, missionaries and colonists led to the creation of a number of religious sects that all shared a […]
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Warning: By necessity, this one contains profanity and vulgar references. So you may or may not want to read through it first if you normally share these articles with humans of the particularly youthful persuasion. 😉 Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart is famously known for being a child prodigy and one of the greatest musical composers of all time. Eine Kleine Nachtmusik is one […]
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Becky asks: When did women start growing out and painting fingernails? On humans and other primates, nails are a flattened version of a claw which likely developed to aid in gripping and climbing. However, they can also act as a visible “health report.” Someone in poor health, or infected by a fungus, might have yellow, brittle nails, while someone in […]
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When someone is “blowing smoke up your arse” today, it is a figure of speech that means that one person is complimenting another, insincerely most of the time, in order to inflate the ego of the individual being flattered. Back in the late 1700s, however, doctors literally blew smoke up people’s rectums. Believe it or not, it was a general mainstream medical procedure used to, among many […]
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Aluminium is literally one of the most common elements on Earth. So how did it come to be that aluminium cost more than gold? Was it similar to how the relatively common and easily acquired mined diamond came to be seen as valuable in the last century due to strict control of supply to consumers and some of the best marketing […]
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Chellie asks: Do people really only have the right to one phone call when put in jail in the United States? Being arrested is a terrifying and frightening thing with all the horror stories about police abuses of power and other prisoners being absolutely dead-set on making your life miserable in a variety of horrifying ways… at least that’s what […]
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It wouldn’t be much of an exaggeration to say that the oldest district of Athens, Plaka, might be one of the most unique, beautiful and historic neighborhoods on earth. Also known as the “Neighborhood of the Gods,” Plaka lies right under the cradle of Western civilization, the Acropolis. Plaka is filled with many archaeological monuments and sites spanning millennia. It’s […]
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Masa C asks: Why do fingernails on a chalkboard make us cringe? Listen to this. Irritated? Angry? Just glad it’s over? Here’s why. Your Ear After examining the results of a 2011 study, researchers have theorized that the human ear is specifically built so that: Sounds in [a certain] range are amplified due to the anatomy of the ear canal; […]
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Terryn asks: Who invented the elevator? The history of the elevator, if you define it as a platform that can move people and objects up and down, is actually a rather long one. Rudimentary elevators are known to have been in use in ancient Rome as far back as 336 B.C., with the first reference of one built by the […]
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Remember that scene in the movie Trading Places where Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd bankrupted those two old rich guys by cornering the frozen orange juice market? It turns out that a guy actually once did make many millions of dollars by doing pretty much exactly as they did in the movie, only instead of orange juice, he bought onions… […]
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Sue T asks: Why do we measure oil in barrels instead of gallons or liters? How much oil is in a barrel? More than just gasoline for our cars, crude oil is transformed into an infinite variety of products we use every day – from personal products like shampoo and lotion, to food preservatives and fertilizers, to the plastic bags […]
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M. Havens asks: Where did the Taps song come from that is played during military funerals? Since 1862, “Taps” has played at military funerals to honor the sacrifice of fallen service members. Originally, however, it was intended to send soldiers off to a less permanent sleep. During the Civil War, Union buglers signaled “lights out” to their comrades with a […]
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Rouise asks: Why do we cross our fingers for luck and when we’re lying? It’s odd that the same gesture is used for both. Turns out, people have been crossing their fingers for luck for centuries. The exact origins of this practice aren’t definitively known, but historians have a couple theories as to how the modern practice came about, though […]
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Jeremy R. asks: Why do they bother sterilizing the needles when executing people? Besides the fact that manufacturers sterilize the needles (so no real extra effort is needed), other sterilization procedures are also used in these executions for good reason. You see, a stay of execution may happen at the last minute. If this happens, but then the condemned later […]
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