Tristan asks: Does Mountain Dew kill sperm? Tristan- If you’re thinking that a 3 pack of condoms costs around $5 and Mountain Dew is only $1.99 for the 2-liter, so why not save yourself $3 on your contraception, think again! Pay the extra money! Mountain Dew does not kill your sperm, lower sperm count, make your penis smaller, or shrivel […]
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This is a guest post by Adam Kutner. (more on Adam at the bottom) Today I found out about a shocking weather incident that happened in London not very long ago. In December of 1952, the city of London experienced a 5-day bout of “fog” that killed at least 4,000 people and made an estimated 100,000 sick. Fog? Isn’t that […]
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1) His name was originally Michael, not Martin. His father was also Michael King, hence why Martin Luther King Jr. was originally named Michael King Jr. However, after a trip to Germany in 1931, Michael King Sr. changed his own name in homage to historic German theologian Martin Luther. Michael King Jr. was two years old at the time and […]
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Just a quick plug for one of the authors here at Today I Found Out, Samantha. She has published her first book, A Game Worth Watching, which is only $3.99 and is also available via Amazon Kindle’s lending library. My wife has now read the book (the book being geared more towards people of the female persuasion ;-)) and tells […]
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The man was Adam Rainer born in Graz, Austria sometime in 1899 (the exact date isn’t known). Rainer’s parents were neither tall nor short for the time, with his father measuring in at 5 feet 8 inches (1.72 m) and his mother at 5 feet 5 inches (1.65 m). He even had a brother who matched his father’s height at […]
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Anyone who has watched a President through their term in office knows stress might be a cause for gray hair; the stress/graying hair effect is particularly notable in President Obama. If you have teenagers, you’ve probably even remarked to them the stress they cause you is making your hair turn gray. The truth is going gray really has to do […]
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Today I found out why salt preserves meat. While today salting meat as a method of preservation is generally only commonly used in such things as salted pork and the like, salt has been used as the primary method of preserving meats and various other foods as far back as history records. Salt has a preservative effect thanks to the osmotic […]
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One of the first challenges that firefighters face when they arrive at a fire is finding a suitable water source that provides enough water for the type of fire they are fighting. Common sense tells us a car on fire will require much less water than a burning apartment building. There are formulas used by firefighters that will tell them […]
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Today I found out how “port” and “starboard” became the commonly used terms for “left” (port) and “right” (starboard) on a ship. We’ve all been there. You step on a ship and everything suddenly becomes nautical, despite the fact that most on the boat probably have to resort to mnemonics to remember which side of the ship is port and […]
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From Andrew- Is Aloe Vera really good for your skin? Well Andrew, that’s a very good question, but the answer depends on who you ask. There are any number of naturopathic healers who swear by its use to treat any number of conditions ranging from sunburns, psoriasis, osteoarthritis, high cholesterol, to a cure for stretch marks. It can be found […]
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Jeane asks: A friend told me Chickenpox is a form of Herpes. Is this true? Yes Jeane, Chickenpox is one form of a Herpes Virus. Most of us are familiar with the 2 sexually transmitted types of Herpes: Type 1 (oral herpes) and type 2 (genital herpes). But actually, there are over 25 known viruses that fall into the Herpes’ […]
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Ken J. asks: How is the calorie content in food determined? First, let’s make sure everybody here understands what a calorie is. A calorie is just a measurement of energy- the amount of energy needed to raise 1 gram of water 1 degree Celsius at standard atmospheric pressure. This makes sense when talking about calories in food. Food provides energy […]
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Contrary to popular belief, “Rock Around the Clock” was not the first Rock ‘n’ Roll record to be recorded. In fact, it wasn’t even Bill Haley’s first Rock record. “Rock Around the Clock” was, however, the first-ever Rock ‘n’ Roll song to hit the #1 spot on the pop charts. It transformed rock from a novelty and a curiosity to […]
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Today I found out was started three years ago on January 1, 2010. In that span about 20 million people have visited the site with around 7.2 million of those people visiting at least once in 2012. There are now over 1400 posts between “regular” articles, “This Day In History” posts, Quick Facts, Infographics, and Answers. 2013 should be an […]
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As someone who’s been lucky enough to work in movies and is a gigantically huge movie fan on top of that, I was saddened this last July by the death of the great Ernest Borgnine. One of Hollywood’s last genuine legends, Ernest passed on at the ripe old age of 95, looking not a day older than 70, on July […]
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The condition is known as “prosopagnosia” / “facial agnosia”, or in less medical terms: “face blindness”. (“Prosopagnosia” actually literally means: “face ignorance”. “prosopon” = “face”, “agnosia” = “not knowing” or “ignorance”). Once thought to be incredibly rare, with only 100 or so documented cases up until the last decade or so, it’s now thought that around 1 in every 50 […]
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Today I found out the Johnny Cash song “A Boy Named Sue” was written by Shel Silverstein. The song was originally inspired by a friend of Silverstein’s, Jean Shepherd (noted writer, actor, radio personality, and humorist, who, among other things, co-wrote and narrated the holiday classic The Christmas Story film, partially based on his childhood). Jean had often been teased […]
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It was voted in 2000 by VH1 as the #3 song on its list of “Greatest Rock Songs” and landed the #31 spot on Rolling Stone magazine’s “Greatest Songs of All-Time” list. Written by Robert Plant (lyrics) and guitarist Jimmy Page (melody) Stairway to Heaven is not only Led Zeppelin’s signature song, it may well be the most beloved rock […]
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