Today I found out there once was a MLB player who stole first from second. We’ve all seen the occasional child playing football accidentally run the wrong way on the field, and if you watch enough T-ball, you might even occasionally see a kid run the wrong way on the base paths. It turns out, there was once a Major […]
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Today I found out the origin of the word “lukewarm”. You’ve probably wondered why we have the word “lukewarm” for describing something that is only slightly warm. Why not “stevewarm” or “beckywarm”? Well if you didn’t before, hopefully you’re wondering now. It turns out, while today using “luke” to mean “warm” has gone out of fashion, possibly due to the […]
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Today I found out the difference between a donkey and a mule. Put simply, a donkey is the descendant of the African wild ass (of which there are only about 500 left in the wild today). Donkeys are a different species than a horse, but in the same family. They were originally bred in Egypt or Mesopotamia around 5,000 years […]
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Today I found out the origin of the Olympic Flame tradition and the Nazi origin of the Olympic Torch Relay. The Olympic Flame tradition has its origins in the Ancient Greek Olympics where a fire was kept burning at an altar dedicated to Hera in a sanctuary in Olympia. Other fires were also lit in Zeus’ and Hera’s temples to […]
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Today I found out that uniform regulation in the British Army between the years 1860 and 1916 stipulated that every soldier should have a moustache. Command No. 1,695 of the King’s Regulations read: The hair of the head will be kept short. The chin and the under lip will be shaved, but not the upper lip… Although the act of […]
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Today I found out the origin of the Olympic Rings. The Olympic ring symbol was designed by Baron Pierre de Coubertin in 1912. The idea of using rings intertwined with one another came from the Union des Sociétés Françaises de Sports Athlétiques (USFSA), which had two interlaced rings as their symbol and which Pierre de Coubertin was for a time […]
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Today I found out the official Olympic salute strongly resembles the “Heil Hitler” or “Nazi” salute. In this Olympic salute, your right arm should be held out, slightly to the side, and pointing in an upward angle. Likewise, your palm should be out and your fingers touching. The Nazi salute is more or less performed the same way, except it […]
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Today I found out the original Olympic flag was missing for 77 years until 1920 Olympian Hal Haig Prieste revealed he’d had it the whole time. The year was 1920. The Summer Olympics were being held in Belgium in the city of Antwerp. At the end of the Olympic Games, the flag suddenly went missing. Fast-forward to 1997 and 101 […]
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Today I found out John Lennon once almost beat a man to death. Was John Lennon gay? “Why are you bringing up such a ridiculous question? Who cares if he was gay? I thought this article was about John Lennon almost beating a guy to death.” Well, it is, it is, keep reading and you will see all the pieces […]
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Today I found out male giraffes take a mouthful of the female’s urine to determine if she’d be a good mate. This is known as the “Flehmen sequence”, where the male giraffe will approach the female and then rub against her backside until she pees. When/if she does, he’ll taste it to tell whether she’s in heat or not. If […]
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I’m very excited to announce that Eddie Deezen will now be contributing articles to Today I Fount Out. Besides appearing in or doing voice acting for a myriad of major motion pictures and TV shows including Grease; WarGames (one of my personal favorites growing up); Kim Possible; Dexter’s Laboratory; What’s New, Scooby-Doo; and Polar Express, Deezen also occasionally writes interesting […]
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Today I found out the Hollywood sign originally read “HOLLYWOODLAND” and was lit with about 4,000, 20 watt light bulbs, which would flash “HOLLY” then “WOOD” then “LAND” then “HOLLYWOODLAND” repeatedly. The sign was originally put up in 1923 to promote a housing development. The owner of Crescent Sign Company, Thomas Fisk Goff, designed the sign itself, making the letters […]
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Today I found out thermostat controls in large buildings, such as many office buildings, don’t usually do anything. These placebo controls for large HVAC systems do nothing but make you think you are adjusting the temperature. In some cases, the system even includes white noise generators to make you think that the temperature controls are working, when in fact the […]
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Today I found out there once was a girl who struck out Babe Ruth and Lou Gehrig in succession. What’s even more impressive about that was neither Ruth nor Gehrig managed to even get the bat on the ball when they swung. Ruth swung and missed twice before taking a called third strike. Gehrig swung and missed three times, striking […]
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Today I found out the most recent version of the United States’ flag was designed by a high school student who initially received only a B- for his proposed design. In his own words shortly before he died on Dec 12, 2009, Bob Heft recounted to StoryCorps the tale of his design being chosen among about 1,500 submitted to become […]
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Today I found out where the word “jaywalking” came from. For those not familiar with this term (i.e. many people outside of the United States), jaywalking is when, “A pedestrian… crosses a street without regard to traffic regulations.” (OED) For instance, depending on where one lives, it may be against the law to cross a street where there is a […]
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Today I found out many crosswalk signal buttons actually don’t do anything when you press them. They are only there to give you something to press, called “placebo buttons”. In New York City, for instance, an estimated 90% of these pedestrian crossing buttons do nothing. You’ll find the same trend in most major cities, particularly in the United States. The […]
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Today I found out what causes lactose intolerance. Lactose intolerance is simply the body’s inability to digest lactose. Lactose is a disaccharide, or a molecule made up of two types of sugars, in this case, glucose and galactose. Most people have an enzyme (a protein molecule that breaks down other molecules) lactase in their digestive systems. This enzyme breaks down […]
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