During the Industrial Revolution, companies attempted to maximize the output of their factories by keeping them running as many hours as possible, typically implementing a “sun up to sun down” work day. Wages were also extremely low, so workers themselves often needed to work these long shifts just to get by, including often sending their children to work in the […]
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Myth: Your body uses more calories to digest certain types of foods, called “negative calorie” foods, than the actual calories contained in them. The concept of negative calorie food has recently been popularized by the media, around on Internet discussion boards, and from publications, such as “Foods that Cause You to Lose Weight: The Negative Calorie Effect“, by Neal D. […]
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Today I found out Dr. Seuss wrote “Green Eggs and Ham” on a bet that he couldn’t write a book with fifty or fewer distinct words. The bet was made in 1960 with Bennett Cerf, the co-founder of Random House, and was for $50 (about $382 today). Despite Dr. Seuss, a.k.a. Theodore Geisel, winning the bet by producing one of […]
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Today I found out the first speeding infraction in the U.S. was committed by a New York City taxi driver in an electric car on May 20, 1899. The driver was Jacob German who drove for the Electric Vehicle Company, which leased its electric taxicabs to be used around New York. German was driving his taxi at a blistering 12 […]
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Today I found out there once was a Major League Baseball player that was traded for himself. That player was Harry Chiti. Chiti was a catcher who played in the major leagues from 1950-1962, taking two years off in that span to fight in the Korean War. The momentous event of getting traded for himself happened in 1962 when Chiti […]
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Today I found out why the toilet is also often called “The Crapper”. It all started with U.S. soldiers stationed in England during WWI. The toilets in England at the time were predominately made by the company “Thomas Crapper & Co Ltd”, with the company’s name appearing on the toilets. The soldiers took to calling toilets “The Crapper” and brought […]
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Today I found out the words “blond” and “blonde” are not wholly synonymous. So what’s the difference between the words “blond” and “blonde”? (besides the obvious extra ‘e’) 😉 The difference is simply in what gender the word is referring. When referring to a woman with yellow hair, you should use the feminine spelling “blonde”. When referring to a male […]
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Today I found out that there is a protozoa that has seven sexes. This organism is known as Tetrahymena thermophila. They are species of ciliate protozoa, common in fresh-water. They are also known for being widely used in genetic and cytological research as model organisms. The seven sexes of Tetrahymena thermophila are somewhat uninventively named I, II, III, IV, V, […]
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Today I found out that 165 University Avenue, Palo Alto, California is generally considered the “luckiest” building in Silicon Valley to rent as a startup company. Located near Stanford University, 165 University Avenue has seen a surprising number of highly successful startups come through its doors in very recent history. The first famous tenant was Logitech, a now world famous […]
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Today I found out that babies are able to remember melodies they hear while inside the womb for up to a year. Recent research at the University of Leicester demonstrated that babies showed a significant preference for melodies played for them frequently during the last few months they were in the womb. Preferences for a familiar melody were shown by […]
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Today I found out that the largest item on a menu in the world is whole camel which is often stuffed with a lamb which has been stuffed with chickens which has been stuffed with fish or eggs; the whole lot also tends to have rice and other fixings mixed in at each stuffing stage. As you might expect, cooking […]
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Mark R. asks: Why didn’t people in the middle ages ever bathe? To begin with, it is something of a common misconception to say people never bathed in the Middle Ages (or centuries around it). In fact, in some regions, bathing regularly (in some form or other) wasn’t really all that different than today. And even in regions where it […]
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Today I found out newborn babies cry without tears until they are several weeks old. Newborn babies are incapable of producing actual tears because their tear ducts haven’t fully formed yet. In many cases, their underdeveloped tear ducts can also be clogged with amniotic fluid for a time after birth. Every baby is born with basal tearing, which means that […]
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Today I found out the pyramids of Giza were originally white. When the pyramids were originally finished, they were plated in and outer layer of white “casing stones”. These casing stones were cut with astounding precision to give a smooth slope to the pyramids, unlike how they appear today with the outer stones more or less forming very large “steps”. […]
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Today I found out in 1899 ninety percent of New York City’s taxi cabs were electric vehicles. This fleet of electric cars was built by the Electric Carriage and Wagon Company of Philadelphia. Not only that, but in 1899 and 1900, electric cars outsold all other types of cars, such as gas and steam powered vehicles. In 1902 an electric […]
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Today I found out that Benjamin Franklin, through extensive study of the world’s major religions and various moral codes, came up with a list of thirteen main virtues that he felt every person should strive to live their life by. As such, he himself attempted to always live by this code and developed charts with which he charted his progress […]
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Today I found out “Killer Whales”, or Orcas, are actually dolphins. In fact, they are the largest member of the dolphin family, Delphinidae. Now strictly speaking, whales are marine animals of the order of Cetacea and occasionally Cetacea is used to refer to not just whales, but also porpoises and dolphins. However, it generally excludes these latter mariner animals, which […]
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Today I Found Out is now available on the Amazon Kindle. If you’re interested in getting the Kindle Edition of Today I Found Out, go here to subscribe: Today I Found Out Kindle Edition The Kindle edition of Today I Found Out is specifically formatted for the Kindle and has no advertisements. It is also automatically delivered wirelessly to your […]
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